jassynicholas's US Immigration Timeline
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Petitioner's Name: Nick
Beneficiary's Name: Jasmin
VJ Member: jassynicholas
Country: Canada
Last Updated: 2015-04-24
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Immigration Checklist for Nick & Jasmin:
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USCIS I-129F Petition:
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Dept of State K1 Visa:
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USCIS I-485 Petition:
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USCIS I-765 Petition:
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USCIS I-131 Petition:
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USCIS I-751 Petition:
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USCIS N-400 Petition:
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K1 Visa
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
California Service Center |
| Transferred? |
No |
| Consulate : |
Montreal, Canada |
| I-129F Sent : |
2015-01-22 |
| I-129F NOA1 : |
2015-01-26 |
| I-129F RFE(s) : |
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| RFE Reply(s) : |
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| I-129F NOA2 : |
2015-02-05 |
| NVC Received : |
2015-02-21 |
| Date Case #, IIN, and BIN assigned : |
2015-02-21 |
| NVC Left : |
2015-02-26 |
| Consulate Received : |
2015-02-27 |
| Packet 3 Received : |
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| Packet 3 Sent : |
2015-02-27 |
| Packet 4 Received : |
2015-03-11 |
| Interview Date : |
2015-04-10 |
| Interview Result : |
Approved
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Second Interview
(If Required): |
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| Second Interview Result: |
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| Visa Received : |
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| US Entry : |
2015-04-23 |
| Marriage : |
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| Comments : |
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Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your I-129f was approved in 10 days from your NOA1 date.
Your interview took 74 days from your I-129F NOA1 date. |
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Port of Entry Review
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| Event |
Date |
| Port of Entry : |
Detroit |
| POE Date : |
2015-04-23 |
| Got EAD Stamp : |
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| Biometrics Taken : |
Yes |
| Harassment Level : |
0 |
| Comments : |
Super easy! We were in and out within 30 minutes. They didn't ask to see my list of things in the vehicle. I brought 2 cats with me and a trailer full of things and it didn't even seem like they looked inside. Great experience. Was worried for nothing! |
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Member Reviews:
Consulate Review: Montreal, Canada
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
April 11, 2015 |
| Embassy Review : |
Interview Date: Friday April 10, 2015
Location: Montreal
Visa Type: K-1 Visa
Travelling/Hotel:
I travelled from Windsor to Montreal by bus, by myself. Although he complained about me going by myself, we had already spent so much money and will need to spend more, that I decided to go on my own by bus. I used Greyhound for Windsor to Toronto and Megabus from Toronto to Montreal. Totaling $140. I never stayed in a Hotel. Arrived in Montreal at 6:40AM for my interview at 7:40AM. Best decision I ever made. Although 25 hours on a bus was rough – it was totally worth it! Megabus was super cheap if you book ahead of time. Highly recommend the bus for those who are on a tight budget.
Now on to my interview!
What I Brought With Me:
Since I wasn’t staying in a Hotel, I only brought my folder of papers, my cellphone charger and my cellphone. I had all of this in plastic bags (as it was raining) and for carrying purposes. Any food/drinks I had, I discarded when I got off the bus.
Line-Up Outside the Consulate:
My bus arrived a bit early, so I arrived at the consulate at 6:45AM. I was the first one there. It was raining, so I pushed up against the left side of the double doors and managed to stay dry. A man arrived only 5 minutes after me. He was from Vancouver – filing CR-1. Very nice. He stood beside me as I moved over so he could get out of the rain. Then others started to arrive. Many didn’t understand where to line up and were standing on the right side of the doors – to avoid the rain, but also didn’t know the line-up. Guard came out around 7:30AM and advised everyone to line up on the left side. Luckily I didn’t get pushed around like I thought I would and was first in line through security.
When I got through the double doors, I was greeted by woman. She asked for my interview confirmation letter (this is just the summary page when you login online which has your interview date and what city you picked for your passport to be delivered to you, my courier confirmation page (on my interview confirmation page), my DS-260 confirmation page and passport. She looked at those and checked me off her list, where I went up a couple stairs through the next set of doors through security.
Security lady was super nice! I was in la-la land and didn’t think to take off my hood with the zipper and my boots with the zipper, so I buzzed in the metal detector, but she scanned me and noticed it was my zippers. They took my cellphone (wanted it turned off – so if bringing turn it off when you enter) and I was on my way!
Cellphone:
At the time, I wasn’t certain I would be allowed my cellphone and informed my fiancé that I may have to get rid of it when it came to entering the consulate. I asked many VJ’ers (THANKS) and they said they would take it and give you a ticket to pick it up when you leave. And they were RIGHT! They have tiny cubbies where they placed people’s cellphones. The security guard yelled at one man for having a backup and told him he wasn’t allowed in with the back pack. People with umbrellas were allowed to bring those in (if it’s raining for you). Basically if it could fit in the tiny cubby, they will likely hold on to it for you. I would think they would hold on to the key fob for you too. It also did not slow down the security check at all. Was still super quick.
Waiting Room By Elevator:
The room is just as described by many on this site. Black chairs lined up beside the elevator. There is passport photo booth which only takes $10 bills and some payphones.
I sat by the elevator as everyone said to. I didn’t have a watch, so I wasn’t sure what time the security lady came down and advised us to get into the elevator and go to floor 19.
As everyone states, site as close to the elevator and when they say to get in, go to the back and face the left side. Everyone got up so fast, I wasn’t first to get to the back of the elevator on the left side, but I was right behind the girl to the left side. When we got out, for some reason I went to the left, but the receptionist is right in front of you. (Not sure if that changed?). Anyways, I realized very quickly as I saw the girl in front of me go forward and still managed to be second in line to the receptionist. I was even luckier, because the girl in front of me was there for non-immigrant visa and I got ticket #1 for immigrant visas!
She gave me my number ticket, which had stuff to get ready, but I didn’t even have time to read that because as soon as she handed it to me my number was already called to go to Window #1.
Window #1:
When I got to the Window, she asked for a lot of stuff. Here is everything I remember, but not in right order. Even I tried to prepare to have things in the right order, but I feel like she asked me for things randomly too.
• Passport & Copy of Biographic Page
• DS-260 Confirmation Page
• Copy of Payment Receipt. (I wasn’t prepared for this one. I did have it luckily, but I really never thought I’d need it. This was the email confirmation I got for the payment of $265 US that I made online when I booked my interview)
• Birth Certificate & Copy
• I-134 (For K-1 you don’t need I-864)
• Supporting Evidence for I-134 (They didn’t seemed as concerned about this as I was. I had a letter from his employer, his W2 forms and a weird page his bank gave him totaling the deposits made in his account. – No issues. I had more, but she didn’t really seem to care lol.)
• Medical Envelop (She handed back the x-ray CD for my records.)
• Letter of Intent
• Police Clearance
• She asked if I was married or if I had ever been married. I said “No.” She never asked if my fiancé had been. He has. I did have his divorce certificate with me if they needed it, but I didn’t bring it up here.
• She confirmed my address and phone number. Then she confirmed my fiance’s address and phone number.
• She took my fingerprints. Both hands – fingers and thumbs.
** I think that was it! It was a lot. Moved very quickly.
Waiting:
Then I waited for about 20-30 minutes maybe? Maybe not. It was hard to hear the speakers and I was scared I wasn’t going to hear my number. The number you get from the receptionist is the number that you get called by for the rest of the morning. I was #1.
Interview:
Finally I was called to Window #8. There, like everyone has stated it looks like closet with a window. For some reason I thought we sat down, but we both were standing. She asked me to read the oath (I think back now and wonder if she wanted me to read it out loud – again in lalala land). I read it out loud to her and then she started asking a few questions. She was super nice.
Questions she asked:
• How did you meet and when?
• What does he do for work? What do you do for work?
• Have you ever been convicted of a crime or been arrested?
• Have you ever been denied entry to the US?
• If either of us have been married? (I said my fiancé has and this is where I told her I had his divorce certificate. She asked to see it real quick. She looked it over and handed it back with my birth certificate.)
That was it! Then she said I am going to approve your visa and handed me the Welcome to the US Page and told me I should get my passport back in 1-2 weeks. I said “THANK YOU!” So exciting!!
I felt a BIG sense of relief. It was definitely the easiest part of all this. I worried so much I’d be missing something and it would delay the process or my bus would be delayed.
I am so happy!! I think I was out around 9ish. As soon as I left, I called my fiancé to tell him the good news.
If anyone has any questions please feel free to message me. I wrote this review to give back for all the help I’ve received on this site. Thank you everyone! I read so many of these reviews myself to prepare myself and I was indeed fully prepared.
Happy HAPPY girl!!
UPDATE - Receiving my Visa:
Here is the timeline in which I received my Visa.
I picked London as my drop off.
Friday April 10 - Interview (CEAC says Ready)
Monday April 13 - CEAC says "Administrative Processing"
Tuesday April 14 - CEAC says "Issued"
Thursday April 16 - Received email with my Waybill Number
Friday April 17 - Visa Arrived in London
I emailed to have this shipped from London to my door and I received the package on Monday April 20 in hands. 
**I was worried about when I would see the Waybill number. Even though CEAC says "Issued" the Waybill number may not be generated yet. Don't panic. I received it at like 9PM Thursday night. Seems to be a trend for visas to arrive at drop offs on Fridays.
(updated on April 22, 2015) |
| Rating : |
Very Good |
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Timeline Comments: None yet, be the first!
*Notice about estimates: The estimates are based off averages of other members recent experiences
(documented in their timelines) for the same benefit/petition/application at the same filing location.
Individual results may vary as every case is not always 'average'. Past performance does not necessarily
predict future results. The 'as early as date' may change over time based on current reported processing
times from members. There have historically been cases where a benefit/petition/application processing
briefly slows down or stops and this can not be predicted. Use these dates as reference only and do not
rely on them for planning. As always you should check the
USCIS processing times to see if your application
is past due.
** Not all cases are transfered
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