Pauley's US Immigration Timeline
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Petitioner's Name: Paul
Beneficiary's Name: Yvonne
VJ Member: Pauley
Country: Canada
Last Updated: 2012-02-25
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Immigration Checklist for Paul & Yvonne:
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USCIS I-130 Petition:
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Dept of State IR-1/CR-1 Visa:
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USCIS I-751 Petition:
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USCIS N-400 Petition:
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IR-1/CR-1 Visa
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
California Service Center |
| Transferred? |
No |
| Consulate : |
Montreal, Canada |
| Marriage (if applicable): |
2008-08-31 |
| I-130 Sent : |
2009-04-28 |
| I-130 NOA1 : |
2009-05-06 |
| I-130 RFE : |
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| I-130 RFE Sent : |
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| I-130 Approved : |
2009-08-21 |
| NVC Received : |
2009-09-09 |
| Received DS-261 / AOS Bill : |
2009-09-17 |
| Pay AOS Bill : |
2009-10-03 |
| Receive I-864 Package : |
2009-10-05 |
| Send AOS Package : |
2009-10-26 |
| Submit DS-261 : |
2009-10-13 |
| Receive IV Bill : |
2009-10-28 |
| Pay IV Bill : |
2009-11-09 |
| Send IV Package : |
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| Receive Instruction and Interview appointment letter : |
2009-11-11 |
| Case Completed at NVC : |
2009-12-10 |
| NVC Left : |
2009-12-11 |
| Consulate Received : |
2009-12-14 |
| Packet 3 Received : |
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| Packet 3 Sent : |
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| Packet 4 Received : |
2010-01-23 |
| Interview Date : |
2010-03-18 |
| Interview Result : |
Approved
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Second Interview
(If Required): |
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| Second Interview Result: |
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| Visa Received : |
2010-03-22 |
| US Entry : |
2010-04-03 |
| Comments : |
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Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your I-130 was approved in 107 days from your NOA1 date.
Your interview took 316 days from your I-130 NOA1 date. |
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Port of Entry Review
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| Event |
Date |
| Port of Entry : |
CDN-USA Border |
| POE Date : |
2010-04-03 |
| Got EAD Stamp : |
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| Biometrics Taken : |
Yes |
| Harassment Level : |
0 |
| Comments : |
We'd been telling folks Yvonne wasn't moving until May, which is still true. But in an effort to get her paperwork (SSN, etc.) going sooner, she packed up a bunch of stuff and I brought her down from Toronto last Saturday night to the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge for port of entry, and to surprise the family when she showed up for Easter dinner. :D
Since she's still going to be living and working in Canada for another month, she didn't bring a lot of clothes, but a bunch of shoes, CDs, cookbooks and other random stuff got piled into the back of my car and we took off from Toronto at about 7PM Saturday night. A quick restroom and snack stop at the duty free shop, then we crossed the bridge, pulled into the first booth at about 8:40-8:45-ish, and declared we wanted to activate her CR-1 visa. After some questions about what all was in the car, where we were moving to and such, plus some quizzical questions about the $19K bank draft she had with her (she had a car in mind from a used dealer I trust in town here), we were directed to the parking area to the left, and advised to stop inside at Customs before moving on to Immigration.
We lucked out on some customs paperwork according to the officers at the first desk, since, as I had not yet endorsed the bank check, it didn't count as a "monetary instrument" for purposes of the over-$10K declaration, and we moved on to the next desk. The first officer we talked to there (Yvonne thinks she recognized him from her previous bus trips through customs at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo) explained the process of what was going to go on during POE, including how the CR-1 conditions work (which we were already well aware), and asked us to take a seat while he went over the packet.
A few minutes later, we were called up to another area of the immigration counter, where Yvonne gave a right index fingerprint and signed a form, and we both signed a page acknowledging we had to apply in two years to remove conditions on her green card. He checked over a few other forms, and said that the rest of the paperwork was his to do, and we didn't really need to hang around for that. He stamped her passport visa, explained that it acts as a temporary green card until the real one arrives, and wished her good luck. We were prepared for a nearly-hour-long process, like we usually hear about, but we were in and out in less than half that, at around 9:15. Really smooth process all around.
We did ask before we left about the social security number process, but he didn't seem to know how it worked, and suggested applying at the SSA office right away, not knowing or caring that we'd checked the box on the form to have one issued. Since Yvonne isn't going to need to work for a month anyway, that should give SSA plenty of time to issue her a number if they're going to do so, and time enough to go apply for one later if it doesn't work out.
I'd called Mom and clued her in ahead of time (since she'd have to have food available for Yvonne, who's vegetarian and wouldn't be able/willing to chow down on the normal ham and sausage feast Mom makes for Easter), but no one else knew she was coming. Apparently Mom told Dad that I was coming down, and he'd said earlier in the morning, "it's good Paul'll be here for Easter... too bad Yvonne can't make it..." :lol: He was quite happy to see his daughter-in-law, and my siblings their sister-in-law for the first time since the wedding back in 2008. :) |
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Lifting Conditions
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| Event |
Date |
| CIS Office : |
Vermont Service Center |
| Date Filed : |
2012-02-14 |
| NOA Date : |
2012-02-23 |
| RFE(s) : |
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| Bio. Appt. : |
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| Interview Date : |
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| Approval / Denial Date : |
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| Approved : |
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| Got I551 Stamp : |
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| Green Card Received : |
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| Comments : |
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Member Reviews:
Consulate Review: Montreal, Canada
Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
March 20, 2010 |
| Embassy Review : |
Very quick, very smooth interview process.
Having read previous review, my wife Yvonne and I figured we could safely arrive around 7 AM and not be too far back in line. We were about 5th in line, and met Blitz, the first one in line for the day while we waited. I didn't check my watch, but it was sometime a little after 7:30 that the security guard opened the front doors and started allowing people to line up for security.
After a quick security check (Guys, be prepared to take your belt off and have it sent through the x-ray -- hope your pants aren't -too- loose!), we got letter E and headed down the stairs to the elevator waiting area. We weren't there more than 5 minutes or so before the elevator opened up and accepted letters A-E for the first run up to the consulate on the 19th floor.
Something I hadn't picked up from previous reviews, and may help some folks distract themselves and relax a little: the waiting area on 19 has a lot of windows, and you get a really nice view of the skyline from the northwest clockwise to the southwest, including being able to see Olympic Stadium between some of the buildings to the northeast. Good place for photos, if only you were allowed to take your camera inside. :P
Mostly in order by letter, we were all called up to the windows in the back area, 9-12. Yvonne and I were asked for her medical results, and a few clarifying questions confirming where I worked, and a quick look through what we had filled out on the DS-230. Yvonne was then fingerprinted on the green scanner box, which took a couple tries to register correctly. More on that shortly.
We went back to the waiting area again, and after about 10-15 minutes we were called to interview room 7. Yvonne had to have her thumbprint scanned again to verify her identity, which didn't initially work; the consular officer said she'd need to redo Yvo's fingerprints at one of the other windows after the interview.
The CO then asked us when we met (May 2005), how we met (introduced by mutual friends), what I do for work (PC support tech), if I had updated financial information (I gave her my 2009 tax return), how often we'd visited each other (roughly every other weekend - her to the US before we got married, and I to Canada after). Then we got the magic words - she had enough information to approve the visa, and handed us the "Welcome to the United States of America!" letter. She then had us go back out to window 6 to redo Yvo's fingerprints again, which came seemed to come up the same way again and let her pass. We were back down on the street and on our way again shortly after 9 AM.
All-in-all, a really quick, smooth experience. It's nice to now have a mental picture to go with all the stories I'm reading in other reviews about the interview process. I hope everyone's interviews go as easily as ours did!  |
| Rating : |
Very Good |
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POE Review: CDN-USA Border
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| Event |
Description |
| Entry Date : |
2010-04-03 |
| Embassy Review : |
We'd been telling folks Yvonne wasn't moving until May, which is still true. But in an effort to get her paperwork (SSN, etc.) going sooner, she packed up a bunch of stuff and I brought her down from Toronto last Saturday night to the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge for port of entry, and to surprise the family when she showed up for Easter dinner. :D
Since she's still going to be living and working in Canada for another month, she didn't bring a lot of clothes, but a bunch of shoes, CDs, cookbooks and other random stuff got piled into the back of my car and we took off from Toronto at about 7PM Saturday night. A quick restroom and snack stop at the duty free shop, then we crossed the bridge, pulled into the first booth at about 8:40-8:45-ish, and declared we wanted to activate her CR-1 visa. After some questions about what all was in the car, where we were moving to and such, plus some quizzical questions about the $19K bank draft she had with her (she had a car in mind from a used dealer I trust in town here), we were directed to the parking area to the left, and advised to stop inside at Customs before moving on to Immigration.
We lucked out on some customs paperwork according to the officers at the first desk, since, as I had not yet endorsed the bank check, it didn't count as a "monetary instrument" for purposes of the over-$10K declaration, and we moved on to the next desk. The first officer we talked to there (Yvonne thinks she recognized him from her previous bus trips through customs at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo) explained the process of what was going to go on during POE, including how the CR-1 conditions work (which we were already well aware), and asked us to take a seat while he went over the packet.
A few minutes later, we were called up to another area of the immigration counter, where Yvonne gave a right index fingerprint and signed a form, and we both signed a page acknowledging we had to apply in two years to remove conditions on her green card. He checked over a few other forms, and said that the rest of the paperwork was his to do, and we didn't really need to hang around for that. He stamped her passport visa, explained that it acts as a temporary green card until the real one arrives, and wished her good luck. We were prepared for a nearly-hour-long process, like we usually hear about, but we were in and out in less than half that, at around 9:15. Really smooth process all around.
We did ask before we left about the social security number process, but he didn't seem to know how it worked, and suggested applying at the SSA office right away, not knowing or caring that we'd checked the box on the form to have one issued. Since Yvonne isn't going to need to work for a month anyway, that should give SSA plenty of time to issue her a number if they're going to do so, and time enough to go apply for one later if it doesn't work out.
I'd called Mom and clued her in ahead of time (since she'd have to have food available for Yvonne, who's vegetarian and wouldn't be able/willing to chow down on the normal ham and sausage feast Mom makes for Easter), but no one else knew she was coming. Apparently Mom told Dad that I was coming down, and he'd said earlier in the morning, "it's good Paul'll be here for Easter... too bad Yvonne can't make it..." :lol: He was quite happy to see his daughter-in-law, and my siblings their sister-in-law for the first time since the wedding back in 2008.  |
| Harassment Level : |
Low |
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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
ver 5.0
