Wait! Don't get too excited!
I discovered that I have to apply for an immigration visa now.
What? Didn't I already do that? Wasn't that part of the whole wanting to immigrate to the US business?
Well, turns out, with five different government agencies handling immigration, and with processes changing all the time, and with some (rather alarming) level of non-communication, there seems to be some duplicity in data collection.
As of yesterday or the day before, I was required to apply for an immigration visa. Well, that's fine, I guess. But goodness, these forms are extremely lengthy and detailed and even when you are done filling them out there is no telling what the next step is. At least not without a bucket full of Internet research.
I spent several hours last night trying to remember every single place I have lived since I was 16 (I lost count but I think it was about 19), and every job I have held for the last ten years. Luckily, we have no children. There are tons of questions about the applicant's intentions about terrorism or human trafficking or other illegal acts. This surprised me. Who would say 'yes' to any of these questions? And yet they are on there.
So I stayed up later than I would have liked to complete this form, and then had a link to a paper form that I was supposed to fill out and then... what? And hey - this paper form is asking the information that is very similar to the online form I just filled out. Well turns out I didn't need to fill out the paper form. UGH.
So the next thing that needs to happen is that Dan and I collect the rest of the documents they want and send them off to Montreal. I'll be sending my birth certificate, passport, marriage certificate, etc. by courier to the consulate there. Yes I will. Hopefully we can get that buttoned up in the next week.
From there, once they have everything they need, "please allow up to six weeks for review of your file". Then they will issue my interview appointment date. That date will be approximately one month later.
So, doing the math with me, on the outside this is looking like late August - early September. But it could be sooner than that.
Here's hoping.
I discovered that I have to apply for an immigration visa now.
What? Didn't I already do that? Wasn't that part of the whole wanting to immigrate to the US business?
Well, turns out, with five different government agencies handling immigration, and with processes changing all the time, and with some (rather alarming) level of non-communication, there seems to be some duplicity in data collection.
As of yesterday or the day before, I was required to apply for an immigration visa. Well, that's fine, I guess. But goodness, these forms are extremely lengthy and detailed and even when you are done filling them out there is no telling what the next step is. At least not without a bucket full of Internet research.
I spent several hours last night trying to remember every single place I have lived since I was 16 (I lost count but I think it was about 19), and every job I have held for the last ten years. Luckily, we have no children. There are tons of questions about the applicant's intentions about terrorism or human trafficking or other illegal acts. This surprised me. Who would say 'yes' to any of these questions? And yet they are on there.
So I stayed up later than I would have liked to complete this form, and then had a link to a paper form that I was supposed to fill out and then... what? And hey - this paper form is asking the information that is very similar to the online form I just filled out. Well turns out I didn't need to fill out the paper form. UGH.
So the next thing that needs to happen is that Dan and I collect the rest of the documents they want and send them off to Montreal. I'll be sending my birth certificate, passport, marriage certificate, etc. by courier to the consulate there. Yes I will. Hopefully we can get that buttoned up in the next week.
From there, once they have everything they need, "please allow up to six weeks for review of your file". Then they will issue my interview appointment date. That date will be approximately one month later.
So, doing the math with me, on the outside this is looking like late August - early September. But it could be sooner than that.
Here's hoping.
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