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Our visa journey is not quite over with yet!


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Rollercoasterr

Mathew had his interview at the Montreal Consulate on March 23rd, and we were approved. The CO told us he would have his visa by the beginning of the following week.

 

It has now been 2 weeks, and still no visa. I've called Department of State and they keep telling me that it's been printed since the 24th, but that it doesn't say it has been mailed. I belong to the forum visajourney.com and couples who have interviewed after us(I'm talking like March 30th) already have their visas. So I don't know whats going on and it's very very frustrating for me.

 

Right now Mathew is so mad he can't stand it. I know we'll get the visa. We have to. They have his passport and they obviously can't hold it forever. It's just a matter of a waiting game to see if they will respond to my email and allow him to either pick it up or if they will get off their hind-ends and mail it out.

 

So yeah, we're still waiting. Booh!

 

But on a happy note, I met with my florist the other day and he's wonderfullll! :love::love: I can't wait to see what he's going to come up with for our big day.

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Hi Rollerrcoaster...long time no talk! How frustrating it must be for you. But at least you know you're approved! Things could be a lot worse so just be patient.

 

I still have to wait till after we get married before I can apply for my visa. *sigh* So it'll be several weeks-months after our wedding before I can finally move.

 

Getting down to the nitty-gritty on wedding details! :bunny: I hope all your plans are coming together too. 75 days left

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Rollercoasterr

Well, I've had to contact my congressman to see what they can get done. The timeline listed on Montreal's website for returning the visa to the beneficiary(Mathew) is 5-7 business days. Tomorrow makes 15.

 

I called Department of State again today and was told the first time I called that we were put in AP(NOT a good thing) and that our visa had not been printed. I called back a second time and was told that the visa HAD been printed, but there was a mistake on it so it had to be printed again. But the original and the reprint were both done on the same day. Now they don't know where it is. It's just lost.

 

I am feeling very, very defeated at the moment.

 

It just hurts so much to know that our visa has been printed, but we don't know when we'll get it because Montreal has lost it.

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sweetjasmine
Well, I've had to contact my congressman to see what they can get done. The timeline listed on Montreal's website for returning the visa to the beneficiary(Mathew) is 5-7 business days. Tomorrow makes 15.

 

I called Department of State again today and was told the first time I called that we were put in AP(NOT a good thing) and that our visa had not been printed. I called back a second time and was told that the visa HAD been printed, but there was a mistake on it so it had to be printed again. But the original and the reprint were both done on the same day. Now they don't know where it is. It's just lost.

 

I am feeling very, very defeated at the moment.

 

It just hurts so much to know that our visa has been printed, but we don't know when we'll get it because Montreal has lost it.

 

Jeez, how frustrating. :(:mad:

 

You're doing the right thing. Keep making phone calls until they straighten it out. It's the only way to deal with bureaucracy.

 

I hope they get it together and get Matthew his passport and visa back ASAP. *hugs*

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Aww I'm sorry Rollercoasterr, hopefully they'll get this big mess sorted out soon. It's funny how governments can be so careless when it comes to something as important as a visa. *sigh*

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Rollercoasterr

Well the congressman's office contacted me back today and according to Montreal they mailed the visa out the same day they printed it. So either that's not true or Canada Post has lost it.

 

Either way, wonderful. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

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sweetjasmine

WTF. :mad:

 

Can Matthew go into the Montreal office in person? Or are they now appointment-only type of places?

 

If they lost the visa, does that mean they also lost his passport?

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Rollercoasterr

Yeah they are appointment only type places. You can't even CALL the Montreal Consulate. You have to email them. And out of the two times I've emailed, I've NEVER gotten a reply.

 

If his visa is lost, his passport is too. That means we'll have to get him a new passport and hope that it comes in before our wedding..

 

2 months, 1 week and 5 days doesn't sound like enough time to get this accomplished in. :mad:

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sweetjasmine
Yeah they are appointment only type places. You can't even CALL the Montreal Consulate. You have to email them. And out of the two times I've emailed, I've NEVER gotten a reply.

 

If his visa is lost, his passport is too. That means we'll have to get him a new passport and hope that it comes in before our wedding..

 

2 months, 1 week and 5 days doesn't sound like enough time to get this accomplished in. :mad:

 

I'm so sorry you have to deal with this BS. The only thing you can do is keep calling them until they do what they're supposed to do.

 

If he gets an expedited passport ASAP, what will the American consulate do about the lost visa?

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Rollercoasterr

That's what I'm going to find out today.

 

I need this, and I need him. Something so simple is about to ruin my life....

 

Everyone keep your fingers crossed for me!

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sweetjasmine

You're too tough to let it ruin your life, Rollercoasterr.

 

Hang in there and keep bugging people, okay? *hugs*

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Hello Rollercoaster,

 

The same happened when I applied for my J1 visa for the U.S. Everybody else got back their passport after about 4 days except of me!!

 

So I called and emailed, impossible to reach anyone, until I sent a fax (!!). Then someone from the US consulate called me and informed me their computer had a bug, and that's why they had to reprint my visa, which is of course the most shady excuse ever.

 

So well, after that they sent my visa right away.... 2 days before my flight to the States.

 

This is just so odd, I mean you pay so much money and you give all your highly sensitive data, and they are obviously just messy and, additionally, they don't care about the people behind the papers.

 

Anyway, if you find a fax number somewhere try to contact them this way, it helped in my case.

 

Good luck!

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Rollercoasterr

I have good news!!!

 

Mathew called the Consulate yesterday and picked the "Death of a US Citizen" option to get to speak to an actual person, and the lady he spoke to was the nicest person we've dealt with so far. She gave him his tracking number and told him to call her back if he still can't locate the package.

 

Well, we've located it. It's at the Montreal Consulate.

 

He forgot to write his apartment number on the package so they sent it back to Montreal. They've had it since 4/9. So this morning he calls back and speaks to that lady again and even though the visa department is NOT her department she starts making calls to see if she can find out what his options are. She gave them our email address and we should have an answer by the end of today.

 

YAYYYY!

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Glad to hear the good news rollercoasterr! :) Lol, that sounds like what I have to do when I call my phone company outside of normal business hours. I just hit the button for emergencies and lie till I can get someone on the phone.

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Rollercoasterr

They just called him back and he gets to pick his visa up tomorrow morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Rollercoasterr

As of right now he has his visa in hand. He's got it, everything is spelled correctly, and it's perfect.

 

I can finally BREATHE again. :bunny:

 

Thanks everybody for the well wishes! It really helped!

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As of right now he has his visa in hand. He's got it, everything is spelled correctly, and it's perfect.

 

I can finally BREATHE again. :bunny:

 

Thanks everybody for the well wishes! It really helped!

 

Oh, I am so glad, RC!

 

Was dreading reading your latest update thinking of all the horror stories IG relayed here, then for it to be all for naught in the end. :(

 

All I can say is: Woo-hoo - woo-hoo - woo-hoo!!! :bunny:

 

All the best to you and Matthew...

 

NOTHING's gonna stop the two of you, now! :D

 

 

Best,

TMichaels

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sweetjasmine
As of right now he has his visa in hand. He's got it, everything is spelled correctly, and it's perfect.

 

I can finally BREATHE again. :bunny:

 

Thanks everybody for the well wishes! It really helped!

 

YAY! :)

 

I'm glad it worked out. :)

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Rollercoasterr

Thanks so much, y'all!

 

I swear, if anything, this has taught me patience and to not take my honey for granted. Things can and WILL go wrong along the way but as long as the love is there and is strong, nothing can stop it!

 

POE is May 14th!!

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