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I had my employment based GC interview in Montreal on August 8th, 2002. Following is a brief outline of the interview experience:
1. I stayed at the LaTour CentreVille hotel in Montreal which is on 400 Rene Levesque in downtown Montreal. This hotel is literally across the street from the US consulate. Very convenient and overall a nice place. Hotel is mid-scale but clean and reasonably priced. We paid $85 canadian for a queen bed room for 2 adults (me and my wife).
2. Arrived at the US consulate around 7:40am even though my appointment time was at 8:30am. Appointment time does not matter but the main thing is the order of appearance at the immigrant visa window inside the consulate. Upon arrival at the consulate's entrance we went through a security check (kinda like at the airport). Then we were waiting in a hall and were taken to the 19th floor via an elevator (the actual offices are on the 19th floor) at 8:00am. This is where the arrival order in front of the immigrant visa window is important. They give you a number at this window and this number dictates the order of interview and not the appointment time. So if you are the first person in front of this window, you will be the first person to be interviewed!!
3. Once we got our initial number (we were # 3 for the immigrant visa interview) we were told to wait until our number is called. Once our number was called, we were directed to another window where the lady greeted us and asked for the documents needed before the actual interview. She asked for original police certificates, 2 pictures (each person), employment letter and passports. They already had the original birth certificates and the marriage certificate which NVC had requested when I filed pkt-3. The lady verified some basic information on the forms such as address etc and told us that the original documents will be given back after the actual interview by the visa officer. Again she told us to wait in the waiting area until our number is called again and this time for the actual interview.
4. After about 25 mins our number was called again for the actual visa interview. There was only one visa officer who was handling the immigrant interviews that morning. He was very polite and in his mid 30's. He greeted us as we entered the interview both and asked us to raise our right hand and repeat the oath that whatever we are presenting to him is true etc.
5. The actual interview from this point on was only about 4 minutes. He basically asked me about my employer and what do I do with the company. He asked my wife that what she does (housewife). He was very straightforward and I felt pretty comfortable talking to him. Not even a single time he tried to make it hard. He then told us that everything is in order and gave us a slip to pay $65 dollars US visa fee per person. He told us that our printed visas will be ready in 20-30 minutes.
6. We paid the fees and waited for our name to be called to pick up the immigrant visas. After about 25 mins our name was called and we were given sealed envelopes with the actual immigrant visa (1 page)stapled on the outside of the sealed envelope. We were told not to open the envelopes and that the US immigration official at the port of entry will open it. We were also told to verify the information on the visas (such as name, date of birth, parent's names etc) before leaving the consulate in case there are errors. My wife's maiden name was incorrect and they corrected it while we waited for another 20 minutes.
7. We left the consulate at about 10:00am. Overall it was a nice experience. Everyone at the consulate was nice and friendly and this was totally opposite to what I was expecting.
8. We entered US via Toronto airport (Canada). Immigration officer at the Toronto airport stamped our passport with a temporary Permenant Residence stamp. He said the green cards will arrive in US mail and usually arrive between 4-12 weeks.
Good luck to all of you who are waiting for an interview at the Montreal consulate.
1. I stayed at the LaTour CentreVille hotel in Montreal which is on 400 Rene Levesque in downtown Montreal. This hotel is literally across the street from the US consulate. Very convenient and overall a nice place. Hotel is mid-scale but clean and reasonably priced. We paid $85 canadian for a queen bed room for 2 adults (me and my wife).
2. Arrived at the US consulate around 7:40am even though my appointment time was at 8:30am. Appointment time does not matter but the main thing is the order of appearance at the immigrant visa window inside the consulate. Upon arrival at the consulate's entrance we went through a security check (kinda like at the airport). Then we were waiting in a hall and were taken to the 19th floor via an elevator (the actual offices are on the 19th floor) at 8:00am. This is where the arrival order in front of the immigrant visa window is important. They give you a number at this window and this number dictates the order of interview and not the appointment time. So if you are the first person in front of this window, you will be the first person to be interviewed!!
3. Once we got our initial number (we were # 3 for the immigrant visa interview) we were told to wait until our number is called. Once our number was called, we were directed to another window where the lady greeted us and asked for the documents needed before the actual interview. She asked for original police certificates, 2 pictures (each person), employment letter and passports. They already had the original birth certificates and the marriage certificate which NVC had requested when I filed pkt-3. The lady verified some basic information on the forms such as address etc and told us that the original documents will be given back after the actual interview by the visa officer. Again she told us to wait in the waiting area until our number is called again and this time for the actual interview.
4. After about 25 mins our number was called again for the actual visa interview. There was only one visa officer who was handling the immigrant interviews that morning. He was very polite and in his mid 30's. He greeted us as we entered the interview both and asked us to raise our right hand and repeat the oath that whatever we are presenting to him is true etc.
5. The actual interview from this point on was only about 4 minutes. He basically asked me about my employer and what do I do with the company. He asked my wife that what she does (housewife). He was very straightforward and I felt pretty comfortable talking to him. Not even a single time he tried to make it hard. He then told us that everything is in order and gave us a slip to pay $65 dollars US visa fee per person. He told us that our printed visas will be ready in 20-30 minutes.
6. We paid the fees and waited for our name to be called to pick up the immigrant visas. After about 25 mins our name was called and we were given sealed envelopes with the actual immigrant visa (1 page)stapled on the outside of the sealed envelope. We were told not to open the envelopes and that the US immigration official at the port of entry will open it. We were also told to verify the information on the visas (such as name, date of birth, parent's names etc) before leaving the consulate in case there are errors. My wife's maiden name was incorrect and they corrected it while we waited for another 20 minutes.
7. We left the consulate at about 10:00am. Overall it was a nice experience. Everyone at the consulate was nice and friendly and this was totally opposite to what I was expecting.
8. We entered US via Toronto airport (Canada). Immigration officer at the Toronto airport stamped our passport with a temporary Permenant Residence stamp. He said the green cards will arrive in US mail and usually arrive between 4-12 weeks.
Good luck to all of you who are waiting for an interview at the Montreal consulate.
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