Received CSQ on Friday June 14th 2013 @ New York, 26th One Rockefeller Center.
Thanks one and all for all the valuable information you brought here in to these forums. You have all been a great guiding force in this process. Its not over yet.. we just completed the CSQ interview.
The interview lasted for 45 mins. Mostly in 90% English. We practiced alot, but nervousness didn't allow our French to surface.
We entered the building at about 3 PM, our interview was at 3:30 PM. I were already in the building security system, so getting in was not a hassle.
We waiting in the searing area, looking at some of the brochures, newsletters pertaining to Quebec and also fixing our appearances once in a while...lol
At sharp 3:30 PM the IO came and we greeted "Bonjour" .. and he lead us in to his office.
Though we greeted the Immigration Officer (IO) in French, he was very sure, we are not very well versed in French, also I rated myself as Basic 2. So he said we will the interview in English.
I kept saying to him, we practiced French and we can answer a few questions in French, he quickly asked a question..i think he said
" which color is my shirt " and I didn't grasp that...however my wife, understood the sentence as she paid very close attention to the sound and replied back in French.
IO was certainly pleased to hear one of us was able to converse with him..even though a little bit. He then said...no worries we will continue in English.
Asked me to show the below documents
Passports,
Employment Verification Letter, (I got one particularly addressing the IO)
H1 Petition approval - 797 documents
The IO later checked the US H1 Visa stamp on our passports and pointed out to the expiry date in July 2013.
I told him "I'm going to complete 6 years in US very shortly, and will be going back to India. I haven't planned any immigration in US and also told him US immigration is right very much messed up. Some people who applied in 2000 are still in queue for their Green Card."
I gave a comparision of India and Quebec. pros and cons etc. He said " Since your H1 tenure is coming to an end, you are apply for Quebec right ?" for which i replied " not really, Quebec is new land, new set opportunities, rich in natural resources, less pollution etc..." then he went to typing stuff on his computer.
I also went on to say, during my secondary schooling, I had French for two years, showed him the marks i got and how I learned about French culture right then and how I became fascinated with it.
My son who was on my wife lap, was already snoring by now, The IO pointed out the same. He said he two kids and acknowledged how its going to be with kids.
He then moved on to question my wife, her background, work experience. My wife is a home maker. Her background is B.E in Electronics and telematics, She is on a h4 visa since 2008, we also expressed to him that even though my wife worked for three years in India, she was unable to do so in U.S being a dependent. That was one more reason we wanted to immigrate to Quebec, so that both of us can work.
I purposefully showed him some of my employment research, he was pleased to note the emails. Also, i showed my attempts to learn French, emails exchange with Alliance Francias, their inability to arrange for a tutor since Nov 2011 etc.
Showed my app that has Pimsleur French in it.
Later he said, say if i grant you CSQ right now, will be going back to India, and later coming back to Quebec once your application is Federal approved ? for which we said yes.
Then in his plain voice he said the gold words " I am granting you the CSQ ". We were relieved to hear those words, but were looking normal.
IO also asked if the place we lived was as much noisy as out there..(NY). We said its not as noisy as NY City, but a peaceful and less noisy place.
IO asked how long it took to drive up to NY City from our place, for which I said 6 hours. And he asked if my kid was okay with the long drive, for which I replied he was very patient all along and he definitely deserves a treat after all this.
He then printed a few papers and gave it us and said these are you CSQ papers one for each of you..bcos in Quebec we believe in equality between both genders.
We then stood up to leave, IO lead us out of the room.
Hope that helps. Thanks again.