Thread for November 2010 applications

[DKA]

Yeah I know tell me about it! I guess he just has some bad luck with Buffalo losing his important documents twice and others get through in no time!

 

[kelKel]

Just keep thinking positive guys. I know it can be tough, the wait. not knowing ect. I just keep thinking it will happen when it happens.

 

[TreeLover]

Got my AOR today in the mail. Same date as my in process date: Jan. 28, 2011.

 

[Pharoh]

Got my AOR today in the mail. Same date as my in process date: Jan. 28, 2011.

Hey, congrats TreeLover! I'm looking forward to getting my letter too.

How far are you from Buffalo? I'm just trying to figure out when to expect it in my mailbox. What date was it mailed? We got hit by the blizzard, so mail might be thrown off for a few days.

No additional info about medicals and or interview waived? I know some people hear something about the interview when they get their AOR in the mail... oh well.

 

[TreeLover]

My mailing address is in Seattle (although physically I'm in Vancouver). So that's pretty far from Buffalo. You're in Florida, right? It was postmarked on February 1st, so it only took two days to get there. That's super fast from coast to coast. I'm really surprised ,esp. because of the weather. I don't have it in hand yet as it's mailed to my business address/mail management service, so they scan it for me and I can download a pdf and print that out. But I'll have to have them forward it too since I need to have the stickers that they send.

I also am now able to use my file number to access eCas under my own name now. Just says "in process." and that's it.

No, there wasn't any other news about medicals or interviews waived or anything. It just says that my file has been placed in a queue awaiting assessment and that I'll receive additional instructions after it's assessed. It also has a change of address form in it and the stickers. That's it.

Your date is also 1/28, so I think yours would have been sent about the same time, but maybe it was messed up by the blizzards. When did that blizzard start?

I hope they will transfer my file to Seattle. It would be so nice to just drive 3 hours to get my visa rather than have to mail it to Buffalo. And maybe that's faster too.

 

[Pharoh]

My mailing address is in Seattle (although physically I'm in Vancouver). So that's pretty far from Buffalo. You're in Florida, right? It was postmarked on February 1st, so it only took two days to get there. That's super fast from coast to coast. I'm really surprised ,esp. because of the weather. I don't have it in hand yet as it's mailed to my business address/mail management service, so they scan it for me and I can download a pdf and print that out. But I'll have to have them forward it too since I need to have the stickers that they send.

I also am now able to use my file number to access eCas under my own name now. Just says "in process." and that's it.

No, there wasn't any other news about medicals or interviews waived or anything. It just says that my file has been placed in a queue awaiting assessment and that I'll receive additional instructions after it's assessed. It also has a change of address form in it and the stickers. That's it.

Your date is also 1/28, so I think yours would have been sent about the same time, but maybe it was messed up by the blizzards. When did that blizzard start?

I hope they will transfer my file to Seattle. It would be so nice to just drive 3 hours to get my visa rather than have to mail it to Buffalo. And maybe that's faster too.

Thanks for the information TreeLover. I'm not far from Detroit, which isn't too far from Buffalo (the office is 14~ hours from here, which I don't consider REAL far...). So clearly your letter flew past me, which means I should have mine, oh I don't know, any day now. I probably should have gotten it today, but mail was shutdown yesterday, and they're backlogged. I'm sure it'll come by tomorrow or Saturday.

I'm excited to get my stickers, though I hope to never use them. I should be getting my second FBI background check back any day now. I wonder if I should go ahead and mail it in right away, or just hold on to it, and see if they end up asking for it, or decide my original (now expired) one is okay?

I'd prefer whatever method is faster, in regards to where the file ends up. If it stays in Buffalo, I can drive there, pick up my visa in-person, and land. If it goes to Detroit, I'll (uncomfortably) mail my passport certified/Fedex/whatever, for the 400-ish mile journey from here to there. I just don't trust the mail system, and if something happened to my passport, especially after the visa stamp is on it... *shudder*. I have heard good things about Detroit, however, in that they usually hand out PPR within two weeks of having a file transferred there. It's insane. I imagine Seattle is the same. I sometimes picture these little "satellite offices" as being little offices with guys sitting around playing solitaire and browing the web. They only have work to do when Buffalo sends them the occasional application. I wish they'd send more.

 

[Pharoh]

Hey, has anyone else noticed canadayogini's been gone for a while?

 

[TreeLover]

Can you not go in person for the visa to the Detroit office? I'm assuming that you can't since you say it's 400 miles and you would mail it, but would drive 14 hours to Buffalo if you stay in that office. So I guess you're not in Florida then. Must have read that about someone else.

Now I'm wondering if you can go in person to the Seattle office. Is it a fact that you can't drop off your passport at any of the satellite offices? I was just assuming you could..... I'd rather not mail mine as then I will be in Canada without a passport, which means I can't get back into the USA until they send it back. Probably I wouldn't need to, but you never know.... I was going to apply for one of those passport cards before I left, but then you had to send in your passport with the application, and I needed it to get into Canada and there wasn't enough time beforehand. Also, I worry the passport might be lost when mailed back. I heard they just mail it and don't register it or use a courier service. Although maybe there's a way to do a pre-paid courier envelope that would work. But since I am in Canada, I don't think I'd be able to get one that could be sent from the USA. I thought I read someone else saying they couldn't do that for some reason (you had to have an account or something). I certainly don't want it mailed by regular mail. A few months ago, it took a priority mail envelope (only filled with documents/mail) 3.5 weeks to get from Seattle to Vancouver. Can you believe that? Also someone mailed me a package from the USA 6 weeks ago and I never got it. I don't trust the mail anyway, but when it goes over the border I REALLY don't trust it.

You will do need to use one sticker. It says to "save" one for the end of the file process or something like that (maybe for sending in the passport). There are 15, so hopefully we won't be needing to use ANY of them.

 

[Pharoh]

Can you not go in person for the visa to the Detroit office? I'm assuming that you can't since you say it's 400 miles and you would mail it, but would drive 14 hours to Buffalo if you stay in that office. So I guess you're not in Florida then. Must have read that about someone else.

Now I'm wondering if you can go in person to the Seattle office. Is it a fact that you can't drop off your passport at any of the satellite offices? I was just assuming you could..... I'd rather not mail mine as then I will be in Canada without a passport, which means I can't get back into the USA until they send it back. Probably I wouldn't need to, but you never know.... I was going to apply for one of those passport cards before I left, but then you had to send in your passport with the application, and I needed it to get into Canada and there wasn't enough time beforehand. Also, I worry the passport might be lost when mailed back. I heard they just mail it and don't register it or use a courier service. Although maybe there's a way to do a pre-paid courier envelope that would work. But since I am in Canada, I don't think I'd be able to get one that could be sent from the USA. I thought I read someone else saying they couldn't do that for some reason (you had to have an account or something). I certainly don't want it mailed by regular mail. A few months ago, it took a priority mail envelope (only filled with documents/mail) 3.5 weeks to get from Seattle to Vancouver. Can you believe that? Also someone mailed me a package from the USA 6 weeks ago and I never got it. I don't trust the mail anyway, but when it goes over the border I REALLY don't trust it.

You will do need to use one sticker. It says to "save" one for the end of the file process or something like that (maybe for sending in the passport). There are 15, so hopefully we won't be needing to use ANY of them.

TreeLover,

I may be wrong, but I'm fairly positive Buffalo is the only office which allows "walk-in" service, given that it's in the HSBC Centre in Buffalo. The other visa offices are standalone. There's no interviews there or anything, they're small, private offices, with no entrance for the general public.

So yeah, if your application gets sent to a non-Buffalo office, you probably get PR faster, but unfortunately, this means you HAVE to send in your passport. You can expedite it by sending a prepaid return label, but as you're in Canada, I'm not sure how that'd work. I would imagine you could do a prepaid FedEx international courier label or something, but I'm not entirely sure.

I would prefer to drive to Buffalo, get my stamp in-person, and land the same day. No worries about losing anything in the mail or anything.

 

[TreeLover]

Pharoh,

When I filled out my application, there was a page that asked where you preferred to be interviewed if it was required, and it had New York, Detroit, Seattle and LA as choices. So, I think that they do interviews at the satellite offices. Otherwise, why would they ask you? (Of course, that would be the logical conclusion, but then a lot of stuff we experience here is not logical, is it?!)

Not sure about the passport drop off though, as my only knowledge of it is this forum. Probably good to check the thread for people who have been transferred to other US visa offices. I remember seeing that on here somewhere.

Another alternative for me (if my file stays in Buffalo) is to go visit my parents and then go to Buffalo from there, which is a 6 hour drive.

But I guess at this point, early in the game, I just have to sit back and wait now.

 

[pinay_juliet]

Ahhh the waiting game is killing me!

I am from Vancouver as well tree! And hubby is from Conneticut. He needs to drive 9 hours to go to Buffalo. It would be really nice if he can pick up visa in Seattle office as I can pick him up there and land the same day!

 

[TreeLover]

I checked out that satellite office thread and found out a few things:

1. It's possible to get visa in person in the LA office as one person has done this on that thread. You can't do that in the NYC office and it's not mentioned by anyone whether you can or can't for Detroit and Seattle.

2. It seems that no one has been transferred to Seattle. One person said they chose Seattle in their application but were sent to LA instead. Most people on that thread seem to go to NYC or Detroit.

3. One person on the thread has sent a return Fed Ex envelope with their passport using a personal account opened with Fed Ex and it worked for returning the passport to Canada. The visa offices will say you need a CORPORATE account, but apparently the personal account worked also. I'm not sure what the deal is with returning it to the USA rather than Canada, since this wasn't mentioned. For some people who didn't sent a courier package, they were freaking out waiting for their passport by regular mail and one person said it took 6 weeks (Canadian address), another 3 weeks. So that's scary.

Just thought I'd pass on the info I found.

 

[TreeLover]

juliet,

I like the nickname you gave me: "tree." TreeLover was chosen after several other attempts were already taken and it's just because I like trees. But I like the nickname "tree." Much quicker to type.

As you see from my previous post, it seems that no one is being transferred to the Seattle office.

 

[pinay_juliet]

Thanks tree! alot easier to type!!

Thank you for the info! Our timeline is only a week apart, and it's good to know that someone from vancouver have the same timeline as mine.

We can check on each other for pr cards, health insurance, etc.

 

[Pharoh]

I got my AOR letter in the mail, along with the stickers. No information on interview or anything. I added my file number to the eCas tracker, so they have both my receipt number and file number to check for updates.

Now back to waiting...