Successful CP Interview
Interview Date: 09/13/2005
Consulate: Montreal
Location: Corner of Renee Levesque Blvd and Rue St. Alexandre
Interview Experience:
Spouse and I arrived at Consulate at about 7:30am. There was no line, we were let in by security to a waiting room in the basement. There were 2 applicants ahead of us, one of them had a permanent residency interview. At about 8am, security called us to board the elevator to the 19th floor. We were told that our counter was # 14. As you know, the elevator's back door opens at the 19th floor, so stay right at the back of the elevator when you go in. At about 8:30am , the counter opened and we were told to show our appointment letter. The lady at the counter gave us 2 tokens with the same number. She did not collect the $45 fee from us (it seems that my company must have taken care of it). The others were asked for the fee.
At 9am, our number (matched by the token) came up on the screen with the counter to go to. At the counter, the officer was polite but curt and asked us for the passports, appointment letter, employment letter, 1 token and medical report (no xray needed). He asked me where I worked and what my job was. He also asked us about my wife's canadian police certificate. I told him that since she resided in Canada for <12 months, she did not need one (this is clearly mentioned on the state dept. website). I told him about the website too but he did not buy it. He then said that it's their call if she needed one or not. He then asked us to go back and wait till our number was called again. The whole process took about 5-10 mins.
After 30-45 mins we were called again to another counter in a room (closed door). The officer was extremely polite and a real gentleman. We were asked to take the oath (stating that our statements were true) He queried me on my spouse's Police Cert. I gave him the same story and asked him to take a look at the website. He did just that and returned saying that I was correct. He did say that the website info conflicted with what was written in the foreign affairs manual. He showed me the printouts too and then said that he was going to drop that requirement since the website did show incorrect information. He also asked me about my employer and what I was going to do. In the process, he returned our original birth cert, marriage cert. Not many questions or any grilling. We were then told to take our fingerprints (L and R index fingers). He then congratulated us and gave us a note to come back the next day at 2:30pm. I think we were out by 10:30 or 11am.
Next day: We arrived at the consulate at 2pm and were asked to go to the 19th floor after security clearance. The counter opened at 2:30pm and the lady called us one by one. We were given our passports back (with the I-551 visa) and a yellow envelope (1 for each applicant).The yellow envelope was to be given to the officer at the POE (do not open it).
At about 5pm , we reached Champlain, NY which was our POE. The officer at the border took our passports and asked us to go to immigration. At the counter, the lady opened the yellow envelopes and went through it. Mostly routine stuff. She asked us for our address to mail the card to. She did not know when we would get our cards. We were asked to take our fingerprints (R index only) and sign on an blank form. Our passports were then stamped and sent us on our way to freedom
She said that we could travel in/out of the US 1 year from the date on the stamp, which was 09/14/05 (the visa has a validity of only 6 months).
I also asked the lady about the documents needed to move our personal stuff from Canada to US. She asked us to just write on a sheet of paper what was in the truck, no. of boxes etc. This is only if you are moving it on your own.
On the 17th, we drove a u-haul with our personal stuff to the Washington border post. Presented our visas to the officer and there were no problems at all. He did not want to see the list of items (I offered to show it to him). I also mentioned I had bank drafts with a value of >10k, he said that I don't need to declare it if I did not sign it (I hadn't signed it). So, moving to WA was a breeze.
Lodging at Montreal: Sept/Oct is peak season at MTL. The hotels are horribly expensive. We stayed at Travelodge downtown for 2 nights. The cost was CAD 130/night, taxes incl., for a really small room (the entire bathroom was the size of a standard tub). It's 2 blocks from the consulate. Really close.
I would suggest trying Priceline first for any MTL downtown hotels of the 2*/3* variety. I tried it but was unsuccessful. For priceline hotel bids, try
www.betterbidding.com as a guide. Any hotel in downtown MTL is within walking distance to the US consulate.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask or email
tarantula@excite.com
Good luck to all !!!