Some good news!

*Reference link to abbreviations/terms post*

Just to start off, Happy New Year!

I had a great Christmas with Ben. He flew in Wednesday night and left less than four days later. I'm so glad we got to spend our first Christmas together.

Also, as of January 2nd, it's been 4 months since our NOA1. And as of today, I've known Ben for exactly a year ^_^

Anyways, on to the good news. So, on VJ, I came across a thread indicating that the DS-260 is now mandatory for all visa applicants going through the Montreal Consulate. At first, I was kind of disappointed since I already have the DS-230 filed out, but soon realised how amazing this DS-260 is.

*Reference link to post about the DS-261/DS-260*

I just found out today some very uplifting news which I am so grateful for. This new DS-260 is getting rid of the mail backlog at the Montreal Consulate. As soon as a case is complete at NVC, the DS-260 is sent electronically to the consulate. An interview date is then assigned. How fast are interviews getting assigned now? In this other thread I'm following about the DS-260, there were two members that got case completes this week, and got their interview dates this week as well. This has never happened before. NEVER. (Unless it was expedited, but these are non-expedited cases). Usually, for Montreal, after a case complete, one waits about 4 months, gets assigned an interview date, and then has the interview one month later.

Plus, I haven't gotten to the best news of all. Sure, getting an interview date assigned fast is nice, but WHEN the interview date is important. Instead of being 5 months from a case complete, these two members have interview dates TWO months after case complete. TWO MONTHS. When I saw this, I broke out in a smile. Like, a very large smile. :D :D

If this get-an-interview-two-months-from-case-complete remains, then to get to South Dakota for our first anniversary on May 21, I'd have to have the interview at the beginning of May, which means I need to get a case complete around the end of February/beginning of March. And since NVC only takes a few weeks, this is all possible once we get our NOA2 in the next upcoming weeks. So happy and thankful.

~Lindsay