Working on a TN Visa and getting married.

[MSU_Beavers 0]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to the board and have been reading the posts religiously for about 5 hours. There has been posts similar to my situation but not quite the same. Any help would be appreciated. This is my scenario.

I am a Canadian. I went to school in the States on a F-1 Student Visa. I met the American girl of my dreams so I continued to stay in the states on a TN visa. I am currently employed at a great company in the states. I am getting married on July 26th, 2008 in Canada. I don't know if I want to live in the states or in Canada. My fiancé has 2 more years of school left and then we will decide on where to live. I didn't get any K-1 or fiancé visa's. I assumed that I could work under my TN Visa for as long as I wanted given I get it renewed every year. I don't have any ties to Canada other then my parents live there and I have one bank account still open.

My question is Will I still be able to cross in to the US after the marriage? and if I can, Will I still be able to work under the TN Visa? If not, What visa do I work under? I can't be away from my job in the state or I will get fired.

Better late then never to learn all the legal stuff.

Thank you

[sheraz 0]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to the board and have been reading the posts religiously for about 5 hours. There has been posts similar to my situation but not quite the same. Any help would be appreciated. This is my scenario.

I am a Canadian. I went to school in the States on a F-1 Student Visa. I met the American girl of my dreams so I continued to stay in the states on a TN visa. I am currently employed at a great company in the states. I am getting married on July 26th, 2008 in Canada. I don't know if I want to live in the states or in Canada. My fiancé has 2 more years of school left and then we will decide on where to live. I didn't get any K-1 or fiancé visa's. I assumed that I could work under my TN Visa for as long as I wanted given I get it renewed every year. I don't have any ties to Canada other then my parents live there and I have one bank account still open.

My question is Will I still be able to cross in to the US after the marriage? and if I can, Will I still be able to work under the TN Visa? If not, What visa do I work under? I can't be away from my job in the state or I will get fired.

Better late then never to learn all the legal stuff.

Thank you

If you have gotten married, apply for adjustment of status. You may have to wait to go back to Canada but it usually takes 6 months.

[pushbrk 12,569]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to the board and have been reading the posts religiously for about 5 hours. There has been posts similar to my situation but not quite the same. Any help would be appreciated. This is my scenario.

I am a Canadian. I went to school in the States on a F-1 Student Visa. I met the American girl of my dreams so I continued to stay in the states on a TN visa. I am currently employed at a great company in the states. I am getting married on July 26th, 2008 in Canada. I don't know if I want to live in the states or in Canada. My fiancé has 2 more years of school left and then we will decide on where to live. I didn't get any K-1 or fiancé visa's. I assumed that I could work under my TN Visa for as long as I wanted given I get it renewed every year. I don't have any ties to Canada other then my parents live there and I have one bank account still open.

My question is Will I still be able to cross in to the US after the marriage? and if I can, Will I still be able to work under the TN Visa? If not, What visa do I work under? I can't be away from my job in the state or I will get fired.

Better late then never to learn all the legal stuff.

Thank you

If you were marrying in the US and staying to adjust status to permanent resident you would have an easy transition with no real problem. If you go through with your choice to marry in Canada, you'll need a spouse visa. I don't see any reason why you can't enter the US after marriage (I wouldn't mention the marriage at the boarder.) and then "remain" in the US while waiting to return to Canada for the spouse visa interview. In your case, I would recommend the CR1 visa path.

The caution is that visa fraud issues are raised based on your intentions at US entry. If you leave again during the visa process, you may not be allowed to return to your job, so stay in the USA after your first post marriage entry, until you are ready to return to Canada for the visa interview.

[MSU_Beavers 0]

Thank you for the information. Is it possible to get the Fiancee visa with my wedding less then a month away?

[pushbrk 12,569]

Thank you for the information. Is it possible to get the Fiancee visa with my wedding less then a month away?

Absolutely not, but a fiance visa requires the marriage take place in the US anyway. You are marrying in Canada, so fiance visa is not an option.

[LadyJane 1]

Check out the Canada forum also, this question may be better suited for us US-Canadian couples. Warlord is a good person to talk to because he had done AOS after spending a few years on a TN visa. You may want to send him a personal message regarding being able to work on your TN visa after applying for AOS.

I would highly recommend getting married here in the US, not Canada. If you are asked at the border, you will have to say that you are married. Because you are a holder of a TN visa, you may not be able to show adequate ties to Canada. In turn, those two factors may indicate that you have immigrant intent and they may not let you back into the US. Yes, you can do what pushbrk said-neglect to mention it. But, I would recommend avoid the border all together.

[pushbrk 12,569]

Check out the Canada forum also, this question may be better suited for us US-Canadian couples. Warlord is a good person to talk to because he had done AOS after spending a few years on a TN visa. You may want to send him a personal message regarding being able to work on your TN visa after applying for AOS.

I would highly recommend getting married here in the US, not Canada. If you are asked at the border, you will have to say that you are married. Because you are a holder of a TN visa, you may not be able to show adequate ties to Canada. In turn, those two factors may indicate that you have immigrant intent and they may not let you back into the US. Yes, you can do what pushbrk said-neglect to mention it. But, I would recommend avoid the border all together.

Of course you never lie to a CBP officer but they don't generally ask frequent travelers about their family relationships. They might if you travel together wearing wedding rings though. Avoiding the border is definitely the safest bet and provided your decision to marry was after your last entry, you can do without a visa and just adjust status. Continued work on a TN visa while awaiting AOS or an immigrant visa is unfamiliar to me.

[jedinite 0]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to the board and have been reading the posts religiously for about 5 hours. There has been posts similar to my situation but not quite the same. Any help would be appreciated. This is my scenario.

I am a Canadian. I went to school in the States on a F-1 Student Visa. I met the American girl of my dreams so I continued to stay in the states on a TN visa. I am currently employed at a great company in the states. I am getting married on July 26th, 2008 in Canada. I don't know if I want to live in the states or in Canada. My fiancé has 2 more years of school left and then we will decide on where to live. I didn't get any K-1 or fiancé visa's. I assumed that I could work under my TN Visa for as long as I wanted given I get it renewed every year. I don't have any ties to Canada other then my parents live there and I have one bank account still open.

My question is Will I still be able to cross in to the US after the marriage? and if I can, Will I still be able to work under the TN Visa? If not, What visa do I work under? I can't be away from my job in the state or I will get fired.

Better late then never to learn all the legal stuff.

Thank you

I was in pretty much the same situation as you are now. I was working in the US under a TN-1 Visa and I had gotten married and left the US to get my visa renewed. While I was at the border trying to get my visa renewed I was rigorously questioned and when they found out that I had recently married my long time girlfriend they revoked my TN-1. You cannot be married to an American and also be applying for a "temporary" visa, because it's assumed that you will apply for a immigration or permanent resident status which disqualifies you from getting a TN-1 visa.

If you are getting married in Canada I would advise against it because they may not let you back into the US. Especially in your case since you do not have significant ties to Canada. Significant ties would include, house, mortgage, job opportunity, family, etc. If you cannot prove without a doubt that you will be returning to Canada proceeding your TN Visa expiring they will not allow you to re-enter the country.

My advice, file for an adjustment of status and get on your I-130 visa right away. At this point it is extremely doubtful that they will process your adjustment of status in time for you to get the proper visa to leave the country and get married. File for your marriage license in the US right away so that you're not applying for the I-129F. The K1 visa allows you to stay in the US and get married but it will prohibit you from legally working for 90 day (time it takes to get EAD - aka working visa).

Alternatively, if your fiancee and you are planning on living in Canada, she can move up here immediately but it will take you about a year to get a working visa for her. I don't know how long it takes to get a student visa but I assume that is not your intention. I was looking at bringing my wife up here but we couldn't afford to have her just wait idly for a year while a visa was processing for her to get a job. There are some expedited work visas available for Canada but I am not too certain on how to get those.

So in closing DON'T LEAVE the US to get married! If you get caught at the border lying about your status the worst case scenario is that you are black listed in which case you may be banned for 10 years from re-entering the country. I wasn't lying but I was fortunate that the officer that was handling my re-entry was kind enough to get me to fill out a Withdrawal of Entry, which is left on my record but doesn't do anything negative to my immigration process. It just states that I no longer wish to enter the country on the grounds that I am no longer seeking to obtain a TN visa but rather file for a immigration/permanent resident visa.

Not sure what the process is for filing adjustment of status at Nebraska office but that's where you'll have to send your forms. Check this site's guides for more info. Or you can contact a lawyer. Good luck and congratulations on your marriage in advance.

[MSU_Beavers 0]

Well, I have certainly learned a lot so far. Thank you to everyone.

But, I am screwed. I have planned a wedding in Canada and there are people coming from Australia and B.C. for the wedding in Ontario in July. By the sounds of it I will have to post-pone the wedding until forever, or rearrange the wedding to be in the US. Either way I am going to disappoint someone. Either my woman or my family.

I also run a non-profit organization in the States with a budget of $100,000. If I can't cross the border the non-profit will sustain huge damage, because I do everything from the taxes to the day to day operations.

Right now I am very distraught. I know things will work out and I hope things happen for a reason. But wow, again thank you for all the advice. I will be contacting a lawyer tomorrow to discuss my hopeless situation. Maybe they have a loophole that nobody knows about that will solve all the problems that I am faced with.

Without the insight of this forum and the generosity of all the contributing people I would have still believed I could work under the TN visa for as long as I wanted. (deep breath) How do I tell everyone at the non-profit and my current employment that I might not be able come back to the US after the wedding?

I am actually venting. Thank you for listing and understanding.

[pushbrk 12,569]

Well, I have certainly learned a lot so far. Thank you to everyone.

But, I am screwed. I have planned a wedding in Canada and there are people coming from Australia and B.C. for the wedding in Ontario in July. By the sounds of it I will have to post-pone the wedding until forever, or rearrange the wedding to be in the US. Either way I am going to disappoint someone. Either my woman or my family.

I also run a non-profit organization in the States with a budget of $100,000. If I can't cross the border the non-profit will sustain huge damage, because I do everything from the taxes to the day to day operations.

Right now I am very distraught. I know things will work out and I hope things happen for a reason. But wow, again thank you for all the advice. I will be contacting a lawyer tomorrow to discuss my hopeless situation. Maybe they have a loophole that nobody knows about that will solve all the problems that I am faced with.

Without the insight of this forum and the generosity of all the contributing people I would have still believed I could work under the TN visa for as long as I wanted. (deep breath) How do I tell everyone at the non-profit and my current employment that I might not be able come back to the US after the wedding?

I am actually venting. Thank you for listing and understanding.

Next time you check out the immigration issues before you make plans to marry a foreigner.

[jedinite 0]

Well, I have certainly learned a lot so far. Thank you to everyone.

But, I am screwed. I have planned a wedding in Canada and there are people coming from Australia and B.C. for the wedding in Ontario in July. By the sounds of it I will have to post-pone the wedding until forever, or rearrange the wedding to be in the US. Either way I am going to disappoint someone. Either my woman or my family.

I also run a non-profit organization in the States with a budget of $100,000. If I can't cross the border the non-profit will sustain huge damage, because I do everything from the taxes to the day to day operations.

Right now I am very distraught. I know things will work out and I hope things happen for a reason. But wow, again thank you for all the advice. I will be contacting a lawyer tomorrow to discuss my hopeless situation. Maybe they have a loophole that nobody knows about that will solve all the problems that I am faced with.

Without the insight of this forum and the generosity of all the contributing people I would have still believed I could work under the TN visa for as long as I wanted. (deep breath) How do I tell everyone at the non-profit and my current employment that I might not be able come back to the US after the wedding?

I am actually venting. Thank you for listing and understanding.

Oh yeah, most lawyers will request a small fee for a consult. Most of the paperwork can be done by yourself but you can always pay this nominal fee to get as much legal info as you can. If you follow the guide on this site you shouldn't have any issues filing for your own I-130 and then applying for an Adjustment of Status. It will save you several thousand in legal fees. Most lawyers I've spoken to charge at least $5000 plus additional fees per form that you must submit or money you have to send into the government for each form. So doing it yourself you're looking at <$800, through a lawyer as your proxy you are looking to pay around $6000-7000 depending on your lawyer.

What I would recommend is scheduling for a court-house wedding to get your marriage license and then marriage legalized, filing for your I-130. After you get your NOA1 send in an adjustment of status and plan your wedding for some place that is close to the Canadian/US border for your July wedding if you have guests that have already booked their flights and are coming in from around the world. Your guests will then only have to travel a short distance from Ontario to celebrate your wedding.

I hope everything turns out good for you and you avoid being locked out of the US like myself. In my case I had a job offer with a really great company and they still want to hire me when I return but if it takes any longer I may lose that opportunity. Fortunately, my wife has visited me several times in Canada since I've been stuck here, but it's really not ideal.

[pushbrk 12,569]

Well, I have certainly learned a lot so far. Thank you to everyone.

But, I am screwed. I have planned a wedding in Canada and there are people coming from Australia and B.C. for the wedding in Ontario in July. By the sounds of it I will have to post-pone the wedding until forever, or rearrange the wedding to be in the US. Either way I am going to disappoint someone. Either my woman or my family.

I also run a non-profit organization in the States with a budget of $100,000. If I can't cross the border the non-profit will sustain huge damage, because I do everything from the taxes to the day to day operations.

Right now I am very distraught. I know things will work out and I hope things happen for a reason. But wow, again thank you for all the advice. I will be contacting a lawyer tomorrow to discuss my hopeless situation. Maybe they have a loophole that nobody knows about that will solve all the problems that I am faced with.

Without the insight of this forum and the generosity of all the contributing people I would have still believed I could work under the TN visa for as long as I wanted. (deep breath) How do I tell everyone at the non-profit and my current employment that I might not be able come back to the US after the wedding?

I am actually venting. Thank you for listing and understanding.

What I would recommend is scheduling for a court-house wedding to get your marriage license and then marriage legalized, filing for your I-130. After you get your NOA1 send in an adjustment of status and plan your wedding for some place that is close to the Canadian/US border for your July wedding if you have guests that have already booked their flights and are coming in from around the world. Your guests will then only have to travel a short distance from Ontario to celebrate your wedding.

I hope everything turns out good for you and you avoid being locked out of the US like myself. In my case I had a job offer with a really great company and they still want to hire me when I return but if it takes any longer I may lose that opportunity. Fortunately, my wife has visited me several times in Canada since I've been stuck here, but it's really not ideal.

That suggestion would work but you can file I-130 and I-485 etc. concurrently. No need to wait for NOA1.

[MsZ 6]

I don't think a lawyer is going to tell you anything that you haven't heard here. There is no loop hole.

My advice is to do what you can to change the wedding. Disappointing people is sad, but being denied entry to the US would be even sadder. Your livelihood and your relationship should be your #1 priority, not necessarily in that order.

My husband and I have been waiting 8 months for anything to happen with our CR1 application. We're living apart, traveling back and forth across the border. It is expensive to run two households. And married people should really live together. But we've both got our respective jobs, etc.

Your situation would be very difficult if you were denied entry into the US, which I could very well see occuring. The fight to get you back into the US would be extremely difficult and costly to your company. Plus, you'd be apart from your soon-to-be wife.

Disappoint the family. THey'll understand.

[LadyJane 1]

I don't think a lawyer is going to tell you anything that you haven't heard here. There is no loop hole.

My advice is to do what you can to change the wedding. Disappointing people is sad, but being denied entry to the US would be even sadder. Your livelihood and your relationship should be your #1 priority, not necessarily in that order.

My husband and I have been waiting 8 months for anything to happen with our CR1 application. We're living apart, traveling back and forth across the border. It is expensive to run two households. And married people should really live together. But we've both got our respective jobs, etc.

Your situation would be very difficult if you were denied entry into the US, which I could very well see occuring. The fight to get you back into the US would be extremely difficult and costly to your company. Plus, you'd be apart from your soon-to-be wife.

Disappoint the family. THey'll understand.

I agree with Ms. Z here. It would be more difficult for you to NOT be able to return to the US. And, I'm all for doing what is best for you first...because you live with yourself 99.9% of the time.

Your family will definitely understand. Good thing though, is that it seems your family is coming from Visa Waiver Program countries (ie. Australia) and won't need to apply for a visitor visa to come to the US. They shouldn't need to cancel their airline tickets: I'm guessing they'll fly to T.O., and it's a relatively short drive to Niagara Falls, NY or even Detroit, MI.

[MSU_Beavers 0]

Well, I talked to an attorney and he said get married at the courthouse and file AOS, EAD and Advance Parole. At worst I would push the wedding back because it takes 2 months to process the AP from what I hear. Or stay in the States and get married. Thank you again for responding.

I will keep you posted on how everything turns out.