Help Needed

[modelgirl 0]

Hi everyone,

my husband and I are beginning our green card process and are quite confused.

He is American and I am Canadian. We were married two years ago in Toronto and he has been a Canadian permanent resident now for over 6 months. We are wanting to apply for my US green card and relocate to the states.

Where do we begin? Is it true that there is no longer direct consular processing for Canada?

Thanks!

[ricnally 258]

True, no DCF in Canada. You'll need the spousal visa. Check the guides at the top of the page.

[mtlguy 59]

welcome to VJ.

Your story is similar to mine, with my wife being the US citizen and a permanent resident of Canada.

DCF is no longer available in Canada. it's been a while now.

This site has ample information about the process. So start going through the guides.

Since you guys have been married for more than 2 years, you'll be applying for the IR1 Visa as opposed to CR1.

In a nutshell this is what you guys need to do:

- Hubby starts by filing an I-130 petition with the USCIS.

- USCIS approves the I-130 petition and forwards your case the the National Visa Center.

- NVC asks the beneficiary (that's you) to apply for an Immigration Visa

- NVC asks the petitioner (that's hubby) to establish proof of financial support. Him being in Canada, means that he'll also need to prove to them that he has made concrete steps towards resuming residency in the US. It's not unheard of that the US citizens move to the US ahead of their spouses, find employment, housing, etc... to satisfy the US residency.

- When NVC receives your Immigration Visa application and your hubby's affidavit of support, they will forward your case to the US consulate in Montreal. An interview will be scheduled, some medical tests will be made, then you will end up taking the trip to the la belle province for the interview.

- At the interview, if all your papers are in order, and the consular officer is in a good mood, he/she will approve your visa.

- You the beneficiary will wait until the visa is issued and stamped on your passport, at which point you'd be able to cross the border and live happily ever after in the good old US of A.

[Lakehouse 293]

Great summary mtlguy!

And we are also sharing similar situations, with my husband being a US citizen who had Canadian PR, but now we're heading south... well he's already there and I've been without him since July

We had much disappointment when we learned DCF was no longer available, so IR-1 here we come! It's nearly over for us thankfully.

Once you get your I-130 sent out, join a thread called I-130 'May' filers or whatever month you receive your acknowledgement of receipt from USCIS (NOA1) to chat with others at the same stage as you are.

Then read read read much on the website, and you should end up in the NVC filers thread also found in the same section of the forums, once you get your NOA2 :

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/134-ir-1-cr-1-spouse-visa-case-filing-and-progress-reports/

Good luck!!

[Flames9_RN 358]

Welcome to VJ!! Take the time and read the Cr-1/Ir-1 forums, especially the guides! Up until the Interbiew in Montreal, the cr-1/ir-1 process is the same. Just that the cr-1 is for people married less than 2 yrs, and they get a 2 yr green card, and the IR-1 folks have been married 2 yrs or more, and get a 10 yr greencard!

Make copies of all the paperwork you submit. And you may want to take a look at the topic at the top of the Canada forum--proving USA residency. Best of luck. The paperwork is fairly easy, it is the waiting that can be a pain!!

[modelgirl 0]

Thank you so much everyone for your helpful replies! It is much appreciated!