K1 Visa Question for a Canadian Permanent Resident

[darkchilde794 5]

Hi! I would like to know if someone can give me advice for my situation.

I am a Filipino citizen who was on an F1-student visa between 2004-2007. My fiance and I met during my second year of university and have been together ever since. About 1.5 to 2 years ago, my family from the Philippines received our papers to immigrate to Canada and so after graduating (and officially ending my F1), I moved to Toronto and became a Canadian permanent resident. My fiance and I are maintaining our relationship (we probably should buy shares for Air Canada as it earned most of its business through the two of us for the past 1.5 years) and he originally planned to move to Toronto to be with me while I earned my citizenship in Canada.

Anyway he ended up not moving as he found a great job in the US and instead asked me to marry him (which is totally unrelated to this visa thing, but he did!). So my question is, being a Filipino citizen who is a lawful, permanent resident of Canada, do I have to return to the Philippines for the K1 visa application? We spoke to a lawyer in Toronto who said that I wont have to, as all applications would come to Montreal and then to Toronto, but he was so rude and dismissive that it was kind of hard to believe anything he said.

And I also would like to know if we should consider hiring a lawyer for our case as it is quite different from others (me living in Canada as a non-citizen but a PR). My fiance and I are doing everything by the book and I clearly left the country to live elsewhere when my F1 expired, but we are worried that because of my current living status, things will be impossible for us.

Anyway any advice would help and thank you for reading!

Edited December 24, 2008 by darkchilde794

[JnJ 0]

........... So my question is, being a Filipino citizen who is a lawful, permanent resident of Canada, do I have to return to the Philippines for the K1 visa application? We spoke to a lawyer in Toronto who said that I wont have to, as all applications would come to Montreal and then to Toronto, but he was so rude and dismissive that it was kind of hard to believe anything he said.

And I also would like to know if we should consider hiring a lawyer for our case as it is quite different from others (me living in Canada as a non-citizen but a PR). My fiance and I are doing everything by the book and I clearly left the country to live elsewhere when my F1 expired, but we are worried that because of my current living status, things will be impossible for us.

1Q - the lawyer was right. you can process your papers while in canada. i speak based on what i know and on experience . i am a filipino citizen and was a PR in canada (toronto) when we (then bf now hub) applied for a k1 in 2004. being a PR living in toronto, its true that your application would go to montreal for further processing. during my time, i believe there were only 2 consulates processing these types of visa applications - montreal and vancouver.

2Q - i really dont see the need for a lawyer. yours is not a special case that needs intervention. if you have the time and patience to go over the details of the requirements, you should be fine. this web resource was very very helpful to me at that time.

good luck. any question, feel free.

[Carlawarla 1]

Just wanted to welcome you to VJ! The best advise you got is from someone who has gone through the experience themselves. Yes, you can interview as a PR in Canada at a Canadian Consulate. Depending on where you live in Canada, your interview for a K-1 or K-3 will be at either Montreal or Vancouver.

Don't forget to visit the Canada Forum here on VJ, where you'll meet up with Canadians who are going through, or have gone through the process. Lots of questions are answered there along the way that are unique to Canadian/US couples visiting while the process is ongoing, importing your car to the US, collecting EI...the list goes on.

The link is here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showforum=93

There is also a VJ Wiki link to Canada here:

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/Canada

[pushbrk 12,872]

Just wanted to welcome you to VJ! The best advise you got is from someone who has gone through the experience themselves. Yes, you can interview as a PR in Canada at a Canadian Consulate. Depending on where you live in Canada, your interview for a K-1 or K-3 will be at either Montreal or Vancouver.

Don't forget to visit the Canada Forum here on VJ, where you'll meet up with Canadians who are going through, or have gone through the process. Lots of questions are answered there along the way that are unique to Canadian/US couples visiting while the process is ongoing, importing your car to the US, collecting EI...the list goes on.

The link is here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showforum=93

There is also a VJ Wiki link to Canada here:

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/Canada

From what you've described, there doesn't seem to be anything all that complicated about your case. An immigration lawyer worth any fee would know Toronto will have nothing to do with your process though, so I wouldn't use that one. Any family based visa interview for a Toronto resident would be in Montreal.

Edited December 24, 2008 by pushbrk

[darkchilde794 5]

Thank you soooo much guys!!!! I have been on and off panicking about this, as we intend to file the paperwork in January. It feels good to know that it can be done and that people know or have been through the same process. And yes I will check the Canadian VJ page. Again, thank you very much!