Canadian Marrying American

[mbty 0]

Hello,

I am a Canadian citizen looking to marry my girlfriend of 5 years, who is an American citizen. I see there are guides and a ton of info on this site which I am going through. I just need a bit of help with how much a K1 visa will cost, as well as a timeline of how long it takes to process?

As a Canadian, I believe I can live in the US for up to 6 months at at time - but if I am filing a K1, will I be denied entry to the US while the Visa is still being processed?

Any help is appreciated as I am aiming to move to California in May 2010. Thank you!

- Mike

[gmjdmj 2]

The initial filing fee is $455.00 for the K-1. Once the petition is approved you will have costs for the medical exam, police certificate, and application fees (paid at the interview). Once you come to the states and are married, you will have to apply for adjustment of status. That fee is $1,010. The timeline varies. Our petition took 4 months to approve but as you can see in our timeline we are still waiting for an interview date. Some embassies are busier than others so there is no way to know after that, how long it will be. I would suggest going to immigration timelines here on VJ and seeing how long the average time is taking. So far for us, we are looking at about 6 to 7 months from filing to POE but we still don't know yet....There are other options for you as well. I would read the guides carefully and find which ones would work best for you...

Edited October 25, 2009 by gmjdmj

[pushbrk 12,898]

Hello,

I am a Canadian citizen looking to marry my girlfriend of 5 years, who is an American citizen. I see there are guides and a ton of info on this site which I am going through. I just need a bit of help with how much a K1 visa will cost, as well as a timeline of how long it takes to process?

As a Canadian, I believe I can live in the US for up to 6 months at at time - but if I am filing a K1, will I be denied entry to the US while the Visa is still being processed?

Any help is appreciated as I am aiming to move to California in May 2010. Thank you!

- Mike

This webpage does a good job of laying out the government fees and when they are paid.

**link removed per TOS**

"Moving to California" will require the appropriate fiance or spouse visa. It's best to plan the move with very flexible timing as it will be according to when you have the visa.

Edited November 29, 2009 by Captain Ewok
admin removal of link violating TOS advertising clause.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hello,

I am a Canadian citizen looking to marry my girlfriend of 5 years, who is an American citizen. I see there are guides and a ton of info on this site which I am going through. I just need a bit of help with how much a K1 visa will cost, as well as a timeline of how long it takes to process?

As a Canadian, I believe I can live in the US for up to 6 months at at time - but if I am filing a K1, will I be denied entry to the US while the Visa is still being processed?

Any help is appreciated as I am aiming to move to California in May 2010. Thank you!

- Mike

Yes, you can visit the USA. This is as opposed to "living" in the USA, which may be a fuzzy line, to be sure. You will need to have evidence of your intent to return to Canada. Also consider the CR-1 visa. It allows you to travel and work upon entry to the US, a K-1 does not. Just consider all the particulars of your personal situation. With a K-1 are you going to be happy about not being able to leave the USA for 3-6 months after arriving on a K-1? What about working? You are going to sit at home for 3-6 months after arriving? To me, with the ease of travel to the US that Canadians have and the ease of transition and ability to work, being native English speakers (most of them, and even most Quebecois speak pretty good English) with comparable educations from a similar society and culture...the K-1 simply does not make sense, or at least isn't the top choice. But you know your situation and can make that decision.

[mbty 0]

thanks for all the help - this website is great!

[Danu 19]

You can visit for up to 6 months but there are a few things you might want to keep in mind.

1st - you will need to provide strong ties to canada..this means leases, loans, employment (as in a letter stating you are due back on X date). It can sometimes be difficult to be able to stay the whole 6 months and this is based very much on the border guards being nice and believing you are coming back. Sometimes having the NOA1 or NOA2 from the 129F can help as it shows you are going through the legal channels. You also cannot work while you are there, which may or may not add a bit of hardship.

2nd - there are things you need to have done up here, the medical, you will need to get a police report, long form birth cert etc so you may not want to be there the whole time as it may prevent you from being able to get some of the stuff you need.

3rd - the consulate you are going through. Montreal has recently caught up a bit however they have a tendancy to take up to 5 months to actually schedule you an interview. I firmly believed I would be there by the beginning of October (about 7 months from the start) because people were getting approved so quickly, but for some of us the reality is closer to 9 or 10 months. If you are in Ontario or eastward you will be going through MTL, if you are Manitoba or west you will go through Vancouver which is only about 2 months.