Question please ?

[Minted7 3]

I'm a U.s. citizen and i'm married to a canadian citizen. We got married in California on September 26th, 2009 (he came down and his family for the wedding)..... after we got married I went to live in Canada with him and we recently decided to move to California. I've come back to the u.s. to get a job and a apartment....so he can come in a few months. I'm just wondering what kind of forums I need. Also while waiting for all the forms to be proccessed can my husband stay in the u.s for 6months and go back then come back for another 6 months?

[CatPower 0]

So just to clarify, you both want to permanently settle in California, correct?

The forms that need to be filed are the I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative), I-485 (Adjustment of Status), I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization Document) --> once this is approved, then he can start working while the case is pending, I-693 (Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record), I-864 (Affidavit of Support) and G-325A (Biographic Information).

You probably would also need to file the I-131 form (Advanced Parole) if he wants to go back to Canada while the case is pending. If everything goes smoothly though, the whole process may not even take 6 months. It took five months from the day I sent in all the forms to the day my green card was approved. I wasn't able to send in the I-864 with the initial packet. They sent me an RFE and it took me 2 months to send it in, so technically everything only took more or less 3 months.

[canadian_wife 1,822]

CatPower - please be careful as to what you post, this information is not what the OP needs

Minted7 - your husband CANNOT come to the US as a tourist with the intentions of immigrating (filing the adjustment of status as CatPower suggested). This is immigration fraud and can result in a lifetime bad from the United States. Since you are already married and you've moved back to the US - you need to send the I-130 and G-325A, with supporting forms and documents, to USCIS. Please follow the guides to help you get started.

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

Your husband can certainly visit. Admittance and duration of stay is up to the CBP at the time of crossing. It is quite possible that admittance for 6 months will be granted, however it is also possible that it won't be. To increase your chances of admittance, he should bring strong ties to Canada to show that he intends to return and will not commit immigration fraud.

I won't lie, the process will take 8 - 12 months. He'll interview in Montreal and it is a terribly slow consulate.

Come on by the Canada forum for support and advice

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/93-canada/

Good luck

[Irishlover 2]

Are you wanting to get a CR1 visa? This is for people who are already married and it's the quickest way for your spouse to be able to work without getting the work permit. You need to first apply for an I130. This can take up to 5 months for approval, but I hear on average it about 3 months. After that it gets sent to NVC (national visa Center) where you send in the rest of the packets. At this point your spouse is not supposed to enter the US. I have heard of people trying to enter and not being allowed in. I have also heard of other people who come over and bring documentation (lease, work letter, etc)that they will be returning back to their own country. Your husband cannot live with you during the process. I know it's unfortunate but it's the way our wonderful country makes this entire ridiculous process even more stressfull.

You have a lot of research to do, it doesn't seem like you know anything about the process at all. Good luck!

[trailmix 77]

After that it gets sent to NVC (national visa Center) where you send in the rest of the packets. At this point your spouse is not supposed to enter the US.

Oh dear, this thread is full of misinformation - that can't be good.

Minted7 - the information that Canadian_wife gave you is correct.

Irishlover - there is no guideline that says that once the file has reached NVC the spouse is not supposed to enter the U.S.

It is completely up to the border person on the day and, as canadian_wife mentioned, the visitor needs to bring strong proof of ties to Canada.

[pushbrk 12,910]

Oh dear, this thread is full of misinformation - that can't be good.

Minted7 - the information that Canadian_wife gave you is correct.

Irishlover - there is no guideline that says that once the file has reached NVC the spouse is not supposed to enter the U.S.

It is completely up to the border person on the day and, as canadian_wife mentioned, the visitor needs to bring strong proof of ties to Canada.

I agree with the above. It's a great idea to have evidence of ties to Canada but in many cases, Canadians just breeze right through. Evidence of ties does not trump obvious immigrant intent though, so there are no guarantees. I think a lot of this misinformation about visiting comes from people not willing to take ANY risk of refused entry and exaggerating their fear of risk by equating a "risk" to a "can't". Then you pass that around a small room once and it becomes a regulation.

A visitor who faces the cost of a round trip ticket with no assurance they won't get turned around at the POE, will often simply elect not to take the risk. It's a personal choice, where somebody who can drive to the border crossing in a short time is more likely to give it a try.

[Minted7 3]

Wow you guys are full of information. Thankyou very much! I don't intend on bringing him here as a tourist and then having him stay and immigrating I just want to fill out the correct paperwork to have him be able to stay with me, we just want to avoid being apart. If while I the forms are processing and he can visit every 6months then leave, that would be great he would travel back and forth until they are complete. I haven't done any forms yet and don't know where to begin, I am thinking about seeing a lawyer also. When I first started searching for things on the internet and read some people are apart from each other for 6months to a year or more my heart dropped down to my stomach, I think I would be depressed. =(

[trailmix 77]

It's quite possible you will be apart for 6 months or more.

The entire process is going to take around 12 months. While technically he can visit for up to 6 months at a time, don't overlook the "strong proof of ties" that we have been talking about.

As Push mentioned, many Canadians visit during the visa process and have no problems entering the U.S. at all, but that is not always the case and you need to be prepared for that.

Also, while Canadians can stay for 180 days at a time (unless the border officer instructs otherwise) - and can then leave the U.S. and basically try to reenter for another 180 days, this is not in any way guaranteed. There is a fine line between 'visiting' and 'residing' in the U.S. and the U.S. border personel will send him back to Canada if they feel his intention is to reside there (regardless of any proof of ties he has with him).

Unless you are really bad at filling out forms and giving them the attention to detail that they need, you probably don't need a lawyer, unless you have other circumstances that might require a lawyer's assistance to help you understand how to proceed. A lawyer cannot make the process go faster.

Start by reading the guide here for the CR1/IR1 visa (link at top of this page to Guides).

Edited April 24, 2010 by trailmix

[pushbrk 12,910]

Wow you guys are full of information. Thankyou very much! I don't intend on bringing him here as a tourist and then having him stay and immigrating I just want to fill out the correct paperwork to have him be able to stay with me, we just want to avoid being apart. If while I the forms are processing and he can visit every 6months then leave, that would be great he would travel back and forth until they are complete. I haven't done any forms yet and don't know where to begin, I am thinking about seeing a lawyer also. When I first started searching for things on the internet and read some people are apart from each other for 6months to a year or more my heart dropped down to my stomach, I think I would be depressed. =(

Typically, a Canadian can visit the USA for six months maximum in any year. US Citizens visiting Canada works pretty much the sae way. Your husband cannot visit for six months, then exit and re-enter for another six months though. It's a "visitor" privilege.

Follow the CR1 guide and make sure that at the NVC stage you opt in for the electronic processing.

[Minted7 3]

Can I visit him in canada for 6months while the paperwork is processing? So I should start with the CR1 ...........not K-3 's or anything like that...wow this is so confusing.

[trailmix 77]

Yes you can visit him in Canada while it is processing, keep in mind that you have to sponsor him though - so you will need to have income of 125% of the poverty guidelines and be able to prove that (or have a cosponsor who can).

The K3 is all but obsolete.

You don't mention what your status in Canada was, did you file for Canadian permanent residency?

I'm going to leave it at that for now. You are getting confused because you haven't read the guides yet - you are focusing on how you can be together now instead of what is involved in the immigration process. Think of it as being akin to planning your time off from work - but you haven't had the interview for the job yet.

Read the CR1 and DCF guides and see which might work for you. Once you understand the process - THEN start figuring out how you can spend the maximum amount of time together during that process.

Come back and ask questions you will have

Edited April 24, 2010 by trailmix

[Suna 0]

when you had to get the papers ready for the i 129 f what papers did you need form your husband in canada?

or does it apply since you guys armarried?

[Minted7 3]

Trail - no i didn't apply for canadian permanat residency

suna - I haven't done any paperwork yet.

[trailmix 77]

Ok so DCF isn't an option for you - you need to have some kind of status in Canada, other than visitor. Well that narrows your choice down to the CR1 visa then - at least that helps alleviate some of the confusion.

Don't be overwhelmed just yet, you will find that once you have all the information you have a lot to do with how fast this process goes - you can have all your documents and forms ready to send as it progresses and that will speed things up a lot.

[Minted7 3]

it's just when I go to the website http://kb.immigrationdirect.com/search.aspx

It's confusing because there are K-3 and k-1

then apply for a u.s. green card through marriage

then there are other ones like the CR1 and it's like whoa which one do i pick.... sheesh =/