TN Getting Married

[ATLCAN 0]

I am on a TN-1 I intend to marry a US citizen. My current TN expires next March 2011. I intend to marry in October 2010. What is the best way to do this without having to leave my job in the US? I also have a vacation planned for late October out of the US, can I still leave for this trip after I'm married?

Thank you

[Wishing 1]

Hi, TN Visa holders are under "dual intent" clause in the US. This basically means that you cannot intend to marry a USC (or ie. take up permanent residence) when you enter the country/are issued the TN visa. So if you met your fiance after the fact, then its pretty easy to proove, or if in some way you can proove that you did not intent to stay/immigrate when you crossed then sometimes ok too. They may never check this but then again they might during the AOS process. My boyfriend and I just didn't want to deal with the chance of this being a problem so I came back to Canada and we applied for K1 visa. K1 takes 6-8 months to process...usually.

Another option is to switch to an H1-B visa, as this visa does not have dual intent clause. I am not familiar with this process but I'm sure others on VJ are.

As far as leaving in October, once you marry and apply for AOS you cannot leave US until the AOS is approved, as your TN visa will be null. Also if you leave you are considered as abandoning the AOS application, and may not be able to re-enter the US.

One member that you may want to IM is @warlord, they adjusted from TN and had no issue. He may offer you some advice....

Hope this helps!

[warlord 73]

I am on a TN-1 I intend to marry a US citizen. My current TN expires next March 2011. I intend to marry in October 2010. What is the best way to do this without having to leave my job in the US? I also have a vacation planned for late October out of the US, can I still leave for this trip after I'm married?

Thank you

Simply make sure you have enough time left on your TN status. Now that TN's are good for 3 years, make sure you have at least 8 months left on it to be safe. More the better.

Get married and file for AOS. When you get your EAD your TN is now invalid and you can use the EAD in place to work. You cannot leave the US after filing until you recieve the AP (Advanced Parole) document. So this will depend on when you file. If you get married and file this summer, there is a good chance you will have your AP before Oct.

Looking at your timeline if you marry in Oct you are a) not going to get your AP document on time, meaning you cannot leave the US for the trip and b) you are really cutting it close with your TN expiration, as some people have experienced delays of several months. This would mean you could be risking being out of status and not being able to work if the TN expires before you get your EAD. And remember once you have filed for AOS, you can no longer apply for a TN, so you will be stuck without being able to work until that EAD comes in.

I really would suggest if you can getting married and filing in the summer if possible, or wait another year until you have enough time on the TN left and a trip made out of the US a long while after filing for AOS to be sure to get AP...

[ATLCAN 0]

Simply make sure you have enough time left on your TN status. Now that TN's are good for 3 years, make sure you have at least 8 months left on it to be safe. More the better.

Get married and file for AOS. When you get your EAD your TN is now invalid and you can use the EAD in place to work. You cannot leave the US after filing until you recieve the AP (Advanced Parole) document. So this will depend on when you file. If you get married and file this summer, there is a good chance you will have your AP before Oct.

Looking at your timeline if you marry in Oct you are a) not going to get your AP document on time, meaning you cannot leave the US for the trip and b) you are really cutting it close with your TN expiration, as some people have experienced delays of several months. This would mean you could be risking being out of status and not being able to work if the TN expires before you get your EAD. And remember once you have filed for AOS, you can no longer apply for a TN, so you will be stuck without being able to work until that EAD comes in.

I really would suggest if you can getting married and filing in the summer if possible, or wait another year until you have enough time on the TN left and a trip made out of the US a long while after filing for AOS to be sure to get AP...

Thanks for the information, it all makes more sense to me now. What Visa should I apply for? What are the costs involved and is it necessary to hire a lawyer to help with the process or can it be done without a lawyer?

[mtlgato 2]

Personally, I would suggest a *consultation* with a lawyer. Choose one listed on the AILA site (American Immigration Lawyers Association). The site includes profiles with info on their education and experience. In my case, a half-hour consultation cost $130 and was, in my opnion, WELL worth it. The lawyer's secretary then tried to do a bit of a sales-job on us...They wanted us to pay $2000 to have the lawyer actually do the visa application for us...but we decided that that part *wasn't* worth it (I can fill out forms as well as any parallegal, I figure). But the $130 session in which the lawyer outlined the various pitfalls that we might well have fallen into if we hadn't had smart, clear advice was a good thing.

What my case had in common with yours was that there were some issues around what timing for the actual legal marriage made the best sense...and where we could have our honeymoon without causing any immigration complications...and when exactly we should put the I-130 paperwork in the mail. What my case did not have in common with yours was that there was no TN visa involved.

The advice you're getting on VJ seems pretty good to me...But that thing that a pp said about the "dual intent" clause attached to the TN just made me think: "Proceed with caution! Make SURE you know what you are doing."

All best,

c.

[warlord 73]

Damn I didn't even realize Wishing made a post before me, must have been typing at the same time and you beat me to it ha ha.

The dual intent only means you cannot enter into a TN status if you are using that to buy time before getting married. Once you are on a TN and valid in the US and working and then you find someone and then decide to marry it is perfectly fine.

That's the only issue is getting it with intent to use. There is no need to ever switch to an H1-b for any reason for the TN process. Going from TN to Green Card through marriage is fairly straight forward (other then all the forms you need to fill out). There have been 1000's of us that have sucessfully done it without any issues.

Now with the lawyer. Many people do it without, I did it with a lawyer, becuase I had concerns too years back and there wasn't a lot of information back then on the topic like there is now. Having a lawyer definatly made it a lot less stressful. The paper work is confusing and there is a lot of it all through the process. Plus having a lawyer with me at the interview just made me feel a lot more confident. I did realize after my entire process that I could have easily done it without a lawyer if I had the time to invest in the forms. So that's just a decision you would have to make. For me, it did make things a lot easier, but at the expense of a few thousand dollars. So weigh out which option is best...

Edited May 27, 2010 by warlord

[trailmix 77]

Thanks for the information, it all makes more sense to me now. What Visa should I apply for? What are the costs involved and is it necessary to hire a lawyer to help with the process or can it be done without a lawyer?

If you are good with attention to detail and filling out forms (or your fiancee is) then you really probably do not need a lawyer.

Start by reading the Guides - there is a link - top of this page, you will want to read the one entitled: US Citizen and Spouse both live/reside in the US:

- I-130 Petition and Adjustment of Status Guide

There you will find out what the procedure is and which forms you need to file.

Edited May 28, 2010 by trailmix