New to VJ, Canadian seeking info...

[digoman 0]

Hello, all. Glad to find a place to share and receive information.

I am a dual citizen, Canada/USA. I have lived in Canada all my life, and my wife has for the majority of hers. We were recently married and both live in Calgary. Today I filed our I-130 (hope I am in the right forum!). It was "approved" (as expected, they of course want the filing fee regardless of outcome I imagine!) and we were told our application would be sent to Montreal for processing.

Along with simply wanting to interact with others who are currently, or have recently, gone through this process, I am trying to find out a realistic timeframe in which my wife and I can expect to wait for the entire process to be complete. Also any hints, tips, tricks, etc

Short background on our situation: I have recently been laid off. Rather than locate another employer in Calgary, my wife (who grew up in Miami for a few years) have decided to leave the Canadian winters behind and move to sunny Florida - an area we have both spent time in, as well as an area we can both secure and continue our careers. Due to the fact I need to be working asap, and that we need to sell our home and essentially cut all ties to Canada, we are wondering how long the process may take for my wife to receive her Green Card. I have read anywhere between 3 months and a year plus - needless to say, I am optimistic on the shorter timeframe That being said, I would welcome any realistic information from couples who have applied via an Embassy in Canada (with processing in Montreal).

We have no interest in being apart for an extended period, so if possible I would like to wait in Canada with my beautiful bride until she can enter the US as a permanent resident (not sure if my terminology is correct, here). Also interested to know with any certainty of she can still enter the US with her Canadian passport as a visitor. We also have been advised her interview needs to take place in Montreal - is there any validity to this?

Any and all comments are genuinely appreciated and welcomed.

Dan & Gina

[MSPtoYYZ 0]

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

Come hang out here.

[trailmix 77]

Hi and welcome,

I am also a dual citizen and also live in Calgary (and had never lived in the U.S. until we moved to Florida). We moved to Florida for 15 months and returned to Calgary last August (too hot and the job market was just terrible - nice house prices though)!

You might want to check out the Canada forum that MSP has linked to, lots of Canada specific information there. A few facts for you:

- Yes, you will interview in Montreal, there is no choice on which consulate to interview at.

- It will actually take around a year to complete the process (the 3 months you heard is probably the time frame to get an interview at Montreal - after all the paperwork is finished).

- You can have your medical in either Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal, it is also not offered anywhere else.

- You will either need a joint sponsor or will need to have 3 times the poverty guidelines in assets ( $54636.00 USD in assets, if it's just the two of you).

- Because both of you are living in Canada, you, as the Canadian citizen, are going to have to prove that you are reestablishing domicile in the U.S. - there is a thread about that here - Montreal takes a VERY hard line on this.

[digoman 0]

Thank-you so much for the reply. I had hoped for better news to be honest, but a realistic expectation is what I was looking to receive, so thank-you for that!

I browsed some of the timeline information for Montreal. I am certain it will soon become quite clear, but what are the stages associated with the codes/dates?

NOA1

NOA2

etc.

As well, I am wondering if my wife will still be allowed into the US with her Canadian passport, or have we permanently ostracized her from the US until this entire process is complete?

Thanks again to everyone for the replies and information.

Dan & Gina

[trailmix 77]

No, she hasn't been ostracized, she can still visit while all the paperwork is processing. However, it's always a good idea to bring strong proof of ties to Canada - a lease or mortgage documents, letter from employer, utility bill - just to show that she is indeed coming back.

The NOA1 (Notice of Action) is basically a receipt. Once you file your I-130/G-325A you should receive this within a week or two. This is also good to take with you to the border if you are visiting the U.S. as well - shows that you are actually applying for an immigrant visa rather than hopping the border as it were.

NOA2 - this means the I-130 has been approved. I'm not sure what the timeline on these are at the moment, it's usually a few months.

So basically the flow is:

NOA1 >> NOA2 >> File is sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) >> Pay IV fee and I-864 fee >> Submit I-864 and DS-230 (plus all original documents) >> File approved at NVC >> Interview in Montreal scheduled >> have medical >> attend interview.

The visa they will put in her passport is good for 6 months, ie: she will have 6 months to cross the border and use that visa. Once that happens she is a permanent resident. Her green card should arrive within a few weeks and she can also apply for a SSN.

Being prepared for the NVC is probably the thing that can move your file along the fastest. Have a look here for the civil documents you will need to supply to them. The US citizen also submits the affidavit of support at that point (I-864). You will want to get 3 years worth of tax transcripts from the IRS, you can order those now for 2007. 2008 and 2009. While the Canadian income cannot be counted towards the affidavit of support, you will have to submit 2009 with the I-864 and should take the other 2 years to the interview.

People applying from Canada also have the option of submitting their information to NVC electronically.

If you have never filed U.S. returns, you will have to do so now, filing the last 3 years worth should suffice.

That's probably enough info for now

[digoman 0]

WOW - my head is going to explode! I was extremely niave on how I thought this process was going to proceed. Extremely grateful for this forum.

Again, thank-you so much for the information. This helps greatly with our planning.

I'll post updates as they come in regarding our progress.

Extremely grateful,

Dan & Gina

[Adichiwa 0]

Hi Dan and Gina,

Nice to see another couple immigrating to Florida. We (husband USC and I) started our DCF process at the end of December and just awaiting for our interview date still remains a mystery. Just like you, I too believe in the system and try to stay optimistic on the time frame of this entire process. My husband is starting his job in a few weeks in the US and I will go with him... only I'll be coming back to await my papers in Canada shortly after (hopefully not too shortly after). I would strongly recommend to get together all the necessary documents that prove your ties to Canada (or your wifes). We held off on selling our property and we still kept all bank accounts and utilities for the time being... hopefully that's sufficient ties.

Best of luck and keep us all posted.

[trishp 0]

Hello. I too am in the same boat. I found somewhere on here a whole thing on the Montreal process. you can try and organize the medical and interview at the same time (that way only one trip to Montreal) or you can have the medical in Vancouver. The medical also costs $215.00. We have not as yet filed our I-130, we were just married on this past Friday so have to wait two weeks to get the marriage certificate. My husband left for home (Arizona) on sunday and I remain in Edmonton. I have found from others that it takes approximately 9 months out of Montreal. Montreal is the only consulate that handles the CR-1 in Canada. As far as going to visit in the states, as long as you can prove strong ties to Canada (letter from employer saying your are returning to your job) own a home etc it can be tough. I am staying here for that purpose (unemployed but looking, and live with my sister) and he will have to come back and forth to visit. My cousin has dual citizenship and applied for his wife to move with him to Florida (they both live in Calgary). they applied last august and she just got her green card last month and they have since gone to Florida and bought a house. So that is what? 9 months. Hope this helps. It is nice to find someone so close who is going through the same thing. you can email me anytime.

Hello, all. Glad to find a place to share and receive information.

I am a dual citizen, Canada/USA. I have lived in Canada all my life, and my wife has for the majority of hers. We were recently married and both live in Calgary. Today I filed our I-130 (hope I am in the right forum!). It was "approved" (as expected, they of course want the filing fee regardless of outcome I imagine!) and we were told our application would be sent to Montreal for processing.

Along with simply wanting to interact with others who are currently, or have recently, gone through this process, I am trying to find out a realistic timeframe in which my wife and I can expect to wait for the entire process to be complete. Also any hints, tips, tricks, etc

Short background on our situation: I have recently been laid off. Rather than locate another employer in Calgary, my wife (who grew up in Miami for a few years) have decided to leave the Canadian winters behind and move to sunny Florida - an area we have both spent time in, as well as an area we can both secure and continue our careers. Due to the fact I need to be working asap, and that we need to sell our home and essentially cut all ties to Canada, we are wondering how long the process may take for my wife to receive her Green Card. I have read anywhere between 3 months and a year plus - needless to say, I am optimistic on the shorter timeframe That being said, I would welcome any realistic information from couples who have applied via an Embassy in Canada (with processing in Montreal).

We have no interest in being apart for an extended period, so if possible I would like to wait in Canada with my beautiful bride until she can enter the US as a permanent resident (not sure if my terminology is correct, here). Also interested to know with any certainty of she can still enter the US with her Canadian passport as a visitor. We also have been advised her interview needs to take place in Montreal - is there any validity to this?

Any and all comments are genuinely appreciated and welcomed.

Dan & Gina

[AMERICAN/CANADIAN 0]

Hello, all. Glad to find a place to share and receive information.

I am a dual citizen, Canada/USA. I have lived in Canada all my life, and my wife has for the majority of hers. We were recently married and both live in Calgary. Today I filed our I-130 (hope I am in the right forum!). It was "approved" (as expected, they of course want the filing fee regardless of outcome I imagine!) and we were told our application would be sent to Montreal for processing.

Along with simply wanting to interact with others who are currently, or have recently, gone through this process, I am trying to find out a realistic timeframe in which my wife and I can expect to wait for the entire process to be complete. Also any hints, tips, tricks, etc

Short background on our situation: I have recently been laid off. Rather than locate another employer in Calgary, my wife (who grew up in Miami for a few years) have decided to leave the Canadian winters behind and move to sunny Florida - an area we have both spent time in, as well as an area we can both secure and continue our careers. Due to the fact I need to be working asap, and that we need to sell our home and essentially cut all ties to Canada, we are wondering how long the process may take for my wife to receive her Green Card. I have read anywhere between 3 months and a year plus - needless to say, I am optimistic on the shorter timeframe That being said, I would welcome any realistic information from couples who have applied via an Embassy in Canada (with processing in Montreal).

We have no interest in being apart for an extended period, so if possible I would like to wait in Canada with my beautiful bride until she can enter the US as a permanent resident (not sure if my terminology is correct, here). Also interested to know with any certainty of she can still enter the US with her Canadian passport as a visitor. We also have been advised her interview needs to take place in Montreal - is there any validity to this?

Any and all comments are genuinely appreciated and welcomed.

Dan & Gina

I have a question...when you say your I-130 was "approved" what do you mean? I ask because my husband and I just filed at the Calgary consulate three weeks ago and no one said anything about approval or denial? By approved do you just mean they took the application and said they would forward it on to Montreal and gave ya the one piece of paper saying in 4-6 weeks you will get a packet with your MTL case number and the DS-230 blah blah blah etc? We also are in calgary and going through the same "mess" of immigration. Feel free to email me or msg me anytime:) (Im always on-line as Im laid off atm)! Good luck.

OH PS. If you dont mind my asking...when did you actually get your MTL case number from montreal? Thanks again!