Help Me, Please? ^_^

[MrsTable 0]

Hullo! Any and all help would be greatly appreciated! I'm Canadian and my husband is American. We met online in 2007 and we met a few times in Canada before the year was out. At the beginning of 2008 I went to see him and before you know it, shucks, we got married at the end of 2008. Our plan for quite a while was to move to Canada - we secured an Immigration Consultant, had most of our paperwork together, on the verge of filing. Of course, life's always changing and my husband suddenly got an incredible offer through his work, to have a place in California, on the beach they help pay for. So suddenly we're scrambling to reverse the course of our Immigration. I'm in Canada and haven't been out of the country in about 13 months. Which form do I use and where do I begin the process?

Thanks a bunch! I've heard such lovely things about the forum and I feel great about being here. And I certainly need all the help I can get, feeling a little desperate here. >.<

[Inky 1,111]

go over to the canadian section of the forum, you will get lots of help there for canadian specifics, also it will probably take around a year for you to get over to america with a CR-1.

[LotofPatience 65]

Hullo! Any and all help would be greatly appreciated! I'm Canadian and my husband is American. We met online in 2007 and we met a few times in Canada before the year was out. At the beginning of 2008 I went to see him and before you know it, shucks, we got married at the end of 2008. Our plan for quite a while was to move to Canada - we secured an Immigration Consultant, had most of our paperwork together, on the verge of filing. Of course, life's always changing and my husband suddenly got an incredible offer through his work, to have a place in California, on the beach they help pay for. So suddenly we're scrambling to reverse the course of our Immigration. I'm in Canada and haven't been out of the country in about 13 months. Which form do I use and where do I begin the process?

Thanks a bunch! I've heard such lovely things about the forum and I feel great about being here. And I certainly need all the help I can get, feeling a little desperate here. >.<

This is for you: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

BTW, story is nice!

Loto

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Welcome to Visa Journey.

First, I've moved your post from the Citizenship forum to the CR-1 forum as it is asking about how to come to the US, not about how to become a US citizen (which happens much later in the immigration process ).

Second, the process you are going to go through is for a CR/IR-1 visa which means a visa for a spouse. CR-1 is the visa you get if you have been married less than 2 years when it is approved and IR-1 is the visa you get if you have been married more than 2 years when you are approved. Both process exactly the same way. You will find Guides attached at the top of this forum as well as at the top of Visa Journey itself. You can read those for more information, and then ask questions here for things you don't understand or would like clarified.

Basically, your husband starts the process. He files an I-130 petition requesting permission for a family member to apply to become a permanent resident. He files it at the filing address appropriate for where he lives in the US (that information is with the form and its instructions). There are a number of other documents that he needs to send in with that form. Once it is received by USCIS he will receive a receipt notice (we refer to it as NOA1 - Notice of Action 1). When the I-130 petition is approved he will receive another NOA along with a request to submit more forms, more money and more evidence. The instructions will come to him in the mail. Part of this process will include him providing information about his financial status (he needs to earn at least 125% of the poverty line for a family of your size) known as an Affidavit of Support, along with the paperwork requesting permanent residence status for you. Once that is received and processed the whole file is sent to the American Consulate in Montreal (yep - Montreal is the only Consulate that processes spousal visas).. They will schedule you for an interview in Montreal. In the meantime you will need to get an immigration medical done by an approved doctor as well as a Canada wide security check from the RCMP or your local police. At the interview the immigration officer will go over all of the information, and hopefully, grant you the CR-1/IR-1 visa. It will be physically attached into your passport. When you cross the border into the US your visa and passport will be stamped and you will be an official permanent resident. Your green card will come in the mail shortly afterwards. You can find all of the forms you need at the USCIS website: http://www.uscis.gov . VIsa Journey will be very useful in letting you make sure you have all of the forms you need.

Third, why not join us over in the Canada Regional Forums as well - the link is further down the page in the General Discussion area? You'll find other American/Canadian couples going through the same process at various stages of the journey. Actually, here is the direct link http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/93-canada/ .

Edited September 3, 2010 by Kathryn41

[MrsTable 0]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[v333k 59]

welcome to VJ!

[StoneTable 0]

Thanks for the help and info, everyone!

[MrsTable 0]

My husband, StoneTable!