Income assistance in Canada

[Kammo 2]

This question is aimed for those who are Canadian citizens married to American citizens who have collected assistance during that time (or just anyone with some knowledge). If any of you are out there :-D

Given my current circumstances (without boring everyone with my life story) I am considering trying to temporarily apply for income assistance after my maternity leave runs out. I have weighed positive's and negatives and this seems like the best plan for now. This poses me to ask two questions...

1) Is it even possible? For all intensive purposes, regardless of marriage, I AM a single parent right now. My husband does provide care for us while we visit him but in Canada it is me who provides %100. To the government though, I AM still married. Will they even help me?

2) If they are willing to assist me for awhile how will this look to USCIS when/if we have an interview? Can they deny me due to this? Would it be a cause for concern?

Any advice, experience would be greatly appreciated.

[coraliesolms 47]

I filed all my taxes in Canada as "seperated" this is what they told me to do at H&R, because essentially thats what I was. It never affected my Mat EI, and it certainly wont affect your visa application.

Good luck!

[Udella&Wiz 325]

USCIS could care less whether the Cdn is earning money while in Canada. They are only interested in your spouse's ability to support you once you move to the USA.

Can you not return to your original job once your year of mat leave is up? I couldn't really tell you whether you'll be eligible. You definitely should be honest about your intentions and your life situation....is your intention to get some assistance until you can move to the US then? What if all does not go as planned and the VISA takes longer? They will expect that your husband is providing you with some assistance at the very least and you'll have to show proof probably. I understand that your doing 100% here but they may not see it that way - you are essentially separated and he owes you support for the child. Having been on mothers allowance myself until my daughter was 6 (she's 19 now) they ask a lot of questions and they are basically into all your finances and everything private. The rules for each province are different undoubtedly...they may expect you to be able to take job retraining, who knows.

I'm just throwing some things out there.....think hard about going on assistance, you lose a lot of privacy and they can insist on things because they are supplying you with $$$

Good luck

[Kammo 2]

Hi

I certainly could return to my original job (this was my original intention), but it is a minimum wage job ($9/hr) so the problem there lies with daycare for my little one, rent, food, etc and other personal matters. I did look into daycare subsidy while weighing options but even then it is not as favourable as trying to finish school (which I am currently doing) in order to get a reasonable job while of course still allowing me to raise my child.

Thanks for the answers so far I appreciate the info about filing taxes as "separated". Me and my husband were wondering about that the other day strangely and I was going to post something about that too. I guess it makes sense though. Despite marriage we are most certainly not living together "common law", or supporting each other financially, the money just is not there for either of us.

What crazy circumstances we are all in eh?