Approval - but now a problem

[usandcanada 0]

Hope someone can help! My fiance from Canada just had her medicals and interview today. She is approved to come to the US. We were planning on being married this March. She is a teacher in Canada so she had planned on going back to Canada for 3 months to finish out the school year before moving here to the States. She was told today that once we are married, she can not go back into Canada for 2 years for ANYTHING! She can not even go back to move her things here.

We had the plans already made. Has anyone else heard of this? Is there anything we can do?

She has the plane tickets to come down in March and her return in April.

Any ideas - short of changing all the wedding plans?

How long is the approval good for?

Thank you for your help in advance.

Eric

[Anh map 2,098]

Incorrect on the 2 years. Not sure where that came from.

K1 is single entry. So she can enter, marry, and can leave, but cannot return using the K1 visa.

She can apply for advance parole which would allow for reentry. You would apply for advance parole at the same time as filing for adjustment of status.

[Al422 221]

The correct answer lies somewhere in between. Once she enters the U.S. on a K-1, she needs one of two things to be able to exit the U.S. and then re-enter: Either a green card (which takes about a year to get after you are married), or Advance Parole, which takes about 6 months. This is all plus or minus of course, since the system is in such a state of wacko that not even Nostradamus could predict how much any given process will vary from its estimated time.

So she won't have to wait for two years, but leaving one month after entry will not happen either. She needs to complete her business there before she leaves.

[Inky 1,111]

She can go to the US get married and leave back to Canada but she wont be coming back into the US. She will be stuck in Canada while you file for a CR-1 and you guys wait for another year+ to be together again.

She must file for AOS and AP after marriage. She must have either the AP or the Green Card before she can leave with the ability of coming back into the US.

-- The K-1 is valid for 6 months so maybe you should change the wedding, she should pack her things but stay in Canada, finish the 3 months of school then move and get married after she gets to the USA.

[s&c1 3]

I agree the best thing for you guys to do is wait (I know it is hard) and she can finish her 3 months of

teaching. Then she can move there, get married and file right away for AOS. And I was told that this would only

take 3 months to get. (hope they aren't wrong ) Sorry , but that is the system we are dealing with!!

I am in the same boat, I will be waiting to use the K1 (once I get it, that is) until my position where I

work is done.

Hope things work out for you guys! All the Best!!

[lovetimhortons 1]

basically your fiancee has 6 months (or is it 180 days) to "activate" the K1 visa (ie, use the visa to cross over into the US) from the "date of issue" (that is the day the visa is actually printed onto your passport...may end up being a few days later than the actual interview date).

once you have "activated" the K1 (ie, used it to cross into the US), you then have 3 months (or is it 90 days) to get married. then, at your leisure, you can file for AOS. during the period in between which you are married and until your fiancee gets her green card, or at the very least, her travel document (aka advance parole), she has to remain in the US. if she doesn't remain in the US after "activating" the k1, and getting married, she will not be allowed back in until she has the appropriate spousal visa (which are taking 1-1.5 yrs in canada because MTL is backed up right now).

it seems currently travel documents are taking about 3 months (until someone actually has it in their hand), and green cards: anywhere from 4 months +

hope that helps. good luck!

it does seem like getting the visa, holding onto it, and "activating" it after her teaching is complete (within 6 months of the issue date) is probably the best bet. in the meantime, i don't think she can visit you in the US. once she's here, marrying, and filing for AOS + EAD + AP would be the next appropriate steps.

Edited February 10, 2011 by lovetimhortons

[usandcanada 0]

basically your fiancee has 6 months (or is it 180 days) to "activate" the K1 visa (ie, use the visa to cross over into the US) from the "date of issue" (that is the day the visa is actually printed onto your passport...may end up being a few days later than the actual interview date).

once you have "activated" the K1 (ie, used it to cross into the US), you then have 3 months (or is it 90 days) to get married. then, at your leisure, you can file for AOS. during the period in between which you are married and until your fiancee gets her green card, or at the very least, her travel document (aka advance parole), she has to remain in the US. if she doesn't remain in the US after "activating" the k1, and getting married, she will not be allowed back in until she has the appropriate spousal visa (which are taking 1-1.5 yrs in canada because MTL is backed up right now).

it seems currently travel documents are taking about 3 months (until someone actually has it in their hand), and green cards: anywhere from 4 months +

hope that helps. good luck!

it does seem like getting the visa, holding onto it, and "activating" it after her teaching is complete (within 6 months of the issue date) is probably the best bet. in the meantime, i don't think she can visit you in the US. once she's here, marrying, and filing for AOS + EAD + AP would be the next appropriate steps.

Thank you all for your responses. It looks like we are going to have to change our wedding plans. At least the approval is over! There has to be something good about all of this. Wouldn't you know they would get to the approval stage a couple months before we were ready. Who says they aren't fast

Thanks again one all all for your help. It was greatly appreciated.

[Kang Lang 7]

The correct answer lies somewhere in between. Once she enters the U.S. on a K-1, she needs one of two things to be able to exit the U.S. and then re-enter: Either a green card (which takes about a year to get after you are married), or Advance Parole, which takes about 6 months. This is all plus or minus of course, since the system is in such a state of wacko that not even Nostradamus could predict how much any given process will vary from its estimated time.

So she won't have to wait for two years, but leaving one month after entry will not happen either. She needs to complete her business there before she leaves.

mostly wrong... it CAN take a year (or longer) for a gc to arrive, but the actual average is more like 3-6 months see timelines. once you have applied you your advance parole and ead (if you have applied for them and why not they are free with the i-485 doc) they typically come fairly quickly usually around the 2-3 month mark on average.

to the OP ideally your fiancee should either finish up her business before coming to the u.s. since you have 6 months to activate the visa or you will likely have to adjust your wedding plans hopefully you will be able to do so with little penalty.

best of luck to you!