Approved today! however, domicile almost got us!

[LuvIllinois 1]

I got the "Welcome to the United States" today but as I stated in my title, but we had a bit of a hard time with the domicile issue. USC Hubby resides in Canada with me (as a permanent resident), but from all my research, that does not mean 'domicile'. He still works and banks in the states, files his taxes there every year, plus we had a letter from his parents stating we were free to live with them as long as we wish. Where it got tricky was, he works in NY but we plan on moving to Illinois. I didn't think this would be an issue because nowhere in the description of domicile does it state that we have to have proof of the STATE we intend on living in, only that he still has ties to the USA (which we had more than enough proof of that). We even brought our house sale listing from MLS.CA (already have 2 offers in one weekend, woohoo!) It's a catch 22 really...can't really have him apply for jobs out there and have him risk losing his here since we didn't have any official approval, yet, they want that proof. The company he works for has stores nationally, so he would just be transferring.

Anyway, we still got the approval, but have read about Administrative Processing. Is it possible we can go into this still if they aren't still satisfied (say, they want him to move RIGHT NOW)? If so, how would we know that they need additional proof? Would they have given it in the interview or could it be mailed to us?

I'm hoping it was all sufficient and all I'm waiting on is that green card!

[canadian_wife 1,822]

Congrats! Sounds like you were well prepared for the domicile issue which Montreal is notorious for!

They just gave you a hard time, I am sure the approval was yours for the taking

Good luck

[LuvIllinois 1]

Congrats! Sounds like you were well prepared for the domicile issue which Montreal is notorious for!

They just gave you a hard time, I am sure the approval was yours for the taking

Good luck

Thank you. My husband made a similar comment (since we live near the border and cross often), that they tend to do that at the border too sometimes, just to see if you mess up. I knew from reading here that Montreal was pretty hard on domicile, so I'm glad I read up and brought sufficient evidence.

I'll just keep logging in to the CSC website and wait for a Waybill number

[Stephen&Kim 1]

Congrats! That makes me really nervous now. We did DCF also, however my hubby left last week to try and "re-establish" domicile in the us. He is going to get a DL, voter's registration card, lease agreement with his folks, we have the uhaul bill and storage bill (he already took all of our stuff). The kids and I are going to go and see him for 3 weeks in August so i'm going to try and get details from the schools for them. Oh ya, he opened a bank account....what else? He doesn't have a job yet but he's spending 9 hours a day looking. I'm so ANXIOUS!

Thank you. My husband made a similar comment (since we live near the border and cross often), that they tend to do that at the border too sometimes, just to see if you mess up. I knew from reading here that Montreal was pretty hard on domicile, so I'm glad I read up and brought sufficient evidence.

I'll just keep logging in to the CSC website and wait for a Waybill number

[TheFantastics09 19]

Congratulations!!

[LuvIllinois 1]

Congrats! That makes me really nervous now. We did DCF also, however my hubby left last week to try and "re-establish" domicile in the us. He is going to get a DL, voter's registration card, lease agreement with his folks, we have the uhaul bill and storage bill (he already took all of our stuff). The kids and I are going to go and see him for 3 weeks in August so i'm going to try and get details from the schools for them. Oh ya, he opened a bank account....what else? He doesn't have a job yet but he's spending 9 hours a day looking. I'm so ANXIOUS!

You have NOTHING to worry about then. If he has already taken steps, that's fine. The lady at the interview was just concerned because my husband still lives in Canada with me. The only reason he didn't do what your DH is doing right now is because domicile and residence mean 2 different things and according to their definition, he never gave up domicile, just his residence. It would just be a huge financial risk if he had tried to move before getting any type of approval on my part. At least I know if we go into AP, we could do this, I would just have to send him down first and I can follow.

He was living in Chicago at the time I met him. Luckily, I live on the US-Canada border, so to be closer, he moved to Western NY, got a job there while we waited for our Canadian immigration to go through. Once he got his Canadian perm. res. card, he just continued working in NY and has been commuting everyday since. Because he DOES have domicile in NY (though it doesn't state anywhere in the paperwork about specific states, just USA as a whole) she wondered why we wouldn't just move there. Well, his parents in Illinois aren't doing so well in their health...his Dad had heart problems years ago that are resurfacing and his Mom just suffered a heart attack in April. She just had a defibulater put in and had some complications during the surgery. He is an only child and we want to be able to be there for them as I have very little family here in Canada now. She asked if we had proof of their illness, which I didn't bring because I didn't think we'd get so detailed (silly me). That's when DH started to get a bit worried about the whole interview.

Just have some type of proof of all that you mentioned in your post and you will be A-OK!