which is the better way

[misslee 0]

Hi there..I'm Canadian and my fiancé is American, we plan on marrying next year...my question is, is it better(and quicker) for us to get married and he files while I still live in Canada?(Would he even be able to cross the border and visit me or vise versa) or we get married in the US and I just stay and he files??? Thanks Kerri

[Done--Really 331]

Hi Kerry...

You can't come to the US with the intent of getting married and staying--getting married is OK, but staying isn't if it was planned ahead--it can possibly be viewed as visa fraud, and the consequences are dire if that were to be determined. So the no risk approach is to get married in either place, stay here as long as you can--and then return to Canada for the final processing which will include an interview in Montreal.

There may be plenty of people here saying you can get away with it--entering with the intent of staying--but the risk is so huge there is no reason to take it.

And there are no restrictions on his traveling to Canada, and normally that will also be true for you to the US IF you have plenty of evidence that you have strong ties to Canada. You will find that in rare cases you might be denied entry, but it is not the norm.

If you are planing that far ahead, you might want to consider a fiance visa (K-1). It typically takes 4 - 6 months to be approved, and once it is, then you can come to the US to get married here--you MUST get married within 90 days after you enter, or you will be sent home. But if you are planning to be married in less than let's say six months, just do it in either country, and then he will file for a CR-1 visa, and that will take right now about 8 months, although it is a little quicker than that at the moment.

[misslee 0]

Thank you for replying back :-) so I guess I will have to do it the K-1 way as I do have children and don't want to run the risk of being kicked out of the country(US)

[Done--Really 331]

Only do the K-1 if you are planning on getting married more than 6 months from now--if you are planning sooner, just get married in either country, file the CR-1, and realize that the end of the process is in Montreal--you can travel back and forth, and if the kids can come with you or someone can care for them, you can stay for several months so long as you don't overstay.

And since you are in Niagara Falls, and if hubby-to-be is close by, traveling shouldn't be too tough.

Edited October 6, 2011 by magical

[misslee 0]

Actually we live about 15 mins away from eacother, I'm on the Canadian side of the falls and he's on the American side... we do see eachother every weekend, although if he gets a day off during the week and tries to come and see me, they seem to give him a hard time at the border..saying that he crosses too much

[Done--Really 331]

Walk or bicycle across the bridge--it's more fun when the weather is nice.