New here - Marrying a Canadian citizen in the US

[darcness 3]

I don't even know where to begin, but I'll do my best to explain everything.

I'm a US citizen living in Michigan. I met a wonderful woman from Toronto about 2 years ago and haven't looked back since. We've already talked to an immigration lawyer and have a pretty good understanding of our options. I just am coming here looking for some support and advice in case there is something I get lost on. Plus it would be nice to keep the lawyer fees down as much as we can. I'm pretty good at figuring things like this out if I have a computer and some one to ask a few questions when I get confused.

So here's the run down...

She's been staying here on and off for the past year. She goes back on a regular basis because she had an apartment with a friend, was on disability, and had to keep current on her mental health doctors appointments and various other obligations. I think she's stayed 3 months at the longest. Each time she comes to stay now, it gets harder and harder to get through the border without feeling like she will be denied. She's only been denied once, and that was due to insufficient ties to Canada, but was admitted the very same night by a different CBP officer.

Well we had been speaking about taking the next step in our relationship for about 3-4 months now. They asked us a few times at the border "When is the big day?", "Have you talked about marriage?", etc, etc. Honestly we knew most of the CBP officers well enough that they knew US by name. They still have a job to do though, and I understand that. We never had a date set, plans of a wedding, or anything of that nature. We did tell them that it was something we were considering, and that when we DID decide if/when, we would do it legally. That seemed to be good enough for them most of the time.

After this last time through the border though, my (now) fiance and me decided we wanted to take that big step and get married. We got engaged, bought the rings, and were just going to do a small ceremony at the court house. Then her mom throws us a huge curve ball and gives us a SIZABLE donation to have a full featured wedding. We graciously accepted and are now getting married the 26th of this month. She's been here in the US since September 1st of this year.

So that's where we are now. I know that after we get married I will be filing an I-130 for her. After that, I'm pretty much lost on what I can or can't do on my own, what I need my lawyer for, and anything else I should know. I suppose that's where this site comes in. I'm hoping to keep this thread, as I see many do, as a running log of my progress. I just wanted to say hello and see where I start.

Thanks in advance all!

Edited November 16, 2011 by darcness

[JeannieL 44]

My biggest piece of advice is, if you haven't hired the lawyer and paid him, don't. With the forms and forums on this site you can do it yourself and save a huge chunk of money. Look over the sample forms, also check the CR1 forum and the regional Canada forum. There is so much great advice here.

Wishing you the best on your wedding day :-)

Edited November 16, 2011 by JeannieL

[darcness 3]

Ahh yes the Canada forum! I didn't think of that. I spent the better part of the day today reading over all these things, finding as much out as I can. I'm just confused on a couple of things.

Since we are getting married here in the states, and she doesn't plan on leaving once we file the I-130 and I-485, does she still need to get a visa after this? Or is that all she technically needs to do to get permanent residence? I'll go back again and ready the guide again, because maybe I missed something...

I am glad to hear that we can probably do it without a lawyer because that would save us a ton of money. Actually the lawyer we know is a childhood friend of my fiance, and even he said that if anything we should go with his firms "DIY" kit which costs very little money and they give us all the forms and review them before they get sent it. The rest of the work we do.

I just wanted to make sure that I can LEGALLY do all of this and limit any mistakes I might make along the way. Plus the whole process is so confusing it's always nice to have a place to ask any questions I have!

[Little_My 464]

If she is already in the US, depending on the details of her last border crossing she might be able to adjust her status within the US in stead of going back to Canada and take the CR-1 route. In that case you would file the I-485 and I-130 concurrently. She won't be able to go back to Canada for about 3 months after you've filed the paperwork, because she will need an advance parole document to be able to travel internationally while the AOS is pending. It is also advisable to avoid her accumulating any overstay, so if you do decide to take the AOS route, you should try to file as soon as possible after the wedding - when does her current period of authorized stay end?

If you do take the CR-1 route, then you can file the I-130 as soon as you are married. She can stay until the end of her authorized stay under the tourist status, and then she has to return to Canada and wait out the rest of the process there. A good option especially if she has some loose ends to tie up back home. Also much cheaper than the AOS option, and she might be able to visit you in the US while the CR-1 is being processed.

[darcness 3]

Ahh a fellow Finn! I'm 25% Finnish myself, grandfather was born there! I always hold that in my heart as my true heritage.

Anyway, she is in the US right now and the plan is to stay here and file the I-130 basically as soon as we get married.

When you say based on the details of her last border crossing I'm not sure what you mean. It was like most times we crossed. Us going to secondary which we did often, asking her how long she planned on staying (she said a month), asking again (kind of jokingly) when we planned to get married, looking at all her paperwork (rent agreement, disability statements, etc), searching the car and then letting us go (without an I-94).

^ That was the first week of September if I recall.

After that is when the rest of this all kind of took place. We didn't really plan on having a wedding or anything of the sort, but when her mom said she would pay for it, we decided why not. Since we had already talked to the lawyer we knew she couldn't come here with the intent of getting married so we were very careful about this.

Our lawyer did say that she should be able to stay in the US during this whole process. I'm not sure what exactly he wanted us to do for this to happen, but I recall very clearly that he said she could. I think he said something about a form you can file while you're waiting for your I-130/I-485 to be processed that lets you stay longer than the 6 months (I believe it is) you normally can stay. Maybe I should ask him about this again via email...

[Little_My 464]

Tervetuloa If you haven't yet visited Finland, you should go some time. It is a beautiful country.

Back to the topic - those details you just described, i.e. being pulled to secondary and asked questions about the purpose of her trip might be a reason for you not to try the AOS route. This is an area where a more experienced and knowledgeable member of VJ (maybe Jim VaPhuong or Brother Hesekiel) can advise you better than I can, but basically once you are pulled to secondary inspection, everything you and your fiance said went into a written record. If you were specifically asked whether your plan was to marry and for her to stay in the US, and you said no, and then you proceed to do exactly that, you could be found guilty of material misrepresentation which not only means her AOS would be denied, but she would be deported and possibly also banned from the US. Probably not a risk you want to take.

In terms of her being able to stay in the US during the process, if you are eligible for AOS, just filing the paperwork will allow her to stay in the US legally for as long as it takes for USCIS to process your petition and give you a formal decision on it. Her tourist status becomes irrelevant when AOS is pending, and she can stay here until you have an approval/denial.

However, given what you said in your last post - I am not sure if AOS is really the right route for you. It is always a bit risky and in your case might so risky that the time you'd have to spend apart during the CR-1 process will be well worth the wait.

[darcness 3]

I see what you're saying Little_My with the secondary inspection. We spent PLENTY of time in there. In all honesty she had an issue with a small amount of marijuana at the border before and so every time we go into the US, we are automatically flagged over to secondary. It's a pain in the rear, but worth it for her obviously. It meant we spent HOURS at the border over the course of this last year plus.

I'm well aware that you're not allowed to enter the country with the intent of getting married. They never specifically asked us if that was her intent for entering the country, and even if they did we would have said no, because that wasn't our intent. Our lawyer actually advised us to get married quite a while ago because of this, but we weren't ready at the time.

I do understand where you are coming from. However we had been through the border often over this time we've been dating, probably at least every couple weeks, to a month or so at the longest. This is the longest time she's been here, and the time we decided we wanted to take this next step. She had every intention of returning to Canada because if she didn't, she would lose her disability and her OHIP coverage. That's what kept us going back and forth this whole time. However after her mother decided to give us the money for the wedding (and letting us keep the remainder), our financial situation much improved and she doesn't need to continue the disability. Plus she can get on my insurance once we are married.

All this happened in this last visit, so you can probably see why we decided to get married. Otherwise I wouldn't have done it yet, because planning a wedding in a month and a half with 90+ guests and a large budget isn't my idea of fun!

Edited November 16, 2011 by darcness

[darcness 3]

Oh and the small amount of marijuana, I should explain, never was recorded as a charge offense. They ended up just doing a denial and sending her back to Canada. She had to pay a fine (promissory note) at some office in Detroit, but once she did that, they let her through the border again (including the whole time we've been dating). Just wanted to clarify. This is another thing our lawyer said MAY cause a bit of an issue for her when she files her immigration paperwork, but it's something that shouldn't cause exclusion since it wasn't a chargeable offense and they only made her pay the fine.

We thought we would end up having to file a petition of some sort, which for the life of me I can't remember the name of. It basically was file it, wait a year, and then you're eligible to come into the US again. Thankfully they must not have filed the incident in such a way that barred her at all.

Edited November 16, 2011 by darcness

[sheeshkabelle 153]

You did not have intent to marry, she can stay until AOS. She will be allowed to stay as long as it takes for her to get her Green Card. Remember, she CAN NOT leave the US until she has that AP/green card in her hands!

The drug charge may not be a big deal. It's sure to come up at the interview stage, or get an RFE when you first file for her. Be honest, tell everything like it was, to the best of your recollection.

I've been pulled into secondary twice, even having a NEXUS card. It's no fun in there!

[darcness 3]

Thanks sheeshkabelle!

Is this something we will have to prove at some point (that she entered with the intent to visit, not to get married and live here)?

We have records of when the money from her mother was transferred to a US bank account she set up, when we booked certain things for the wedding, etc, to show that we didn't start planning any of this until AFTER she was admitted into the US the last time she came. Any time the CBP officers asked about us getting married we were honest, said it was something we had thought and talked about, but not something we were ready for yet. If they asked why it was again, honestly because we had to decide if we were ready, and mostly because we didn't have the money for a wedding and subsequent immigration costs (we knew the costs at this point). Basically everything we told them was full disclosure and we have evidence of all of this. Maybe all those trips into secondary were for a reason!

Can those records at secondary help us in some way?

Anyway, yes, we were in secondary more times than I can remember. I mean literally every time we went when she visited, and that was a lot. It got to the point that we knew the CBP officers at Port Huron by name, and they knew us by their "city where we live (omitted for privacy)" people. A few of them were so nice to us and always engaged with us in conversation. It was still nerve wracking having to go in every time, but at least that made it a bit easier.

I went back some 25 or so pages on the Canada regional forum and I'm not finding anyone who did their immigration this way, that's why I was concerned. I was hoping to find some one else who had gone through the whole wedding, filing, and STAYING in the US while all this goes down. Hopefully I can because that would be great!

P.S. What's an RFE, I see that abbreviation but have no idea what it means!?

Edited November 16, 2011 by darcness

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

***** Moving from AOS from Family... to AOS from Work, Student, Tourist... forum as OP's partner came as a Canadian visitor ****

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Crossing the border with the intent to stay and AOS is illegal and it is a TOS for any VJ member to give you advise on immigration on the basis of an illegal act.

[sheeshkabelle 153]

Thanks sheeshkabelle!

Is this something we will have to prove at some point (that she entered with the intent to visit, not to get married and live here)?

We have records of when the money from her mother was transferred to a US bank account she set up, when we booked certain things for the wedding, etc, to show that we didn't start planning any of this until AFTER she was admitted into the US the last time she came. Any time the CBP officers asked about us getting married we were honest, said it was something we had thought and talked about, but not something we were ready for yet. If they asked why it was again, honestly because we had to decide if we were ready, and mostly because we didn't have the money for a wedding and subsequent immigration costs (we knew the costs at this point). Basically everything we told them was full disclosure and we have evidence of all of this. Maybe all those trips into secondary were for a reason!

Can those records at secondary help us in some way?

Anyway, yes, we were in secondary more times than I can remember. I mean literally every time we went when she visited, and that was a lot. It got to the point that we knew the CBP officers at Port Huron by name, and they knew us by their "city where we live (omitted for privacy)" people. A few of them were so nice to us and always engaged with us in conversation. It was still nerve wracking having to go in every time, but at least that made it a bit easier.

I went back some 25 or so pages on the Canada regional forum and I'm not finding anyone who did their immigration this way, that's why I was concerned. I was hoping to find some one else who had gone through the whole wedding, filing, and STAYING in the US while all this goes down. Hopefully I can because that would be great!

P.S. What's an RFE, I see that abbreviation but have no idea what it means!?

The burden of proof is on you and your fiancee. You have to convince them, that your intent was not to marry, but for a visit. Use anything you can think of as evidence to your intent.

RFE is Request For Evidence. Some people get them along the way to show proof of one thing or another.

If you get one, it's no biggie, just send them what they ask for as quickly as possible. It can delay your case a little bit. But again, there's no need to panic.

[ValerieA 350]

Crossing the border with the intent to stay and AOS is illegal and it is a TOS for any VJ member to give you advise on immigration on the basis of an illegal act.

And since his fiancee did not cross the border with intent to stay (just to clarify a few previous posts, it is intent to STAY, not intent to MARRY that is the problem), there is nothing illegal at all going on, and thus no TOS violations.

OP, how long was it between crossing the border and the first invoice for the wedding? I tend to agree with you that the wedding invoices will suggest you did not plan on this before she came here. Better if the invoices are closer to the wedding than the border crossing, IMHO. However, intent is not the problem, material misrepresentation (if they figured you lied about something that would have affected their decision to admit her to the US) would be the only issue. So, if she said there were no plans on getting married and staying this trip, and they recorded it, and she ended up doing both, you may be required to prove that she did not materially misrepresent herself at POE.

I don't think I could have made that more confusing if I tried. Sorry, I need more coffee and then I may attempt again. The only other thing I would worry about is the marijuana thing, since that pings on their moral turpitude register, but that may be more of a problem for visas than green cards.

Edited to correct atrocious grammar that would make my high school English teacher ashamed.

Edited November 16, 2011 by ValerieA

[darcness 3]

(((ValerieA)))

Thanks so much for clarifying that for me! I understand much better now what's allowed and what's not. Helps me out a lot.

As you said, we (she) may have to prove that she didn't come in with the intent to stay. At no point during our last POE did they ask anything of the sort. It was actually more focused on her living situation in Canada because her lease was going to expire and she wasn't certain if she was going to renew it, or move back to her mothers house. I can, with almost certainty, recall that they never asked her if she was going to stay, get married, or anything of the sort. It's always nerve wracking in secondary so I can't be 100% certain, but I'm pretty darn sure.

If they didn't say anything about the above and we answered anything they asked honestly, then can they still pursue that avenue? Obviously I understand why they want to, because they don't want people to do things like this intentionally. However for those of us who weren't aware and just went on legal advice, that really is upsetting. I feel like they will assume we did and that will cause issues for us.

As for the invoices, they are spread out, but most are from this month or last. Like I said, we planned this whole wedding in less than 2 months (crazy I know)! She also opened a US bank account not too long ago, which is how her mother is sending her the money (as we need it). That should have a date on it as well, I'm sure. Those things would probably help us if they need more information.

Her mother told us about giving us the money (we're talking a good amount), only after her sisters wedding which was when we came back to the US together in September. Even then she didn't give us a dollar figure so we couldn't really decide on anything. Once she told us how much, and we realized that we could do a wedding and have money left for savings and immigration, did we decide to do all this. Before that I was barely able to pay my bills as it was, let alone finance anything such thing(s).

Sigh, I'm so stressing about all of this now. I can't even bare to tell her some of these things because I don't want her to worry any more before the wedding. I kind of wish I would have waited until after it to research this, but knowledge is key and I wanted to get a head start. Thanks so much everyone. I need to take a break, head is spinning!

Edit: Just for reference, we didn't want to do a civil or quick ceremony because I was married before and never had an actual wedding. This time we decided lets do it right. Hence why we were waiting until we were more financially secure.

Edited November 16, 2011 by darcness