No longer sure how to file

[canuck123 0]

Hi, my Us born husband and I have been living in Canada with our two children for the past four years. My husband will soon be a citizen of Canada, and we plan on moving to the States to be closer to his family. We have put off the move for years now as we establish our family and in that time DCF filing is no longer available in Canada. I am entirely unsure how to proceed. Can we apply for the IR-1/CR-1 with my husband in Canada? As far as a place to live and affidavit of support we have that covered. But does my husband now have to relocate back to the US to sponsor us into the states? Or can we file through the lock-box in Chicago and continue that way? Any help would be appreciated .

[alizon 77]

Yes, you can file while you are both living in Canada, and there is some anecdotal evidence that US citizens living abroad actually have much faster processing times. You will, however, have to demonstrate that you are reestablishing domicile in the US when you get to the interview stage, and Montreal is particularly strict about that. Check out the Canada forum for some posts about what has and hasn't worked for proving domicile at the Montreal consulate.

The fact that you say you have the affidavit of support covered makes me think you don't need the following info, but just in case: your husband has to have an income that is above the poverty line for your family size, and that income has to either be from a job in the US or a Canadian job that he will continue to work for once he moves back to the US. Otherwise, you'll need someone else to sponsor you.

Edited July 29, 2012 by alizon

[jessicaruizw 9]

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/357465-usc-petitioner-living-abroad/

that is the link about the expeditied processing times for when the USC is from abroad and how to file to "get it"...but you may note that a it does not seem to be working for canadians (comment on page 11). Maybe scan the whole thread for canadian replies.

Also...I noticed you said your husband was soon to be a Canadian citizen...did you perhaps mean resident? Because if he becomes a canadian citizen he won´t be able to petition for you.....

Edited July 30, 2012 by jessicaruizw

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

Also...I noticed you said your husband was soon to be a Canadian citizen...did you perhaps mean resident? Because if he becomes a canadian citizen he won´t be able to petition for you.....

Of course he can, he will have dual US/ Canadian citizenship.

[jessicaruizw 9]

Of course he can, he will have dual US/ Canadian citizenship.

Doh!!..total brainfart

[jessicaruizw 9]

Of course he can, he will have dual US/ Canadian citizenship.

I guess I was referring to this, I knew I had read something - "In order to lose U.S. citizenship, the law requires that the person must apply for the foreign citizenship voluntarily, by free choice, and with the intention to give up U.S. citizenship."

from http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1753.html

Penguin, are you still a dual national?? My husband and I are very interested in him maintaining his dual nationality.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

I guess I was referring to this, I knew I had read something - "In order to lose U.S. citizenship, the law requires that the person must apply for the foreign citizenship voluntarily, by free choice, and with the intention to give up U.S. citizenship."

from http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1753.html

Penguin, are you still a dual national?? My husband and I are very interested in him maintaining his dual nationality.

That is if someone wants to give up their US citizenship- it doesn't mean they have to.

I have tripple citizenship now- Swiss by birth, Irish by living there and US by marriage.

[CarolinaGirl 2]

Canuck123 My family is in the same situation as you are, I am the USC and have lived in Canada for 4 years as a permanent resident and I have an application currently pending for Canadian Citizenship. We applied through the Chicago lockbox for our i130 and had our interview in Montreal in May.

Montreal is really pushing the domicile issue for us. We provided a signed lease agreement with a family member that we intend to live with once we move and my parents have signed as financial support for our i864, but they want more. We had a lot of other smaller proof for domicile as well and they were totally uninterested. If your husband could move to the US without you a month or two before you go for the interview would keep you out of the situation that we're in now.

As far as me applying for Canadian citizenship and keeping my USC, I was under the impression that it was kind of a don't ask don't tell kind of thing. On the website it says that while the US government realize that dual citizenship does exist they don't recognize it or something silly like that. I definitely did not mention my pending Canadian citizenship application at my interview and it doesn't really concern them. We are listed as legal guardians for my nephew who lives in Canada and want to keep the option to move back in case my husbands parents need us at some point. It's nice to have those options.

[canuck123 0]

Hi! Thank you everyone for the replies . We are planning basically the same things you are CarolinaGirl, we are going to be moving in with my brother in law, and he is also going to co sponsor our i864. My husband still has his bank account in the US, and we are planning to register our oldest in school. We also would like dual citizenship for our family mostly because my husband has been here for so long it seems to make the most sense. Couldn't we switch over things like car insurance, voters registration, moving estimates for proof of domicile? I just can't wait until all of this immigration business is over and we can move on with our lives .

[CarolinaGirl 2]

Canuck123, I just thought I would update you in the hope that it can help at some point down the road.

As far as moving estimates, we brought with us proof that we had purchased a trailer for moving and they didn't really care. I'm sure that registering your oldest child in school will be a big help, and one thing that they did accept from us was proof that we had obtained US citizenship for our daughter and applied for her, so if you've done that for your kids you should show that proof. Hopefully things move quickly for you.

We just found out last week after getting our congressman involved that my husbands visa has been approved, so we are very excited about being done with immigration and FINALLY getting on with our lives!