L-2 visa questions

[Riasa 0]

I have an L-2 type visa, I am dependent on my father's job. In the winter of 2013 my father is planning to move back to Canada but me and my boyfriend want to stay in the U.S. Since we are so young I really don't know what to do. I am L-2 so i can't work and my boyfriend does not have a stable job (he is a citizen). Should I just apply for a student visa or should we get married and apply for the CR-1? Since i am already in the U.S. legally would it be as hard to apply and if my father leaves can i still be in the U.S. legally (my visa expires in summer 2014)? What would happen if my boyfriend would lose his job while CR-1 is processed and after we get married so i have to go to Washington (closest one) at the embassy to change my name and renew the visa with my new last name?

Thank you so much for the help.

Edited November 9, 2012 by Riasa

[AnotherLostSoul 167]

I have an L-2 type visa, I am dependent on my father's job. In the winter of 2013 my father is planning to move back to Canada but me and my boyfriend want to stay in the U.S. Since we are so young I really don't know what to do. I am L-2 so i can't work and my boyfriend does not have a stable job (he is a citizen). Should I just apply for a student visa or should we get married and apply for the CR-1? Since i am already in the U.S. legally would it be as hard to apply and if my father leaves can i still be in the U.S. legally (my visa expires in summer 2014)? What would happen if my boyfriend would lose his job while CR-1 is processed and after we get married so i have to go to Washington (closest one) at the embassy to change my name and renew the visa with my new last name?

Thank you so much for the help.

This is just my guess here, I am not sure. But what I think is that first of all, your visa could last until 2020 if your dad leaves, basically your visa is no longer a valid visa since you are dependent on him. You cannot use your L2 visa to be here legally. Since I have no idea of your age, and of your boyfriend's age, I cannot say much, but if you guys are really young, and your boyfriend does not have a stable job, you guys would need a sponsor from your boyfriend's friends and/or family if you were to marry him. The question is, how much the immigration officer will believe you guys that your marriage is bona fide and you did not just get married to him so that you can stay in the US? This is what you would have to prove to the officer at the interview. As soon as your dad leaves, you have 30 or 60 days grace period (whichever applies to L visa) to pack up and go home, or to set yourself into a legal position. So, either you guys should get married BEFORE your father leaves, hence you are adjusting your status from L2 to permanent resident status, or go through student visa which also means you have to accepted to an accredited school, or go back to Canada, and have your boyfriend (then will be your husband) apply for your for a fiancee visa.

Good luck!

[Riasa 0]

Thank you, I think we'll just both move to Canada since it's wayyyy to complicated for me to stay here.

[AnotherLostSoul 167]

Thank you, I think we'll just both move to Canada since it's wayyyy to complicated for me to stay here.

@Riasa:

Maybe for now, that is the best option for you guys. I hear Canada is way more welcoming and not as harsh and cruel when it comes to immigration. y parents lived in Canada for years before I was born and they said this. They always said that Canada is way more humane than the US. The thing is, 98% of the people still believe that America is what it used to be 50 years ago...so they still want to immigrate to US. Hence, immigration and officers dealing with immigrants give as much ###### as possible....on the other hand, Canada is way more immigration friendly. But I believe, everything has its time, and everything goes in a way that is the "best" even if we don't see it. And who knows? Maybe you'll get a good PhD degree and maybe you, yourself, will get such job offer from the US that you have never dreamed of. Until then, go to school, study hard, and enjoy every moment with your boyfriend, and with your family. Your family, even if you don't see right now, is the best thing you could have. I'm fairy young myself, still in school, but I wish I had my parents still. I wish I could celebrate Christmas with them, or have them see me growing up, studying hard, or just get me a nice bowl of ice-cream on my birthday...believe me, it is hard without them. They should have gotten to know my boyfriend when we started dating...they should have seen me getting married to this boyfriend. I wish they would be at my graduation (which is still a couple years away)...or if they could've gone to my wedding...anyway, not to self pity, but heads up! Sometimes we tend to overthink and focus only on one thing. We have to keep all the doors open and choose what is the best, easiest for now. After all, we live only once. And maybe right now going back home to Canada is the best for you. But the future is ahead of you. You can still do so many great things...and who knows? The opposite can turn out and 20 years from now you'll look back and be happy that you made this choice of moving back home with your family. I will be thinking of you, and hoping that the best turns out for you in your life!

All the best!

- AnotherLostSoul

[DandT14 272]

I have an L-2 type visa, I am dependent on my father's job. In the winter of 2013 my father is planning to move back to Canada but me and my boyfriend want to stay in the U.S. Since we are so young I really don't know what to do. I am L-2 so i can't work and my boyfriend does not have a stable job (he is a citizen). Should I just apply for a student visa or should we get married and apply for the CR-1? Since i am already in the U.S. legally would it be as hard to apply and if my father leaves can i still be in the U.S. legally (my visa expires in summer 2014)? What would happen if my boyfriend would lose his job while CR-1 is processed and after we get married so i have to go to Washington (closest one) at the embassy to change my name and renew the visa with my new last name?

Thank you so much for the help.

You have a year to figure it out. A lot can happen in a year. If you definitely want to get married, you do it and adjust your status here in the US. You don't need a visa and it's really not complicated. If you're not sure you want to get married, you need to return to Canada before you go out of status here.

As far as him moving to Canada, I'm not familiar with Canadian immigration laws...but I'm sure they exist.

[Riasa 0]

Well I am Romanian Citizen but I have Canadian permanent residency, so if i spend 3/5 years i get my Canadian citizenship but i need to spend 2/5 years to not lose my resident status and my Canadian visa. So if i stay here and marry Chris i gamble because i would have a -chance- of getting my US green card but then I lose my Canadian citizenship so if I don't get my green card i lose both and i have to go back to Canada for a long while. I do love my boyfriend more than anything in this world and i am 99.9% sure that I want to spend the rest of my life with him. And my parents... it's a complicated deal: all my life they've been trying to keep me in a bubble but that pushed me further and further away from them. I respect them deeply but our personality clashes are huge and result in sometimes violence and screaming and breaking stuff and I am sick of it. I will always be there for them when they need me and they will be there for them but as it is right now I need a bit of space. Just the idea of me moving out panics them and they always find a way to stop me. I am almost 20 and I need to make some decisions because in 1 year i will not be able to figure as dependent on any of my parent's visas. Academically wise, I am an overachiever and well on my way to attend medical school.

On the Canadian hospitality subject, I lived there for almost a year and I can say that Canadian people are amazing and compared to Texans, smarter and more welcoming. I had no trouble at all adjusting to Canada but U.S.... it took me well over a year to actually fit in. I would love to go back to Canada but my boyfriend would prefer not to, that is the reason why I would like to remain here. (But if it comes to me moving to Canada he will come with )

Thank you for your help and support and I have some time to find out some things but I would rather be prepared for whatever hits me and know all my possibilities.

[DandT14 272]

The only advice I can give you is to make the best decisions for the rest of your life, regardless of whether you end up with a US greencard or not.

And please, don't judge all Americans by Texans. Texans are...unique.