Bringing Spouse To US

[Matthew102 0]

Okay, I know there's a ton of how-to's and threads regarding this already, but I just wanted to make a brief post regarding my situation since there's a couple of situations with bringing my Canadian wife to the United States.

Brief history of our marriage: We have been married for 2.5 years. It was a spur of the moment marriage after we fell in love, but we had been seeing each other for a couple of years back and forth between the US and Canada prior to being married. Basically, she had work obligations that kept us from filing prior to now, and I have just finished school and have landed a really solid job making enough money to start considering home ownership. So since we have financial security because of my job now, she is ready to quit her job in Canada and immigrate to the U.S. She had 3 months of vacation saved up, so she has just arrived a few days ago to stay with me for 3 months for her holiday. Basically, I want to know if we can start the Green Card application process while she is still in the states visiting me.

From what I have read, I need to apply for the CR-1 visa, and possibly the K-3, which will allow her to remain in the United States with me. Because she is Canadian, she has never had to apply for a visa before now to enter the US, and she has always had a return ticket to show ties. She wants to give her two weeks notice to her employer while she is still here, and remain with me in the US while we wait for the filing, living off of my income solely.

If anyone could simply point me to the correct guide or thread, and let me know if we can start the process while she is here visiting, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks for your time.

Edited February 27, 2013 by Matthew102

[Matthew102 0]

Okay, after further research, it appears we can file the IR1, since married more than two years, and we can file while she is currently in the US visiting atm, since Canadians can conditionally visit for 6 months with no visa, but will then need to return home. The only catch I can see is that she may be denied re-entry after returning home to see her parents for a week, since we will have the IR1 in process.

Can someone please confirm or deny this belief?

[Kazulie 132]

Okay, after further research, it appears we can file the IR1, since married more than two years, and we can file while she is currently in the US visiting atm, since Canadians can conditionally visit for 6 months with no visa, but will then need to return home. The only catch I can see is that she may be denied re-entry after returning home to see her parents for a week, since we will have the IR1 in process.

Can someone please confirm or deny this belief?

no k-3, it's obsolete.

You will be aiming for an IR-1. You can do it 2 ways.

1. you would just adjust her status, as she is already in the states. It is immigration fraud to come to the US with the intention on staying here and adjusting status. If she came to visit, and you guys just decided to adjust her status after she got here, then that's another story. This could take 6-10 months ish and normally she would NOT be able to leave the country until she had her green card, but I'm not sure if this is true for Canada???

2. you would file for the IR-1. It will take approximately 10 months or so. She would have to go back to Canada for her interview. If at any point and time she goes back to Canada during this process, it's a probablity that she will be denied re-entry.

[Matthew102 0]

Thanks for the reply!

Okay, so this seems to be the best course of action based on what you've said:

1) Apply for IR1 while she is here visiting.

2) After interview is scheduled, she leaves for Canada, unless interview is not scheduled before her 6 month Canadian Visitor stay is up, in which case she would leave in 6 months.

3) Only re-enter US after IR1 is approved.

Does this seem accurate? I'm sorry if I'm just reiterating what you've already told me.

[Lainie B 465]

You need to petition her first, once that is approved then she can apply for the IR-1 visa.

Have a look at the guide

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

[ndu26 114]

Thanks for the reply!

Okay, so this seems to be the best course of action based on what you've said:

1) Apply for IR1 while she is here visiting.

2) After interview is scheduled, she leaves for Canada, unless interview is not scheduled before her 6 month Canadian Visitor stay is up, in which case she would leave in 6 months.

3) Only re-enter US after IR1 is approved.

Does this seem accurate? I'm sorry if I'm just reiterating what you've already told me.

you file the I-130 petition now and indicate that consular processing will take place in canada.

then you guys wait out your approval from USCIS...could take any where from 2months(very few lucky ones) to 8 months. then file is sent to NVC during which you now send in some documents to apply for the IR-1 visa and interview is scheduled in canada. You got her arrival and departure options right. study more on this website for clarity if still not sure.

[Matthew102 0]

Thanks SO much for the help, very, very grateful.

We'll start the I-130 very shortly and I'll create a timeline and keep it updated. I was about to hire an attorney because I didn't feel comfortable with it, but I've been reading the guides and timelines all night and feel much better about it now, makes a lot more sense.

[Kazulie 132]

Thanks SO much for the help, very, very grateful.

We'll start the I-130 very shortly and I'll create a timeline and keep it updated. I was about to hire an attorney because I didn't feel comfortable with it, but I've been reading the guides and timelines all night and feel much better about it now, makes a lot more sense.

DO NOT hire a lawyer. VJ will be your lawyer, free of charge! hah Lawyers have been known to screw up an immigration petition or 2. You can do that all by yourself! hah

Save the money!