Update from 2008 -- K1 cancelled, immigrated to Canada, renouncing US citizenship, and rants

[IAMX 3,055]

tl;dr wall-o-text warning! Includes politics as well.

Since I've had emails pop up constantly from users over the last several years PMing me asking how things went, I'll briefly detail them as my final post here, and this will include a rant some of you surely won't have time to read.

Firstly, about the K1 process. Turns out my ex, who I was to be married to upon completion of our K1 and her landing in the US, was lying about much of our relationship, down to where every day where we said goodnight was a lie.. that's how bad it was. I confronted her about what she was doing, she lied again, I gave her all the evidence I had (people who file for an immigrant visa without a lawyer probably know how to compile evidence), she gave in once seeing it, blaming her ex, her parents, whoever she could blame but herself. I broke things off and tried to remain friends, but she would constantly hound me about our relationship and an argument would ensue.. eventually I just told her to find a man in Greece and leave me be. It was not pretty.

So, being a single man, went back and did things normally, then not too long after (about a year?) got involved with a Canadian. She visited me in California numerous times, met family, etc., then after a while of being together decided to get married in California. We were both saving up money for one of us to move to the other (still deciding) when my wife was starting to get ill repeatedly, missed her period, and just out of caution took a pregnancy test and came up positive, so we had to decide pretty quickly who was going where. My wife basically left it in my hands to decide who was going where, and I decided, after looking at the spiraling political climate in the US, having quite a bit of family, myself, close to the Canadian border, etc. to move to Canada. So we filed the Canadian PR.

Much like the K1 visa, the Canadian PR was pretty straight forward and easy (especially since neither of us had criminal record, nor any marital history), once my visitor status was up during the process (it took us a few months into me being a visitor to complete), we went to file an extension to my visitor status, found out that I needed proof of being in Canada, which could only be attained with an entry document (which Americans don't need) or a stamp on my passport (which they tend not to stamp American passports, just scan and have you on your way), so having all the necessary documentation except the stamp I call the CBSA (Canadian Border Patrol, basically), honestly tell them my predicament, and talking to one of the border agents, find out he's extremely polite, he tells me if I had all the documentation I told him I have, with the explanation I gave him, he'd give me a Canadian visitor record for a year extension with no hassle whatsoever, and was given assurances that the government isn't into breaking up families (in stark contrast if this were in the reverse, and the US government knew of my wife's intent to immigrate, regardless if following the rules and immigrant app in process, she would likely be denied entry), and I had my PR in hand at the Buffalo embassy only two weeks after my daughter was born, the process from start to finish taking 5 months.

It took me a while to find employment (because in Canada it's tough to find employment in the Eastern provinces, especially with foreign experience and education, even American, but I moved to western Canada where it's vastly different and more American-esque) but after a while I was hassled by the IRS to file for my American taxes, despite having no more ties to the US since I moved to Canada before filing for PR. That was when I learned that being in Canada I face double taxation, given I have an extremely good paying job in the oil and gas industry -- Americans have to file with the IRS even when working and living abroad, and not merely just for purpo. And thus we get to the part where, like the ever rising amount of other Americans, I had to make a very difficult choice. Rather than face taxes on behalf of the Canadian government, plus the threat of having my wages garnished through court in Canada because I don't feel that, working and living in Canada I need to file with the US government, I've made the tough choice of renouncing US citizenship upon getting Canadian citizenship -- there really is no benefit of having to pay the citizen tax. I'm eligible for Canadian citizenship this year, and the process takes about a year, if you don't get dinged with a RQ (residency questionnaire), so looking at likely 2015 as the year where I'm no longer American, thanks to the US government.

Now, when deciding whether to bring my wife to the states or move to Canada, these were some of the political issues I had to decide on:

Healthcare -- Single most important issue. I had a decent paying job in the states being a producer for a video game company, worked for Google, and other tech companies. Even with their great healthcare plans, I still had to worry about an injury or illness at a hospital that didn't have a specific agreement with my insurer or else pay out the ###, as once happened to me getting injured only 50 miles away from my local area, and had to pay roughly 60% of a $19,000 bill. I couldn't even negotiate down a cash only option that was significantly less. So I had to blow $11,000 of my own money to pay off that ####### despite having insurance. How ironic that this happened to me.. my own sister who was covered on 3 insurances needed one final bone marrow transplant to beat leukemia and other cancers she was fighting for two decades. None of them covered her because she had the pre-existing condition of.. cancer. Woohoo! Ultimately it was MediCal that covered her so the great doctors at University of California San Francisco Medical Center (UCSFMC) could give her that one final transplant and treatment which she beat cancer with. The US healthcare system is simply a mess, and Obamacare, simply being a mandate to the insurance industry, was certainly no help. There lies a system of semi private, semi public healthcare where taxpayers already pay with their taxes and then again with insurance, and have to still worry about the details of their coverage. Versus the universal healthcare system that I've got to experience in Canada. I can only imagine how much I would have had to pay when we had my daughter, with my wife having an emergency c-section, 2 days postpartum stay, and 5 days at NICU before being discharged and able to take our daughter home, if we had her in the US. Talking to a cousin of mine who worked at one of the hospitals in Detroit, looking easily at $50k+ for all that. Ridiculous.

Polarization and a race to the political bottom (kind of a comprehensive issue)

There are only two extremes in American politics now. The extreme left, the extreme right. There is nothing else that exists in the US, because the media helps people pick an extreme side even if they are more of a middleground person. If you look at movements that aimed to cut a divide down the middle, like the Tea Party, or OWS, they were quickly absorbed into the two parties and the voting populace still voted for the most popular candidate of the two parties, ignoring not only third party options, but the myriad of other options even within the two major parties. I voted for Nader in 2008, and Gary Johnson in 2012 (yes you can still vote abroad if you're a citizen), intended on voting for Ron Paul but his campaign at the end didn't show me they were serious about running, but many of the people I talked to tried to tell me how I was throwing my vote away because it wasn't for Obama, or Romney, or McCain. I don't know if Johnson or Paul would have been just the same as Romney, McCain, or Obama, but I do know that this constitutes an actual change and is worth a shot.. can't say something doesn't work until you try. The populace in the US is far too susceptible to the media, which, if you watch the media from other countries (and especially understand their native language when not English), you realize that the media is not invested in informing the populace and keeping the government in check exercising their right to vote, but riling them up as bait to elect the two major candidates. The populace willfully obliges.

People like Peter Schiff who warned of impending economic disasters, fundamentals in US politics and economics which are in bad shape, laughed off the shows, having his mic cut off, etc., to media pundits everywhere who are too busy waving the American flag, keen on being buried with it, rather than use introspective reasoning to help better their country.

There is no interest in helping educate the populace politically. Every issue, from global warming, to gay marriage, to healthcare, to guns, is a massive fight that has to keep people wedged apart so the government can expand further, benefit further, and weaken the populace's check upon it's government. People like Schiff, or Snowden, who honestly reveal problems within the US economic system and government, revealing the US government doesn't care one lick about an individual's rights, are only interested in themselves and their friends, are outcasts, rather than welcomed and an invitation to change things -- favoring Obama-esque "change" campaigns that we know don't change anything, except make problems worse. The once great US which was able to differentiate important issue from trivial or utterly partisan one, is now basically stuck.

Monetary policy is horrible. The US is not a country that produces or saves anymore. Remember the production during the WW2 era and beyond where Americans knew what they had to do and did it? The government signs these free trade agreements that siphons jobs away to countries like China, the Philippines, a handful of other countries in Asia, and now Central America (my own mother was given a flight to Costa Rica where she could train her replacements before being laid off), the government bails out banks and other companies that deliberately screw-up, to give these higher-ups a golden parachute down. The US economy is only afloat due to stimulus (QE, for example), and the US using it's currency (which it's badly debasing) as a commodity to sell to foreign investors silly enough to think they'll ever get a return on their investment. Meanwhile, the US dollar weakens against commodities with intrinsic value (gold, other precious metals, and natural resources in general), making the populace, who are reliant upon import costs (since the US isn't much of a producing nation anymore) and makes it that much tougher on lower and middle class people to afford things as their dollar value, hence labor value, weakens substantially. Are people going to just take up two, three, four jobs, as the government makes their money worth less and less? Or are they going to decide they've had enough?

Other Americans are re-electing these people that have no vested interest in bettering the country. People need to have more introspective reasoning, challenge themselves to think beyond the going-nowhere two party/I-must-vote-for-one-of-the-two-candidates-with-the-highest-polled-odds-or-else-throwing-vote-away idealism that only stands to benefit politicians. Hold yourselves to a higher standard. While I'm getting rid of my US citizenship, I'm not cheering for the US to fail.. but that is the direction that the US is headed. Even in Canada there is no escape from that. Americans need to decide if they are going to do what's best for their country, or watch the ship slowly, painfully sink.

Finally, a thank you to the people who respect a country's laws and customs, and have sought the painful, yet necessary road of immigration.. even in the face of those who illegally immigrated possibly getting amnesty. Remember while respecting laws and customs, keep your government at arm's length, they're people you're employing -- don't treat them and parties like your favorite sports team. If you read all of this, I thank you, and here's to hoping the race to the bottom ends soon so the US can be back to prosperity and growth.

[mota bhai 2,675]

You could have just said GBCW! and we'd all have understood.

Edited January 9, 2014 by mota bhai

[IAMX 3,055]

You could have just said GBCW! and we'd all have understood.

I did give a tl;dr/wall of text warning, so if you didn't understand, I can't help you. Looks like you'll have to deal with it.

[GandD 5,966]

I did give a tl;dr/wall of text warning, so if you didn't understand, I can't help you. Looks like you'll have to deal with it.

GBCW means goodbye cruel world.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

OMG! Are we condoning suicide now?

[mota bhai 2,675]

I did give a tl;dr/wall of text warning, so if you didn't understand, I can't help you. Looks like you'll have to deal with it.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Greetings SRVT! Long time no read? Where the hell have you been hiding and why? How are you?

[mota bhai 2,675]

Greetings SRVT! Long time no read? Where the hell have you been hiding and why? How are you?

Read the whiny wall of text and all shall be revealed.

[IAMX 3,055]

Greetings SRVT! Long time no read? Where the hell have you been hiding and why? How are you?

Been enjoying Canada, and as of this minute, being entertained by a troll flooding my thread with rustled jimmies.

Plan a road trip back to California probably next summer. Deciding if daughter is ready for Disneyland yet.

You?

Btw, I PM'd you my e-mail in case I suddenly disappear from the forums again.

Edit: Whoops, guess I can't, send me a PM lol.

Edited January 9, 2014 by SRVT

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Been enjoying Canada, and as of this minute, being entertained by a troll flooding my thread with rustled jimmies.

Plan a road trip back to California probably next summer. Deciding if daughter is ready for Disneyland yet.

You?

I'm still hanging in there. Coming up on 6 years of marriage in a few months. I'm still here too. Glad to hear thing are going well for you. It's been a long time since you'be been around here. I always wonder when a regular disappears and hope they are doing ok.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Try it again. I just cleared out some room in my mailbox.

[IAMX 3,055]

I'm still hanging in there. Coming up on 6 years of marriage in a few months. I'm still here too. Glad to hear thing are going well for you. It's been a long time since you'be been around here. I always wonder when a regular disappears and hope they are doing ok.

Ideally things would have worked out with my ex, but since she was affluent in German as well as Greek and English, of course, it was likely we would have moved from the US anyways.

Congrats on 6 years! Goes so fast doesn't it? Wife and I are only married 3 (since October 2010), but going strong.

Edit: Okay, sending another.

Edited January 9, 2014 by SRVT

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Received. Yea, the time has gone fast. After spending the better part of three years gong thru the waiver process, the last 6 have gone by quickly.