Canadian American family trying to get stateside

[MaggieMay22 0]

Sue U.S. Citizen and Canadian Perm. Res

John Canadian Citizen

Matthew U.S and CA citizen, US passport (our 15 month old son)

-Live in Canada from June 2013-present

-From 2010-2013 we both lived and worked in Europe and have filed US taxes all years

-We married on June 22, 2010 in US

-From 2007-2010 John worked in the U.S. as professional hockey player and got a new visa yearly when he signed his contract. He has a social security number, and paid U.S. Taxes 2007-2010. Got SS # in 2007.

-From 2003-2007 John was on a student visa and attended University on a hockey scholarship, he did not file US taxes during those years.

Right now John is employed as a hockey coach at a private hockey academy in Canada and Sue works at a childcare center.

We are looking to move back to the states as soon as we can get there. John is looking to start an accounting program to get his masters and I am looking to start teaching in August 2014.

Without having U.S. Income the past few years how can I prove domicile? Can my dad co-sponsor John? We are trying to avoid splitting up during the process as we have a 15 month old son and in order for me to be able to work and sponsor him I will need the help from him to care for our son.

Would it be smarter for John to get a student visa and then "adjust" his status once in the U.S.? Is there anyway he can get his perm res while he waits for his green card or something similar to if we were both in the states? I've tried to do some reading and figure out what the best time line is for us to move and how the process will go. We are going to meet with an immigration lawyer next week, but I'd love to have as much info as possible and an idea of what questions to ask because the lawyer is $100 for every 30 min. So if anyone has a lawyer they recommend I would appreciate the advice!

[canadian_wife 1,829]

You cannot use a non-immigrant visa, such as a student visa, to enter the US with intentions of actually immigrating. That is visa fraud

You should have been filing US taxes on your Canadian income, have you been doing that?

Your father can act as a joint sponsor yes.

File the I130 now for the spousal visa, you may have to move before him as Montreal is VERY strict about domicile issues

Good luck

[MaggieMay22 0]

Ya, that makes total sense about visa fraud. How long does it take to establish domicile with a salary/benefits, is there a time minimum or is it long enough to get a tax return? From what I've been reading it seems to be different in different cases.

[Collie 122]

I think your biggest issue is going to be proving domicile. In the pinned NVC post, there are a lot of suggestions that you can implement to establish domicile in the US. You may as suggested have to move and live in the US before your husband but you should certainly start with filing the I-130 now so that you can start establishing US accounts and proof of domicile while the I-130 is pending. Depending on how efficient that USCIS is with processing in the forthcoming months, you could still be waiting at least 12-18mths before your husband is approved for an immigrant visa.

[canadian_wife 1,829]

First thing I would look into is your US tax returns.

Then look into filing the I130

THEN research the domicile issue, there is a sticky in the Canada forum since Montreal is SO strct about it

good luck

[aaron2020 11,651]

1. Sue needs to file her US tax returns. With the $97,000 foreign income exclusion, she is unlikely to owe any US taxes. Filing her US tax returns is a requirement to petition John.

2. It will take 6-18 months for John to get a spousal visa. It's unlikely that it will be done by August 2014.

Where is John right now? In the US or Canada?