Husband TN Visa to PR Status

[Adam & Anne 0]

Hi guys,

Thank God for this forum, seriously! I am confused as to how to go about this...I am an American citizen, as are our four kids. I am married to a Canadian citizen. We married in Canada. We have been in the US for going on 8 years now on a TN visa that my husband had dutifully renewed every year. He is employed as a professor at a small college.

Within the first year or two, we attempted to apply to change status as well as apply for green card and were turned down because we weren't able to provide marriage certificate (long story, our pastor neglected to send in paperwork to Canadian Registrar so we found out we only had church certificate as proof).

Anyway, we didn't apply again because we were disheartened, and it just seemed so easy to renew every year. The US border guys never gave us any trouble...until now.

They were nice about it. They said we are obviously committed in our marriage and family, and to just go ahead and reapply again.

My question is this though. I am a stay at home mom of four kids. I have no proof of income to sponsor my husband. Our families would not be able to co-sponsor, and his job would not be able to co-sponsor him at this point.

What form do I fill out? Should I fill out form I-864 with zeros and a letter explaining, and then have my husband fill out a form I-864 with his income proof, sending both at the same time?

Thank you so much!

[canadian_wife 1,822]

Your husband is currently working in the US correct? You said that the border agents gave him a hard time, what happened? Was he turned around?

Do you have assets? savings? Stocks? Have you read the I864 instructions to see what can count towards sponsorship?

good luck

[Adam & Anne 0]

Thanks! Yes, he has been working here and we have lived here since 2007.

When he went to go renew his TN visa, the agent said that he might not renew his visa again unless and until he applies for his green card (!)

All assets we have, house here in the States, cars, etc, are from his salary earned here in the US.

Thanks!

[Manzan76 6]

Hello,

Did he just renew his TN visa for 3 years? Once he has earned 40 quarters/credits of experience in the US (approx. 10 years) then he can use form I-864W, which is an exemption to requiring an affidavit of support. I filed back in September with this form and have not received an RFE yet.

Otherwise you may want to research on the boards if his income can be counted, since he is already here in the US and working legally. I'm not exactly sure which situations allow for that.

Good luck!

[Qilipu 0]

Thanks! Yes, he has been working here and we have lived here since 2007.

When he went to go renew his TN visa, the agent said that he might not renew his visa again unless and until he applies for his green card (!)

All assets we have, house here in the States, cars, etc, are from his salary earned here in the US.

Thanks!

1) As other said, one can avoid the entire I-864 mess if the intending immigrant is eligible to file a much simpler I-864W, based on having earned 40 "creidts" (AKA "quarters") of social security coverage. One earns 4 credits per year in each year in which one earns at least $4,800. (The amount is indexed for inflation, was lower in the past years, and will be higher in the future: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/oact/cola/QC.html).

So if your husband started his US employment in 2007, and earned at least $4,000 in that year, he should be eligible to use I-864W by the spring of 2016. By March or April 2016, the earnings statement he can get from ssa.gov will show his earnings for 2007 thru 2015, and he can use a recent pay stub to substantiate YTD earnings for 2016.

So in principle you can go the I-864W route, if you have a valid status in the meantime - that is, if his current TN-1 status was granted for 3 years (rather than just 1 year), or if his university is willing to sponsor a change-of-status for him from TN-1 to H-1(b) in the meantime. (H-1(b) is a dual intent status, and marriage to a US citizen is not a detrimental factor for obtaining it, unlike for TN-1, which is supposed to be a strictly non-immigrant status).

2) But if all your husband now has is just a 1-year I-94, you may want not to wait for the I-864W, but bite the bullet, fill an I-864 and file your I-130 and I-485 (complete with I-131 and I-765) right now (well, as soon as you get a proper marriage certificate from Canada). I-864 may seem daunting, but it is not really that hard. Read the instructions for the form ( http://www.uscis.gov/i-864), in particular item 6 on page 9. ("Can the intending immigrant help me meet the income requirements?"). Presumably you file just a single I-864. Your own income etc will be 0 on that form, but on page 5 of the form (items 6 and 12) you put the name and income of "Person 1", who is your husband and also the intending immigrant.

Obviously, you need to present an evidene of your husband's income in the past years, and the expectation that it will continue in the future. For the former, he can get a transcript of his previous year's tax returns and W-2s from the IRS for free, at http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript. For the latter, he can ask his dean or the HR people for a letter confirming that they've been employing him for so many years, and expect to continue employing him in the future, as long as he has an appropriate legal status in the US. Probably the same people who wrote his TN-1 letter will be able to write this.

(On the other hand, if his university is willing to extends his employment every year by just *one* year instead of the legally allowed three, they *may* have a problem writing forward-looking statements... but then if he indeed has recently renewed his TN-1 for one year, it implies that he has at least 11 month left of "promised employment", which is probably not too bad, considering that Indianapolis USCIS is reputed to be a fast office, said to often approve permanent residence in just 3-4 months).

[Adam & Anne 0]

Hi guys,

No, he is only to renew his permit for one year at a time. His job contract will only renew yearly. We looked into this route years in a row to no avail. Thankfully, we now have a proper marriage certificate from Canada! They came through for us, months after our case was appealed and denied twice (they are notoriously slow in processing). We also just completed his medical, which is supposed to be sent in at the same time now, but not the police background check yet. Sending the medical in seems to be different than in 2008 when we originally applied. So we kind of have to keep going at this point.

THANK YOU! I will take all of your advice. I think I will bite the bullet and fill out the I-864.

"For the latter, he can ask his dean or the HR people for a letter confirming that they've been employing him for so many years, and expect to continue employing him in the future, as long as he has an appropriate legal status in the US. Probably the same people who wrote his TN-1 letter will be able to write this."

Thankfully, he has some great people(Dean) that can help him with his letter. Unfortunately, the University can't sponsor him though, grr. I am not sure why.

Ok, I will keep you posted.

[Manzan76 6]

I don't think the police background check is required as part of the AOS application, as I didn't send one. Maybe they take care of that during the review process?

[Adam & Anne 0]

Ah ok. The health one is. That must have changed. When I emigrated to Canada, I had to have background checks from both countries included in application :/

[CdnRN 40]

Your husband's income should qualify as it is 'household' income, just follow the instructions carefully. You don't have to send in a background check, but you do have to do a health exam with a civil surgeon. Apply ASAP and apply for the EAD/AP, his valid TN visa will continue to permit him to work while you wait for the EAD.

If you have any questions, I just finished my AOS from a TN Visa, I'm happy to try and help.

[Adam & Anne 0]

Thank you so much! I filled out the I-864 with me as zero income, and his with the household income. The interesting thing I noted while doing this, is that we do our income taxes jointly, so when they see that proof, with the three years that we need, they will see our names jointly. I will go over it again before sending it, just to be sure I did it ok...

[CdnRN 40]

It sounds like you are on the right track. A Canadian co-worker also here on a TN Visa just did that as she is the primary earner while her hubby is in school. She's had no RFEs so far and she is in the 'waiting for an interview' stage. Good luck!

On the plus side, maybe you will have an easy time of it when you get to the interview. We arrived, and the IO verifying our appointment and said to my hubby "Canada?? Why on earth didn't you go north???" With a laugh in his voice. That is the moment we realized our worry was unfounded...

[Adam & Anne 0]

Love it!! Thanks!

[Adam & Anne 0]

Sent it in this morning! Thank you all for your much valued help.

[Adam & Anne 0]

Yay! Checked cleared, so we have officially started this journey!

Did some more research though and some sources say that we should have included I-131 and I-765 with the others.

When he went to renew his TN last year, Port Huron Officials said to send in the usual forms, but leave 131 and 765 out until we receive 797.

So I'll just do that...

His TN expires May 6th. I know once we send in the last two, it cancels out the TN, but still! Time is a tickin

We will have to send in more passport photos though I'm sure. We do not have copies of the passport photos we already sent in, as they were all needed. Can we go ahead and get more done, even though the photos won't match the others we sent in?

[Lemonslice 4,838]

If you want to save on pictures, take them yourself against a white wall (see the rules here) - Use picasa (tools - experiemental - passport) and print them at your local pharmacy/big chain store for under a dollar.

Edited January 24, 2015 by Boston~Montreal