i-130 question

[Bethany123 56]

I'm brand new to this thread, so please bear with me. I am a Canadian engaged to be married to a US citizen in the fall. I have been researching online about everything we need to do. My understand is he has to file a petition for alien relative as well as an affidavit of support. What else do I need to know? Please help!  

[Bethany123 56]

I am Canadian, my fiancé is American. We are planning on getting married in Canada and then moving down to the US after. Once my fiancé and I get married, am I able to just follow him down there and live with him and start the visa process? Or, do I have to leave the country? Help, please!

[geowrian 22,338]

You can visit your husband while your visa paperwork is pending (exactly like you would visit the US pre-marriage). You can stay for up to 182 days...with the exact maximum duration determined at POE. You cannot work in the US. You must return home before the end of your duration, and you must do the medical, interview, etc. in Canada still. Carry your ties to return back to Canada when you go through POE or they may think you plan to stay in the US and turn you away.

[JessieABC 159]

1 hour ago, Bethany123 said:

I'm brand new to this thread, so please bear with me. I am a Canadian engaged to be married to a US citizen in the fall. I have been researching online about everything we need to do. My understand is he has to file a petition for alien relative as well as an affidavit of support. What else do I need to know? Please help!  

You should also consider where you are getting married.  if you are getting married in the US, you should apply for a 90 day visa for the purpose of marriage.

 

Try reading through this site:

 

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/marrying-citizen-canada-how-get-green-card-your-new-spouse.html

[Ina2017 40]

Hi there, 

 

This is Ina 😀.  My husband and I just started our immigration process.

 

If you are planning to get married first, then I suggest reading https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/immigrant-process/approved.html. I found it useful in understanding the process. 

 

All the very best, 

Ina

[nightingalejules 678]

Short answer: No

 

Long answer:

• You get married in Canada, receive your marriage certificate and file your I-130 (which is, essentially, permission to apply for a green card).
• Your new husband and you will probably prefer to live in Canada throughout this process, because the other option is for him to move back to the States while you stay in Canada for MONTHS while all the processing happens. 
• A while after you file your I-130 (just be glad you didn't apply a couple years ago- now it's only taking 1-2 months... when I applied it took 5-6), it (hopefully) gets approved, and then you actually start applying for the visa.
• This process takes a few more months, (during which time you can visit the US, but not move there... you have to prove that you're not trying to live there every time you cross the border) as you fill in forms, send paperwork and pay more money.
• Once you've filled all the forms, sent all the paperwork and paid all the money, you are assigned an interview. The interview happens in Montreal. We had about a month's notice to make those arrangements. (Including a physical, which can be done at 5 doctors - one in Vancouver, 3 in Ontario and one in Montreal.)
• Then you have your interview, and if you are approved, they take your passport, put the visa in it and mail it back to you. (Well, they courier it to a depot and you go pick it up.) You also arrange to pay another fee that's supposed to pay for your green card to be made, and also pays for the border services people to do the processing of your visa at the border.
• Once your passport with the visa arrives, then  you can enter the US, go through to secondary, have your fingerprints taken, and move!

If you want, look in my signature to see how long that process took for me. I was also coming from Canada, my husband lived there with me throughout the process (he was living in Canada when we met). Your process won't likely take so long, since there was a giant backlog of applications when we put ours through. But it should give you an idea of the step-by-step.

 

We visited the US frequently during the application process, but never more than a couple of weeks at a time, and I never had a problem. It never would have looked like I was trying to live there without a green card in hand.

 

The only way you could stay in the US with your guy as the processing happens is if you applied for a K1 fiance visa and then did adjustment of status. However, you couldn't get married in Canada (it would have to be in the US, after your K1 petition was approved), and you can't work or leave the US until you got through the first part of the process.

 

[kellyh 27]

1 hour ago, Bethany123 said:

I'm brand new to this thread, so please bear with me. I am a Canadian engaged to be married to a US citizen in the fall. I have been researching online about everything we need to do. My understand is he has to file a petition for alien relative as well as an affidavit of support. What else do I need to know? Please help!  

Assuming you've already done your research on which Visa route you're going with, which would be the IR-1 / CR-1.

If you haven't seen the comparison guide for the different types of Visa, please check out the guide here: http://www.visajourney.com/content/guides/

 

Not sure where you / your spouse reside. See the guides below for the different scenarios.

 

US Citizen lives in the US & Spouse lives overseas: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

US Citizen and Spouse both live/reside in the US: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

US Citizen and Spouse both live/reside overseas: http://www.visajourney.com/content/dcf

 

Where will you be getting married?

- Canada or USA?

If in the USA, as @JessieABC mentioned, you'll need to apply for the K-1 visa first (approx time to obtain visa is 7mths) for the sole purpose of marriage. Without this, it is considered an 'illegal' marriage.

If in Canada, you get to skip the above step and go right ahead and proceed with filing the "I-130: Petition for Alien Relative" once your Marriage Certificate arrives. 

 

[Boiler 46,246]

A Visa is to enter the Country, you will need an Immigrant Visa.

[Thesmiths2016 117]

7 hours ago, nightingalejules said:

Short answer: No

 

Long answer:

• You get married in Canada, receive your marriage certificate and file your I-130 (which is, essentially, permission to apply for a green card).
• Your new husband and you will probably prefer to live in Canada throughout this process, because the other option is for him to move back to the States while you stay in Canada for MONTHS while all the processing happens. 
• A while after you file your I-130 (just be glad you didn't apply a couple years ago- now it's only taking 1-2 months... when I applied it took 5-6), it (hopefully) gets approved, and then you actually start applying for the visa.
• This process takes a few more months, (during which time you can visit the US, but not move there... you have to prove that you're not trying to live there every time you cross the border) as you fill in forms, send paperwork and pay more money.
• Once you've filled all the forms, sent all the paperwork and paid all the money, you are assigned an interview. The interview happens in Montreal. We had about a month's notice to make those arrangements. (Including a physical, which can be done at 5 doctors - one in Vancouver, 3 in Ontario and one in Montreal.)
• Then you have your interview, and if you are approved, they take your passport, put the visa in it and mail it back to you. (Well, they courier it to a depot and you go pick it up.) You also arrange to pay another fee that's supposed to pay for your green card to be made, and also pays for the border services people to do the processing of your visa at the border.
• Once your passport with the visa arrives, then  you can enter the US, go through to secondary, have your fingerprints taken, and move!

If you want, look in my signature to see how long that process took for me. I was also coming from Canada, my husband lived there with me throughout the process (he was living in Canada when we met). Your process won't likely take so long, since there was a giant backlog of applications when we put ours through. But it should give you an idea of the step-by-step.

 

We visited the US frequently during the application process, but never more than a couple of weeks at a time, and I never had a problem. It never would have looked like I was trying to live there without a green card in hand.

 

The only way you could stay in the US with your guy as the processing happens is if you applied for a K1 fiance visa and then did adjustment of status. However, you couldn't get married in Canada (it would have to be in the US, after your K1 petition was approved), and you can't work or leave the US until you got through the first part of the process.

 

Sorry one quick correction, that first step of sending in your i-130 DOES still take 5 months or so. Mine took 133 days, and many are finding 4-6 months to be the norm.  Sorry, just being realistic for you.  I'm currently just awaiting my interview myself.  In general it's taking 11-13 months from sending in that first form, to sitting in the interview waiting room.  That's being very organised with no delays in paperwork. Therefore the suggestion about living in canada while you process it is a valid one as its tedious travelling back and forth. However canada and USA are much closer than many countries, so it's very doable.  

Here's a link to the official process on the immigration website, worth a quick read.

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/immigrant-process.html

[Bethany123 56]

Thanks for all of the information, everyone. My fiancé cannot move from the US because he has a daughter who lives with him part time. So, it looks like we will continue to visit each other until it all gets approved. Has anyone used an immigration lawyer? Someone I know recommended one to me and she said he was extremely helpful. Is it worth the money? 

[Transborderwife 4,666]

1 minute ago, Bethany123 said:

Thanks for all of the information, everyone. My fiancé cannot move from the US because he has a daughter who lives with him part time. So, it looks like we will continue to visit each other until it all gets approved. Has anyone used an immigration lawyer? Someone I know recommended one to me and she said he was extremely helpful. Is it worth the money? 

Unless you have severe issues, no

[KierenHby 899]

Check out the Canada subforum, some helpful tips if you wanna go the do-it-yourself route not involving a lawyer. 

[SabRob 154]

1 hour ago, Bethany123 said:

Thanks for all of the information, everyone. My fiancé cannot move from the US because he has a daughter who lives with him part time. So, it looks like we will continue to visit each other until it all gets approved. Has anyone used an immigration lawyer? Someone I know recommended one to me and she said he was extremely helpful. Is it worth the money? 

If money isn't an issue for you, go for the immigration lawyer. They're very useful in terms of telling you exactly what needs to go into your application. All you need to do is send them the required documentation and they will put everything together and file it on your behalf. My husband really wanted to use an immigration lawyer because he wanted to make sure we send in the right stuff the first time and that we don't get any requests for further evidence or checklists. Only after we've filed everything I realized we could have totally done this ourselves. 

 

If you are planning on getting married in Canada and your plans are final then just apply for a CR-1 after you get married and visit during the process. Make sure you have all of your documents ready from the get-go if you are visiting your fiance so you don't slow down the process. (note that some documents are only valid for up to 6 months, such as the police certificate).

 

If you have a little more leeway with your wedding plans, apply for a K1 visa. The wait won't be as long as for a CR-1 visa (which can take up to a year, maybe more) and you can apply for adjustment of status after you get married (in the US and it has to be within 90 days of his entry in the US). You can be together as soon as the K1 is approved, but you won't be able to work until you get your green card which is after you apply for adjustment of status. 

Edited April 15, 2017 by SabRob

[geowrian 22,338]

1 hour ago, Bethany123 said:

Thanks for all of the information, everyone. My fiancé cannot move from the US because he has a daughter who lives with him part time. So, it looks like we will continue to visit each other until it all gets approved. Has anyone used an immigration lawyer? Someone I know recommended one to me and she said he was extremely helpful. Is it worth the money? 

Unless you have a difficult situation, a lawyer isn't needed. It won't make the process go any faster, and you'll just be sending them the exact same information you would be providing with the documents. You can bring one in later if an issue arises. Save the money for a nicer wedding or a honeymoon. Follow the guide here and you'll be perfectly fine with the DIY approach.

 

Whether you go with an attorney or not, I'll just reiterate that it's your immigration journey and you need to be engaged and ask questions the entire time. At no point is there somewhere you can just sit back and let somebody else drive...we've seen far too many horror stories from people who have done that once they got a attorney. Even competent immigration attorneys miss something obvious (a form, a field on a form, etc.). And sometimes they just outright screw up (i.e. a case I read less than 24 hours ago where the attorney confused the case with another client and didn't notify them about the visa interview until afterwards). This isn't to scare you...just saying that people make mistakes so you need to be on top of it no matter what path you go.

 

16 minutes ago, SabRob said:

If you have a little more leeway with your wedding plans, apply for a K1 visa. The wait won't be as long as for a CR-1 visa (which can take up to a year, maybe more) and you can apply for adjustment of status after you get married (in the US and it has to be within 90 days of his entry in the US). You can be together as soon as the K1 is approved, but you won't be able to work until you get your green card which is after you apply for adjustment of status. 

You can just apply for an EAD with AOS, making the wait to work only ~3-4 months, instead of waiting for the green card (which may take close to a year or longer). No extra cost involved.

[JRF 117]

2 hours ago, geowrian said:

Unless you have a difficult situation, a lawyer isn't needed. It won't make the process go any faster, and you'll just be sending them the exact same information you would be providing with the documents. You can bring one in later if an issue arises. Save the money for a nicer wedding or a honeymoon. Follow the guide here and you'll be perfectly fine with the DIY approach.

 

Whether you go with an attorney or not, I'll just reiterate that it's your immigration journey and you need to be engaged and ask questions the entire time. At no point is there somewhere you can just sit back and let somebody else drive...we've seen far too many horror stories from people who have done that once they got a attorney. Even competent immigration attorneys miss something obvious (a form, a field on a form, etc.). And sometimes they just outright screw up (i.e. a case I read less than 24 hours ago where the attorney confused the case with another client and didn't notify them about the visa interview until afterwards). This isn't to scare you...just saying that people make mistakes so you need to be on top of it no matter what path you go.

 

You can just apply for an EAD with AOS, making the wait to work only ~3-4 months, instead of waiting for the green card (which may take close to a year or longer). No extra cost involved.

Agree, agree, agree!  It is the OP's journey, no one else's.  If it is an easy case (and I assume it is) a lawyer simply adds a level of complexity.  OP, you will manage the lawyer, and pay for the privilege.  Unless you are really paper-work phobic, suggest you DIY.