Canadian wife, American husband, and 4 Canadian children living in Canada but wanting to move to US

[Hmolina 1]

I am Canadian and my husband was born in the US but lived most of his life in Canada, he has dual citizenship. We have 4 children with   Canadian status. We now want to move back to Hawaii where he was born, but im not sure where to start and the right way to do it all. 

He is self employed and just starting a business so his income is not steady or very high, but he supports us no problem. 

We are going to Hawaii for a visit in April, Should we just go to Hawaii and figure it out there? Or is it best to do it from Canada? 

Many tips or advice would help a lot! 

Thanks! 

[Boiler 46,124]

You can not figure it out from Hawaii.

 

Will he be starting a new business there or transferring his business?

[Lemonslice 4,968]

23 minutes ago, Hmolina said:

I am Canadian and my husband was born in the US but lived most of his life in Canada, he has dual citizenship. We have 4 children with   Canadian status. We now want to move back to Hawaii where he was born, but im not sure where to start and the right way to do it all. 

He is self employed and just starting a business so his income is not steady or very high, but he supports us no problem. 

We are going to Hawaii for a visit in April, Should we just go to Hawaii and figure it out there? Or is it best to do it from Canada? 

Many tips or advice would help a lot! 

Thanks! 

How long has he lived in the US?

[Hmolina 1]

@Boiler he is a freelance artist so he does most of his work online. He has American clients and Canadian 

[Hmolina 1]

@Lemonslice he only lived there for about a year as a baby 

[Boiler 46,124]

Well he will have at least a couple of years of US tax filing for his new business before you move. Do you have a residence in Hawaii or is this trip to buy one?

[Hmolina 1]

13 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Well he will have at least a couple of years of US tax filing for his new business before you move. Do you have a residence in Hawaii or is this trip to buy one?

We have land we want to build on, and we have family we can stay with temporarily, but we may rent a place. I'm just wondering if he can sponsor me and the kids  Or if his family can sponsor us? 

[Boiler 46,124]

His US based family could joint sponsor if he can not show the income.

 

He will need to be domiciled in the US, Canadian consulate take that seriously.

Edited January 15, 2018 by Boiler

[nightingalejules 678]

3 minutes ago, Hmolina said:

We have land we want to build on, and we have family we can stay with temporarily, but we may rent a place. I'm just wondering if he can sponsor me and the kids  Or if his family can sponsor us? 

Assuming he has been filing his US taxes, and has been claiming sufficient US income, he may be able to sponsor you alone, even though he's not living there. If he doesn't have sufficient US income, he will still be the primary sponsor but can get someone in his family to be a joint sponsor to come up to the income requirement.

He must be in good standing with his taxes, and I'm not exactly sure how it will work if he really hasn't lived in the US as an adult... that may be a problem. My husband was living in Canada during our initial "visa journey", but he had lived in the US most of his life and just lived the past 10 yrs (give or take) back in Canada.

[NikLR 13,232]

The process you would need to follow for you is the IR1 and the children would need IR2 visas as it does not sound like he qualifies for them to get a CRBA at this point. 

The children would become USC when they become LPRs however so joint sponsorship would only be needed for you if he does not qualify income and asset wise for a family of 6 for Hawaii.  (Check out the I-864p)

Regardless, sponsorship comes much later in the game.  Currently he would need to file 5x I-130, one for each of you, plus an I-130A for you, plus all evidence requires for each individual petition to the Chicago lockbox.

 

It would be illegal for you to move to the USA as a tourist.  So everyone just packing up and headed there would cause chaos, tears, and wasted plane tickets.  Don't bother. 

Edited January 16, 2018 by NikLR
Tiny phone keyboards are the devil

[NikLR 13,232]

As a USC he is required to file (not pay but file) taxes regardless of where he lives in the world.  There are forms for exclusions for foreign income up to a certain amount.  Check out the serbinski forums for details about this.  I suggest he gets started on this if he has not already.  Many USC are inaware of this weird tax requirement.  Most countries base taxes purely on residency and/or property owned. 

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

16 hours ago, Hmolina said:

We have land we want to build on, and we have family we can stay with temporarily, but we may rent a place. I'm just wondering if he can sponsor me and the kids  Or if his family can sponsor us? 

I will assume the kids are his

if so and he is on the birth certificate,  you need to file for their US citzenship and passport

then he only needs to file for you

he should have been filing US tax returns for all years worked outside the US

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/taxpayers-living-abroad

there is a large tax exempt amount so unless he is making well over $100,000 you are safe to file with no issues

 

Examples without figuring your dependents:

However, you may qualify to exclude from income up to an amount of your foreign earnings that is adjusted annually for inflation ($92,900 for 2011, $95,100 for 2012, $97,600 for 2013, $99,200 for 2014 and $100,800 for 2015). In addition, you can exclude or deduct certain foreign housing amounts.Aug 3, 2017

He needs US residency,  proof of income,  marriage and other documents as shown on the VJ site under guides and guiides in case of marriage or the USCIS government site

https://www.uscis.gov/

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

  Actually because he didn't live in the US long enough after age 14 he will have to file I130s for everyone.  However the children can get citizenship as soon as they enter the US on their visas though the child citizenship act.  

[acidrain 325]

My spouse and I with our son were in a similar situation. In order for the children to become automatic citizens your spouse would have had to live 5 years in the US, 2 as an adult. As others have said you will file the IR2 for your kids which is a green card and then when they cross the border it turns into citizenship.

 

Do not do what we did and assume you can just go to the US and figure it out from there. I got a hard denial at the border which has made crossing very difficult. It is illegal to move to the US without the appropriate immigrant visa.

 

If you complete the process from Canada it takes just over a year to complete (give or take a couple months). They want the US citizen who is sponsoring to show they are committed to living in the US. In our case my husband moved ahead without me or our son. It has been hard the separation but if you look up domicile, it's the number one reason why Canadians are denied green cards. The next has to do with financial sponsorship. You have to prove the US citizen makes enough money (within the US) to pay for everyone. They want to see up to the last 3 years of US tax returns. We went to a US tax accountant.

 

I thought being married a long time or immigrating from Canada counted for something but it generally doesn't for this process. You will be treated the same. At the border they are usually understanding and you can visit during the process. Some people take the chance and try to prove domicile without moving. However, if your spouse has never really lived in the US you might want to consider moving ahead of the final interview. 

[Hmolina 1]

What if we go there on a 6 month vacation, then while we're there he files the I-130 forms for us at the USCIS office. Then we apply for k-3 and k-4 visas?