Canadian Flight attendant to USA, what visa? can he visit?

[jjstatz 0]

It has been extremely hard to find answers to this as my partner's Canadian job involves work travel to and from the US. 

 

Me: Us citizen, live and work in us

Fiancee: Canadian Citizen, works for Canadian airline that frequently works flights that go into US, UK, Europe. Commutes from both Canada and the US. 

 

Waiting marry or set intent to marry until we can determine best Visa process. 

 

Issue: We would like to live in the same place. For one thing long distance is rough, for the other we can save a lot. It isn't an issue currently for him to commute to work from the US to Canada to fly.

 

However, if we begin the process for either fiancee or a spousal visa (obviosly would meet the marriage timing requirements of before vs after accordingly)- which of them is the best process to ensure he can continue travelling between the US and Canada and continue working out of Canada? 

 

The end goal is for him to have US citizenship and able to work/apply in the US, and minimize time being unable to commute from the US/visit the US. 

 

It seems to me he would have strong evidence for short visits to the US and ties to Canada due to his work flight schedule for a Canadian airline and having a Canadian address, Canadian bills, bank accounts, etc. Does the i-130 petition process force him to get a visitor Visa? or does the nature of his job preclude this? Does advance probation have anything to do with a situation like this if we go the K-1 route? 

 

Any help is appreciated. 

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

If you both plan to live in the US, get married and file for a spousal visa.

 

Ideally, that wouldn't interfere with his job, as I guess being Canadian, he doesn't need a crewmember visa. 

 

K1 would be very inconvenient, as it requires adjusting status once granted, and while waiting, he wouldn't be able to travel out of the US nor work.

With the spousal visa, he can keep transiting through the US, visiting and once granted, he'd receive a green card. So, he could keep his same job, but now residing in the US.

[Crazy Cat 41,888]

Every couple has their own priorities, and each couple must decide which visa is better for their situation.

K-1
    
    More expensive than CR-1    
    Requires Adjustment of Status after marriage (expensive and requires a lot of paperwork)    
    Spouse can not leave the US until she/he receives approved Advance Parole (approx 5-6 months)    
    Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 5-6 months)    
    Some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period    
    Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed.

  

CR-1
    

    Less expensive than K-1    
    No Adjustment of Status(I-485, I-131, I-765) required.    
    Spouse can immediately travel outside the US    
    Spouse is authorized to work immediately upon arrival.    
    Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US    
    Opening a bank account, getting a driver's license, etc. are very easily accomplished with GC, SS card, and passport.

    Spouse has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US.
  �

 

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hi,

 

There is nothing that would allow him to come and live in the US and continue to travel internationally for his job.  Something has to give when it comes to immigrating to the US.

 

A K-1 and/or adjusting status in the US will mean that he can not leave the US without abandoning his AOS.  It will take 5-7 months for him to get AP which would allow him to leave the US and not abandon his AOS.

 

Your only real option is a CR-1 visa.  He will be living in Canada.  He can visit the US.  

 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

If he gets a green card through a spousal visa, he will have presence and residence requirements  to both keep his green card and to eventually naturalize. Typically how many days a year would he spend outside the US? He’d also need a primary residence in the US, but you say he’d need to continue working out of Canada?

by the way once he gets a green card he can work in the US, he doesn’t need to be a citizen for that (as your first post seems to think).

Edited August 5, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[jjstatz 0]

12 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

If he gets a green card through a spousal visa, he will have presence and residence requirements  to both keep his green card and to eventually naturalize. Typically how many days a year would he spend outside the US? He’d also need a primary residence in the US, but you say he’d need to continue working out of Canada?

by the way once he gets a green card he can work in the US, he doesn’t need to be a citizen for that (as your first post seems to think).

After he gets his green card he'll be applying for a United States based airline job. He will no longer continue to work for the canadian airline after getting through the CR-1 process. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

30 minutes ago, jjstatz said:

After he gets his green card he'll be applying for a United States based airline job. He will no longer continue to work for the canadian airline after getting through the CR-1 process. 

 

Right, so “which of them is the best process to ensure he can continue travelling between the US and Canada and continue working out of Canada? “ (from your first post) confused the issue, seeing as he’s not going to continue working out of Canada. Straightforward spousal visa process then.

[jjstatz 0]

17 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

 

Right, so “which of them is the best process to ensure he can continue travelling between the US and Canada and continue working out of Canada? “ (from your first post) confused the issue, seeing as he’s not going to continue working out of Canada. Straightforward spousal visa process then.

ah - sorry. Too many late nights researching all of this. 🙆‍♂️