90 DAY INTENT

[ourwildjourney 103]

Hi, everyone.  We need some advice.  My Canadian girlfriend went to Arizona to visit friends 10/29/19.  She decided to stay in the USA . SHe came to LA to stay with me and my girls and to visit other friends of hers.  She then stayed over Thanksgiving and went to NorCal with my girls and my parents and brothers, etc.  She roadtripped with me and my girls back to LA . Her parents and sister and nephew came to SoCal for Christmas and we all rented a house together in Palm Springs.  While there, her parents saw her with my girls and said it's crazy for her to be away from her new family.  THey were right.  She stayed her and we got married January 10th.

 

We are now filing an AOS.  She lives here.  She is a step mom.  On insurance.  Bank accounts, etc.  THis is the real deal and the girls and I need her and love her.

 

QUESTION -- Is the fact that we got married 81 days after she came to the USA an issue?  We just had a lawyer tell us that it's a problem because we got married within 90 days of her coming here even though she truly had no intent to stay here when she came through.  She still had a place in Canada. Her stuff was there, etc etc.  

 

Is this 90 day rule a hard and fast rule that should be freaking us out?  Or when we have our interview can the office make his or her own judgment based on who we really are? Is it a 90 day line in the sand that we accidentally crossed?  Or is it more a guideline?  

 

Thanks for the brutal honesty and guidance.  

[Lil bear 4,217]

3 minutes ago, ourwildjourney said:

Hi, everyone.  We need some advice.  My Canadian girlfriend went to Arizona to visit friends 10/29/19.  She decided to stay in the USA . SHe came to LA to stay with me and my girls and to visit other friends of hers.  She then stayed over Thanksgiving and went to NorCal with my girls and my parents and brothers, etc.  She roadtripped with me and my girls back to LA . Her parents and sister and nephew came to SoCal for Christmas and we all rented a house together in Palm Springs.  While there, her parents saw her with my girls and said it's crazy for her to be away from her new family.  THey were right.  She stayed her and we got married January 10th.

 

We are now filing an AOS.  She lives here.  She is a step mom.  On insurance.  Bank accounts, etc.  THis is the real deal and the girls and I need her and love her.

 

QUESTION -- Is the fact that we got married 81 days after she came to the USA an issue?  We just had a lawyer tell us that it's a problem because we got married within 90 days of her coming here even though she truly had no intent to stay here when she came through.  She still had a place in Canada. Her stuff was there, etc etc.  

 

Is this 90 day rule a hard and fast rule that should be freaking us out?  Or when we have our interview can the office make his or her own judgment based on who we really are? Is it a 90 day line in the sand that we accidentally crossed?  Or is it more a guideline?  

 

Thanks for the brutal honesty and guidance.  

No such rule.  Intent is determined on entry. Changing plans is acceptable. Make sure you file for Employment and travel documents at the same time.   They will take 5/6 months but she can then work while she is waiting for the GC  processing. Until the travel card comes she must not leave the US or her AOS will be considered abandoned. 

[DELETEME1234 208]

Like @Lil bear said, the 30-60-90 days thing is not a concern. You can file without worry, here’s the appropriate guide for it: 

 

EAD and AP is highly recommended. 

[ourwildjourney 103]

Thanks.  You just talked us off the ledge.  A lawyer just got us really freaked out about defrauding the government because we got married in 81 days and not 91 days and that made no sense to us.  Our girls would be devastated!

SO the next question -- on the 130 it asks for her physical addresses and when she lived there.

Do we overlap the two?  She paid rent in Canada through January 2020

But she has been here since November.  But she wasn't really living here.  She was staying here until she decided in January to stay.  So now she has health insurance and is on car insurance and banks account.  So there's no real answer for when she stopped living in Canada and started living in USA permanently.  She was intending to go back until recently so how do we say when she lived in Canada until (since she was paying rent while being here?)

[Crazy Cat 41,884]

3 minutes ago, ourwildjourney said:

So there's no real answer for when she stopped living in Canada and started living in USA permanently.

She stopped living in Canada the day she arrived in the US....because she never returned..imo.

Edited February 13, 2020 by missileman

[ourwildjourney 103]

3 minutes ago, Poseidon1212 said:

Like @Lil bear said, the 30-60-90 days thing is not a concern. You can file without worry, here’s the appropriate guide for it: 

 

EAD and AP is highly recommended. 

Thank you!  Yes we are head deep in everything right now. 

What we are having trouble with is saying the dates she lived in Canada through and then the dates she started physically residing at her home with me and the girls here.  Is it okay for us to say Canada through December (since she was paying rent and thought she was going back) and then California starting December?  Or do we need to decide when she for sure 100% was not going to go back and that's the date even though her stuff and apartment were still in Vancouver?

[Crazy Cat 41,884]

1 minute ago, ourwildjourney said:

Thank you!  Yes we are head deep in everything right now. 

What we are having trouble with is saying the dates she lived in Canada through and then the dates she started physically residing at her home with me and the girls here.  Is it okay for us to say Canada through December (since she was paying rent and thought she was going back) and then California starting December?  Or do we need to decide when she for sure 100% was not going to go back and that's the date even though her stuff and apartment were still in Vancouver?

It doesn't really matter.  Don't overlap the dates.

[Boiler 45,524]

Was this an Immigration Lawyer?

[DELETEME1234 208]

2 minutes ago, ourwildjourney said:

Thank you!  Yes we are head deep in everything right now. 

What we are having trouble with is saying the dates she lived in Canada through and then the dates she started physically residing at her home with me and the girls here.  Is it okay for us to say Canada through December (since she was paying rent and thought she was going back) and then California starting December?  Or do we need to decide when she for sure 100% was not going to go back and that's the date even though her stuff and apartment were still in Vancouver?

Personally I don’t think it matters much. If the IO wants to know details about the transition then they’ll ask. However, as personal preference I like to stick with verifiable stuff e.g. using the end of her lease or when she wrote herself out of the civil registry if applicable as end date there and start date in the US. That way there’s an actual paper trail. But that’s just me. 

[ourwildjourney 103]

2 minutes ago, missileman said:

She stopped living in Canada the day she arrived in the US....because she never returned..imo.

Yes . . . but she came to USA to see friends in Arizona first and truly was a tourist at that time and was paying rent in Canada.  So she really was "living" in Canada and "visiting" the USA until at some point this family and this country became more her home than there.  This feels like a Sarte existential question of "where does one truly live" . aahhhhhhh

THANK YOU!!!!

[Crazy Cat 41,884]

1 minute ago, ourwildjourney said:

Yes . . . but she came to USA to see friends in Arizona first and truly was a tourist at that time and was paying rent in Canada.  So she really was "living" in Canada and "visiting" the USA until at some point this family and this country became more her home than there.  This feels like a Sarte existential question of "where does one truly live" . aahhhhhhh

THANK YOU!!!!

OK.  Then put the date she decided to stay in the US....it doesn't matter...Just don't overlap the dates......

Edited February 13, 2020 by missileman

[ourwildjourney 103]

1 minute ago, Boiler said:

Was this an Immigration Lawyer?

Yes but a friend and not someone we were paying for counsel.  So I couldn't tell if they were giving the conservative opinions or were talking about hard and fast rules.  I guess the question is if the customs agent at the interview gets to make up his or her mind based on the facts or just says "Nope - married 81 days in so it's a violation of a hard and fast rule" or something.

So stressful!!!

[Boiler 45,524]

There would have to be a rue first for that to be an issue.

[ourwildjourney 103]

1 minute ago, missileman said:

OK.  Then put the date she decided to stay in the US....it doesn't matter...Just don't overlap the dates......

THANK YOU!!!!!!   

Really appreciate it!

So stressful!

[ourwildjourney 103]

4 minutes ago, Boiler said:

There would have to be a rue first for that to be an issue.

Why does everyone keep talking about this 90 days after crossing the border? 

Where is it coming from?

10 minutes ago, missileman said:

OK.  Then put the date she decided to stay in the US....it doesn't matter...Just don't overlap the dates......

Thank you!