Us citizen wife (living in Canada) and Canadian beneficiary

[Abdulm 0]

Hello everyone

 

Background:

Wife is a US citizen by birth, lived in Canada (has a Canadian passport, US social security number as well) since she was 6 years old. I am a Canadian citizen after I came to Canada back in 2001. We got married in Dec 2016 (first marriage for both of us) and have 2 kids (born in Canada 2019 and 2021).

 

We are planning on making a move from Toronto to US (exact destination within US not decided) 

 

Some questions: 

1. Does my wife has to fill out I130 3 times with all the documents attached to each application (1 for me, 1 for our older son, 1 for our younger son) 

2. Does anyone know if we have to do this at a Toronto consulate or can we do these applications online?

3. We have a marriage certificate (married in Canada), kids Canadian birth certificate, purchase and sale agreement of a new construction home (to be completed by 2023), her US birth certificate, life insurance beneficiaries, one joint credit card. Anything else we should definitely have? 

 

Anything else I should know about. Any help is greatly appreciated. 

[powerpuff 6,698]

~ Topic moved from CR1/IR1 Progress Reports to Process ~
 

[cdndesro 44]

3 hours ago, Abdulm said:

Hello everyone

 

Background:

Wife is a US citizen by birth, lived in Canada (has a Canadian passport, US social security number as well) since she was 6 years old. I am a Canadian citizen after I came to Canada back in 2001. We got married in Dec 2016 (first marriage for both of us) and have 2 kids (born in Canada 2019 and 2021).

 

We are planning on making a move from Toronto to US (exact destination within US not decided) 

 

Some questions: 

1. Does my wife has to fill out I130 3 times with all the documents attached to each application (1 for me, 1 for our older son, 1 for our younger son) 

2. Does anyone know if we have to do this at a Toronto consulate or can we do these applications online?

3. We have a marriage certificate (married in Canada), kids Canadian birth certificate, purchase and sale agreement of a new construction home (to be completed by 2023), her US birth certificate, life insurance beneficiaries, one joint credit card. Anything else we should definitely have? 

 

Anything else I should know about. Any help is greatly appreciated. 

1) If the kids are not US Citizens then yes a petition for each person will be needed.

2) You can file I-130's online and submit evidence electronically.  Once the petitions are approved by USCIS they will transfer to the Department of State where you will provide additional documents for each applicant (birth certificate, police clearance, affidavit of support, etc.).  Finally you will appear for an interview at the Consulate in Montreal.  That is the only Consulate that processes immigrant visas.  

3) Sounds like solid evidence.  My wife and I had no joint finances, mostly photos, trip receipts and wedding photos and receipts and we were approved without a RFE.  You have good evidence of comingling and likely will be fine.

 

Your wife will need to prove domicile in the US and have US based income for support.  If she hasnt lived there since she was 6 this may be your biggest challenge unless she files US taxes, has US accounts, has some sort of physical address, etc.  Others will have much better information on domicile than me but you should start looking in to the requirements.  She may have to move ahead of time to establish domicile before your interview (12-18 months from when you file).  Also if she has no US income that will continue once you move, you will need a co-sponsor for the Affidavit of Support which is required at the 2nd step of the process at the Dept of State.

[pushbrk 12,883]

28 minutes ago, cdndesro said:

1) If the kids are not US Citizens then yes a petition for each person will be needed.

2) You can file I-130's online and submit evidence electronically.  Once the petitions are approved by USCIS they will transfer to the Department of State where you will provide additional documents for each applicant (birth certificate, police clearance, affidavit of support, etc.).  Finally you will appear for an interview at the Consulate in Montreal.  That is the only Consulate that processes immigrant visas.  

3) Sounds like solid evidence.  My wife and I had no joint finances, mostly photos, trip receipts and wedding photos and receipts and we were approved without a RFE.  You have good evidence of comingling and likely will be fine.

 

Your wife will need to prove domicile in the US and have US based income for support.  If she hasnt lived there since she was 6 this may be your biggest challenge unless she files US taxes, has US accounts, has some sort of physical address, etc.  Others will have much better information on domicile than me but you should start looking in to the requirements.  She may have to move ahead of time to establish domicile before your interview (12-18 months from when you file).  Also if she has no US income that will continue once you move, you will need a co-sponsor for the Affidavit of Support which is required at the 2nd step of the process at the Dept of State.

It's not clear to me whether the children qualify for US Citizenship.  Perhaps not, if the mother has lived in Canada since she was six years old.  (Never spent 5 years in the US after age 14)  First determine if the children qualify for US Citizenship.  If they do, don't try to get visas for them.  If they don't, then yes, three separate petitions, one for each immigrant.  

 

The difference between the spouse and the children is the spouse will get Lawful Permanent Resident status upon immigrating, but the children simply apply for US Passports, as they are entitled to Citizenship once they are residing in the US with their US Citizen parent.