Steps to bring in partner - staying, visiting, health insurance

[jaydnynj 1]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm a new member, so please excuse any non-intentional breaches of etiquette.

 

I'm a native of and live in the NYC area, and my S.O. is a native of and lives in the GTA (Canada). We've been together and have known each other for more than seven years. The idea is for her to move down here in about 4-6 months (our timeline). She will be a stay at home wife/mom. No kids right now for either of us (we're late 20's/early 30's in age). We haven't started any paperwork yet, and our case, I feel, is pretty straight-forward - we don't have any criminal record or overstays, and have a real, bonafide relationship with years of established photos and trips. She currently works in Canada and I have a full time job as well in the NYC area.

 

We recently did a religious ceremony in Canada that had no official documentation, or filings with the Canadian locality. This was for the sake of her customs and family, to allow her to travel freely in accordance with her own customs and culture, not for any paperwork or certs.

 

-Based on those circumstances, what is the best route to her coming down and having some sort of status the quickest? Would that be the fiance K1 visa?

-What if we got married, either in a third country or in the US (after the 90-day period), and then she just stayed permanently and we filed for the spouse visa (CR1?)

 

 

-In both of those cases, would there be a gap period, mainly in terms of health insurance? Healthcare, as I'm sure you all know, is expensive in the US, and I'd want to add her to my insurance, but I don't think I'd be able to until she had some sort of legal status, right? Any insight or anecdotes anyone can share on health insurance for your partner during the wait, in case they got sick or hurt and needed to go to the doctor, or if we decided to have a baby during the "wait" period either after she came down on the K1, or after filing paperwork for the CR1 in the 2nd option I mentioned above?

 

-How would it work if she came down, stood at least 90 days, then we got civilly married in the US and filed for the spouse visa? Would it be an auto-reject because it's considered visa fraud? Would we need to act like "oh, we weren't planning this and then it just happened"? If we got married in a third country and then went back to the US, do we tell the CBP officer that we got married in the third country (or are we obligated to)?

 

-In what scenarios can she leave the country or travel (or not)? Can she fly intra-US while waiting for status, or is it going to come up that she's on an overstay or has an immigration doc pending?

 

Essentially, I'm just trying to get an idea on the best route forward to unite based on our intention of her coming down by ~mid-year, and having health insurance coverage through my policy as soon as possible after coming down. Since the plan is for her to be a stay at home, work papers aren't as important at this time.

 

Thank you in advance for any insight and advice on these points!

[JeanneAdil 6,498]

Not going to  be mid year -more like 2 years from now.

 

if u register the marriage in Canada,  apply for spousal visa

you can not plan to marry here and she stays as that is immigration fraud

 

K1 - sounds like the religious ceremony makes u too married for a K1 fiancee visa

 

K1 or CR1 u are looking at at least a 2 year wait to have a visa in hand

immigration is not fast, not cheap,  not easy

 

u can add her to your health care when she is in US as this would be a change in family circumstances (look to see your policy if its 30 or 60 days to change this)

even though u don't care about work papers,  under a K1 , u have to AOS in the US after marriage and the cost is going up drastically (in March from  $1225 to over $2000).  she can not stay legally unless u go thru the AOS process 

[Chancy 6,241]

17 minutes ago, jaydnynj said:

The idea is for her to move down here in about 4-6 months (our timeline).

 

Not gonna happen.  More realistic estimate would be 1.5 to 2 years AFTER you get legally married and file the I-130 petition.  Then your SO waits in Canada for the CR1 spouse visa process to complete.  She can come over for short visits (subject to CBP inspection, as always), but she cannot move permanently until she gets a spouse visa.

 

K1 visa is not a safe option as you already had a religious wedding ceremony.  There's a high risk that your SO will be considered "too married" and not eligible for K1 visa.

 

Don't even think about having your SO come over on B2 status with Canadian passport with preconceived intent to stay and adjust status.  That's immigration fraud.  Just get married legally anywhere, file the petition, and complete the CR1 process in Canada.

 

[powerpuff 6,697]

Your only option is a CR1 visa. You do not qualify for a K1 anymore as any indication of any religious ceremony even if not official is grounds for a denial. I doubt you want to wait 2 years for the process to find out it’s denied.

 

1 hour ago, jaydnynj said:

The idea is for her to move down here in about 4-6 months (our timeline). 

Your timeline does not line up with the reality/USCIS and DOS’ timelines. Prepare for a 2 year wait - that is the standard timeline to bring a spouse of a US citizen to America.

 

Edited January 31, 2023 by powerpuff

[jaydnynj 1]

2 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

Not going to  be mid year -more like 2 years from now.

 

if u register the marriage in Canada,  apply for spousal visa

you can not plan to marry here and she stays as that is immigration fraud

 

K1 - sounds like the religious ceremony makes u too married for a K1 fiancee visa

 

K1 or CR1 u are looking at at least a 2 year wait to have a visa in hand

immigration is not fast, not cheap,  not easy

 

u can add her to your health care when she is in US as this would be a change in family circumstances (look to see your policy if its 30 or 60 days to change this)

even though u don't care about work papers,  under a K1 , u have to AOS in the US after marriage and the cost is going up drastically (in March from  $1225 to over $2000).  she can not stay legally unless u go thru the AOS process 

Thank you for the response. So the religious ceremony invalidates the possibility of a K1 even though there is no official record of it? How would immigration or customs know that we even had one since there’s no record of it happening?

[jaydnynj 1]

1 hour ago, powerpuff said:

Your only option is a CR1 visa. You do not qualify for a K1 anymore as any indication of any religious ceremony even if not official is grounds for a denial. I doubt you want to wait 2 years for the process to find out it’s denied.

 

Your timeline does not line up with the reality/USCIS and DOS’ timelines. Prepare for a 2 year wait - that is the standard timeline to bring a spouse of a US citizen to America.

 

Thanks for the response, it seems like with either visa option, the minimum time for her to move down permanently is going to be 1.5 - 2 years. Question though, how would the possibility for a K1 be off the tables now, since there’s no official record of the religious ceremony happening (no file or cert with the city in Canada that it happened, no taking down names at the place of worship, etc)?

[jaydnynj 1]

2 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

Not gonna happen.  More realistic estimate would be 1.5 to 2 years AFTER you get legally married and file the I-130 petition.  Then your SO waits in Canada for the CR1 spouse visa process to complete.  She can come over for short visits (subject to CBP inspection, as always), but she cannot move permanently until she gets a spouse visa.

 

K1 visa is not a safe option as you already had a religious wedding ceremony.  There's a high risk that your SO will be considered "too married" and not eligible for K1 visa.

 

Don't even think about having your SO come over on B2 status with Canadian passport with preconceived intent to stay and adjust status.  That's immigration fraud.  Just get married legally anywhere, file the petition, and complete the CR1 process in Canada.

 

Thank you, this is very helpful and puts things in perspective. If I were to go to Canada and officially get married there (with filed civil certificate with the city in Canada) to start the I-130 petition, what would be the responses to border officers on both sides, going into Canada and back into the US? Do I keep it at “visiting my girlfriend” or do I need to inform them that I just married in Canada civilly and plan to file the I-130 petition? 

[Chancy 6,241]

13 minutes ago, jaydnynj said:

How would immigration or customs know that we even had one since there’s no record of it happening?

 

Because you or your SO will tell them, if asked.  Or they might find out somehow through other sources.  Like @powerpuff said, do you really want to spend 2 years of your life worrying about that possibility?  Even after your SO gets the K1 visa and moves to the US, it's possible for USCIS to find out about the religious ceremony and suspect that she was not actually eligible for the visa, like what happened to this VJ member --

 

 

[jaydnynj 1]

28 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

Because you or your SO will tell them, if asked.  Or they might find out somehow through other sources.  Like @powerpuff said, do you really want to spend 2 years of your life worrying about that possibility?  Even after your SO gets the K1 visa and moves to the US, it's possible for USCIS to find out about the religious ceremony and suspect that she was not actually eligible for the visa, like what happened to this VJ member --

 

 

Thank you, it sounds like the best route at the point we’re at is to civilly marry in Canada then do the CR1 to avoid any potential problems since we did a religious ceremony. 
 

To make sure I understand correctly, if I was to go to Canada with the intent of getting civilly married, then when I return to the US (and for any visit trips there and back after), what should be my responses at the border when asked why I’m going to Canada or what I did in Canada (I usually drive up and back, and say visiting my girlfriend)?

[Lemonslice 4,836]

1 hour ago, jaydnynj said:

Thank you, it sounds like the best route at the point we’re at is to civilly marry in Canada then do the CR1 to avoid any potential problems since we did a religious ceremony. 
 

To make sure I understand correctly, if I was to go to Canada with the intent of getting civilly married, then when I return to the US (and for any visit trips there and back after), what should be my responses at the border when asked why I’m going to Canada or what I did in Canada (I usually drive up and back, and say visiting my girlfriend)?

What is the purpose of your visit? 

"Attend a wedding... "

 

---

Canadian here, my husband (and his family) came to Canada and we got married there.  We visited each other often before and after filing, went smoothly - know, and accept, that it will take a while to be done, but we did make it fun, and celebrated by taking a month-long honeymoon trip when all was done.  I was on his insurance the 1st of the month after our wedding, was useful to have US coverage when I visited; I was otherwise covered by my province health plan.  

[JeanneAdil 6,498]

11 hours ago, jaydnynj said:

Thank you for the response. So the religious ceremony invalidates the possibility of a K1 even though there is no official record of it? How would immigration or customs know that we even had one since there’s no record of it happening?

they may not but can u count on that?

Did the religious ceremony require license to marry?

 

usually this issue of "too married for K1"  comes up in high fraud countries

but why not register the marriage as CR 1 is cheaper with several more benefits

like:

getting the SS #

getting a US driving license

not going thru the AOS and that cost 

adding the immiggrant to insurance 

 

[jaydnynj 1]

9 hours ago, Lemonslice said:

What is the purpose of your visit? 

"Attend a wedding... "

 

---

Canadian here, my husband (and his family) came to Canada and we got married there.  We visited each other often before and after filing, went smoothly - know, and accept, that it will take a while to be done, but we did make it fun, and celebrated by taking a month-long honeymoon trip when all was done.  I was on his insurance the 1st of the month after our wedding, was useful to have US coverage when I visited; I was otherwise covered by my province health plan.  

Hey thanks for the response. I like the idea of making it fun, definitely makes it easier. Thanks for sharing as well. Usually at the border they’ll ask additional questions so in this case it would probably go like “attend a wedding? Who’s wedding?” Etc. So is it ok to be up front and honest about my reason for going to Canada to marry civilly then do the I-130 to both the Canadian CBSA going in and then coming back with US CBP? 

 

Just trying to understand the angle and what is permissible. I just don’t want to run across an issue at the Canadian border if I answer the wrong way and they don’t let me in, for example, or likewise on the return trip home to the US get flagged for saying I attended my own wedding.

[jaydnynj 1]

57 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

they may not but can u count on that?

Did the religious ceremony require license to marry?

 

usually this issue of "too married for K1"  comes up in high fraud countries

but why not register the marriage as CR 1 is cheaper with several more benefits

like:

getting the SS #

getting a US driving license

not going thru the AOS and that cost 

adding the immiggrant to insurance 

 

Got it, that makes sense. The religious ceremony did not require a license, just a non-official (as in, not registered with the city or govt) piece of decorative paper. but it sounds like it is too risky and CR1 is cheaper anyway. I am leaning towards the CR1 then now. Thank you. It sounds like her coming down on a visitor visa and then marrying after 90 days and her staying here and then trying to convince USCIS it wasn’t planned is too risky and not legal.

Edited January 31, 2023 by jaydnynj

[powerpuff 6,697]

10 minutes ago, jaydnynj said:

it sounds like it is too risky and CR1 is cheaper anyway

Not to mention that the K1 process takes slightly longer than CR1. So not worth it at all considering the overall advantages of a CR1 (LPR immediately upon entry). If you time it right and enter on or after your 2 year anniversary, she would be IR1 = 10 year GC and you avoid the painful process of removal of conditions.

[apond 37]

12 hours ago, jaydnynj said:

Thank you, it sounds like the best route at the point we’re at is to civilly marry in Canada then do the CR1 to avoid any potential problems since we did a religious ceremony. 
 

To make sure I understand correctly, if I was to go to Canada with the intent of getting civilly married, then when I return to the US (and for any visit trips there and back after), what should be my responses at the border when asked why I’m going to Canada or what I did in Canada (I usually drive up and back, and say visiting my girlfriend)?

Response is “visiting my spouse or getting married ”.  I married my wife in Canada and my response when I crossed was I’m getting married.  No issues. My wife is Canadian and I crossed 7 times. Each time that was my response. I never had an issue. She did however have issues last time she came here because of the i130 being in process. 

Edited January 31, 2023 by apond