US Immigration from Canada

This may be a waste of effort, but I am curious if there is any faster way to get my spouse-to-be into the US and living with me, as she has been struggling financially. I studied as much as I could the differences between K1 and CR1 (with K3) and was advised by a friend that works in immigration that we should go K1 route. We filed our 129f at the end of July this year and it we got NOA1 that it was received on 1Aug2022 and had begun processing at the California center. The approximate timelines are pretty disheartening. My fiance is a Canadian citizen, if it matters any. I was just curious if we had made a mistake and should have just gotten married over there and filed for the 130. I wasn't sure if there was any way for her to move here while waiting on this processing timeline, had we went the other route. I read that the Biden administration was going to work to get times down to 6 months, I don't know if there has been any change to be hopeful for though. Thanks!

Hello I m new here and not sure I m asking this in the correct forum. I m currently in the USA visiting my boyfriend. When I return to Canada I will have been here for 5 weeks. I m worried about returning and going through customs and being questioned about my trip. This is my 4th time visiting since we reconnected 4 years ago and this current trip is the longest I have stayed to visit him. I ve been working remotely while visiting. I don t have any illegal intentions like looking to live here without us going through all the proper channels but I know Customs has no reason to believe that. I m sure they will want to know why I spent 5 weeks in the US and I really have no idea how I m going to answer their questions. Any help would be appreciated. TIA.

We are in the process of filling out the form and just wanted some clarification.

For part 2 item 38a.- 38h. does this need to be filled out if I (the beneficiary) am not currently in the United States? I was there a few days ago but have since returned to Canada.

I see that the form says:

"If your beneficiary is currently in the United States, complete Item Numbers 38a. - 38h."

However, when I look at the instructions provided on how to fill it out it says:

"Item Numbers 37. - 38.h. Form I-94 Arrival-Departure Record. Select the box to indicate whether your beneficiary has ever been in the United States. Provide the date of your beneficiary s most recent entry in the United States, his or her I-94 Arrival-Departure Record Number, if available, and his or her immigration status at the time of arrival (for example, student, tourist, temporary worker, without inspection). Provide the expiration date and identification numbers on the I-94 or I-95 Arrival-Departure Records, travel documents, and or passports."

Just finding it a little bit unclear if I still have to fill that section out.

Please advise.

Thank you!

I am a Canadian citizen engaged to a US citizen. I am currently in the US as a visitor (no visa as Canadians don't need a visa to enter typically). Can my fiance and I start the application while I am here and will I be able to stay the 180 days Canadians are usually allowed while the process starts? I see on the application it asks about a I-94 record number. Do I need something like that if I want to start the process while visiting. I have been searching online for answers and everything is really unclear. If anyone has first hand experience or knows for certain please let me know. Thanks in advance!

So I'm definitely not like most lol - I filed for the K1 Visa in August of this year.
For background, I am the petitioner - Male, I filed for my beneficiary in Canada - female.

Now for the odd-ball situation I'm in. My parents never married, they are still together (I believe they filed Domestic Partnership). I have my mother's last name and not my father's.
I have been wanting to do a last name change to match that of my father's plus my wife-to-be wishes to have this last name also.

Now, for the question you may not have the answer too.
I, the male - should I initiate the court proceedings now to get a legal last name change or should I wait until after the K1 is approved, get married and do a name change and my wife would also have to do the same - essentially a not so "bang for a buck" idea haha.
Really what I'm trying to figure out, is if I can do a last name change now and send the documents to USCIS as an "update" to my name.

• I am in California so I cannot put my father's last name on a marriage certificate because... California doesn't allow it cause I'm not "associated" even though my birth certificate says otherwise but hey! whatever, its the gov't lol. I wish I knew this sooner cause I would've updated it prior to filing...

Is there possibly a way to reach out and find this information out from USCIS? I have tried googling but unfortunately I'm the minority here ... since I'm a guy...

tl;dr - male petitioner wants to change last name but already filed K1, can I do court proceedings to change legal last name or should I wait?

I don't want the K1 Visa to be null and void for something that I see as submitting as a simple update/supplement.