US Immigration from Canada

Hey guys! My interview in Montreal is scheduled for March 30, any advice would be awesome! So anxious to get through this and get my life feeling normal by being with my hubby. Married for 4 years this summer and with him for 6.5 years this summer .. I waited til my daughters got older to do this ( they are staying in Canada, my oldest is pretty much on her own now and my younger is staying with her Dad, she s almost 17) Any advice too on all topics mentioned is welcomed

So, my husband has been in the US since 2016 on an F-1 Visa, so he's been filing taxes in the US every year as a nonresident alien. In preparation to move his official "residency" to the US, he cashed out his Canadian retirement accounts and has been moving the money to the US. The taxes in Canada for cashing out that money will be worse if he's no longer a resident of Canada, so he was planning to file as a nonresident alien (in the US) again for 2019. (Married, filing separately)

We just filed his AOS application a few days ago, in March of 2020. In reviewing the details of the paperwork, he found an note in the instructions for the I-131 (bolding mine):

Quote

If you are an alien who has been admitted as an immigrant or adjusted status to that of an immigrant, and are considering the filing of a nonresident alien tax return or the non-filing of a tax return on the ground that you are a nonresident alien, you should carefully review the consequences of such actions under the INA. If you file a nonresident alien tax return or do not file a tax return, you may be regarded as having abandoned residence in the United States and as having lost your lawful permanent resident status under the INA. As a consequence, you may be ineligible for a visa or other document for which lawful permanent resident aliens are eligible. You may also be inadmissible to the United States if you seek admission as a returning resident, and you may become ineligible for adjustment of status as a lawful permanent resident or naturalization on the basis of your original entry.

Does this refer to filing taxes for the previous year, before he started the adjustment process? Obviously he would file as a resident alien for any year after this one (and we would likely file jointly) but he was trying to wrap up this financial stuff from 2019. At the end of the day, we wouldn't want to jeopardize his status or have him seem to be abandoning his status, that's the top priority, but the text wasn't clear if it referred to only after you'd been given permanent residency/immigration status, or if it would also apply to filing taxes for a preceding year. For the entirety of 2019 he was on an F-1 visa and not (legally) an intending immigrant, although we got married in August.

I've scoured these tax forums, but it seems like most people are looking to see if they can file jointly and claim "resident alien" status based on marriage, before anything official has happened. That's kind of the opposite of what we were planning to do. Any idea if this text refers to only after you've gotten your greencard, or if we could jeopardize if he files as nonresident alien for one last tax cycle?

I don't think I explained it well enough to my fiance while he was filling out the DS 160, but he selected Vancouver instead of Montreal. It's my understanding that Vancouver no longer does K1 interviews. He already submitted the DS 160 today. How can we fix this in the quickest way possible? Thanks!

Dear Members,

I am IR-CR1 applicant with PD 4Nov, 2019 and my spouse is a us citizen. Recently our case is transferred from TSC to VSC on 23Feb. I am wondering should we follow Texas timelines or Vermont timeline onward.

I just want to plan our lives accordingly during this journey because there is 10 months difference in their processing time for 1-130.

Thanks

My wife and I married in November 2018 and we started our immigration journey when we filed the I-130 on December 5, 2018.

Along the way, I ve learned some valuable lessons and experiences that I would like to share with the community. It may be helpful to anyone who plans to start their immigration journey from Canada to the United States.

Travelling to the US

Prior to meeting my wife, my travels to the United States was limited to rare family trips. I met my wife in a developing country where she was completing her fellowship. We maintained a long-distance relationship, where I visited her 4-5 times in this country, but also started visiting her in the US starting from January 2017. By mid-2017, I decided to apply for a Nexus card, which ended up being a great investment at $50 USD for 5 years. Looking at my i94, I have visited my wife 20 times in the US since 2016 (22 times if you include transits through the US).

The Nexus card made it easy for me to visit my wife, even as I go through the immigration process. In total, I have visited my wife 12 times since we filed the i130 (anywhere from 6-26 days), all of which through Toronto Pearson Airport. I have visited her throughout the immigration process, last of which is a final trip a week prior to my interview at the US Consulate General in Montreal. With the Nexus card, I have not had any issues crossing at Toronto Pearson Airport. I always bring my employment information, bank statements, etc. but have never required to show them.

I was careful to limit my visits somewhat as I didn t want to qualify for the Substantial Presence Test requiring me to file my taxes with the IRS.

Preparing for the Move

I did file my 2018 taxes with my wife jointly with the purpose of obtaining an ITIN. I learned through trial-and-error that the W7 needed to be filed with our tax return (there was a lot of misinformation when I contacted the IRS and was turned away at the IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center with the W7 alone). The ITIN allowed me to apply and obtain my professional license in California (a tax number is required in California) and apply for a secured credit card (I hoped to jump start my credit score).

With regards to building my credit score, I am still not 100% sure whether what I ve done will help. I will be sure to update this thread when I find out. I obtained a secured credit card with my ITIN and was added to my wife's credit card as an authorized user. In preparation to obtain more US credit cards when I move, I ve developed a cross-border relationship with my Canadian bank and obtained an AmEx card to take advantage of the Global Card Transfer program.

To transfer my assets to the US, I started liquidated my assets in 2018, converting my CAD to USD gradually using Norbert s Gambit with Questrade over the past year. This gave me a better return than through TD bank and Transferwise. I essentially took CAD from my TD CAD account, sent it to Questrade, performed Norbert s Gambit, sent USD back to my TD USD account then transferred it cross-border to my TD America account. Aside from some commission fees to Questrade for the Norbert s Gambit (note there are tax obligations for capital gain, which is negligable as it implies that you the USD/CAD conversion has worked in my favor, and you need to be familiar with CRA's superficial loss rule), I was able to move my money to my TD America (US-based) account with no other fees. You need to be aware of your CRA/IRS reporting requirements for having foreign bank accounts exceeding a certain threshold.

Anyway, that is it for now. My interview is next week and I will be sure to add to this thread as I continue through my visa journey.