misa

Ok, my next question is this. When you crossed the border did you tell them you were getting married?

He lives in Toronto, so it would be a quick drive to Buffalo if we just went for the day to Niagara Falls, got married and I took him back home.

Oh hell no... even though I had every intention of returning and brought proof of ties, I didn't really tell the truth because I didn't want to get denied. Well, sort of. Told them I was seeing a friend. Went back home after 4 days.

Congrats!

You know, my mind read the title and subtitle as, "Importing Husband #4".

Sorry to hear things are not going well. As others mentioned, there is nothing illegal or fraudulent about entering the U.S. with intent to marry. The fraudulent part is if he enters as a visitor with intent to marry and stay at that time. I travelled to the U.S. to get married, but I went home after that, filed K3 and then entered on that and filed AOS and now have my GC.

I hope it didn't come across as harsh - someone told me something I had said today 'wasn't true' (it was an absolute fact - but I digress )

Which got me thinking about the post I made here saying - Not True. Didn't mean to sound harsh anyway, hope it didn't sound that way to you.

Ditto about the sounding harsh bit!

Hey DeadPool, are you trying to surprise her with the gift of cash or are you just sending her money? If it's money and it's going to be on a regular basis, you might want to look into electronic money transfers from your account to hers using Custom House.

Carla (cartoboy) had a good idea though about getting her an ATM card from your bank. If you don't want to give her access to the entire account you could always set up another account, send her the card and keep shoving money in there when you need to. This might be the easiest way to go about things. If it's a chequing account "check card" she could use it either as a debit card or wherever they take credit cards.

Oh I hear ya! I was born, raised and lived in downtown Toronto for most of my life... work was a 10 minute walk away and everything I needed was within a 15 minute walk. And on the very rare occassions that I needed to get anywhere further? Cabs everywhere, decent public transportation, etc. I don't drive and I pretty much have to rely on my husband to cart me around to do grocery shopping and whatever else I need. That transition was really hard since I'm used to doing everything myself and not having to rely on anyone. But you know what? It wasn't as rough as it was when we were apart. Not even close!

Just try and keep yourself busy for the first little while. Pick up a hobby, read, walk around the neighbourhood, etc.

Thanks Misa ... they just cashed the cheques on 10/04/07 and I have the MSC #'s on the back of the cheques ... the local office is only a 2 minute drive from my house .. I think that I'll make an appointment right now

Oh, one thing... oftentimes the number on the back of the cheque isn't actually going to be your receipt number. Why? I have no idea... but that was the case with my EAD and AOS and many others as well. But since the local office is close and you have time, hey, why not make that infopass?

Looking at the options for credit cards, I didn't find that to be true. It seems if you've never held a Canadian bank account or Canadian credit card, they want to stick you with something ludicrous, such as a "secured" credit card. Why would I want to go with a card that has a ridiculously low limit and an annual fee?

Oh, I was talking about banks not checking credit to open up a bank account (so you can get a debit card), not credit cards, which is why I doubt there's a huge market in Canada for pre-paid debit cards. Also, the U.S. seems waaaay more driven by "credit rating" so I assume that there are more options for pre-paid debit and credit cards because of that.

The whole secured credit card thing isn't specific to Canada... it's difficult for newcomers to the U.S. to get a credit card with no U.S. banking or credit history. I don't think I'm even going to bother getting a U.S. credit card. I don't need one and hopefully it stays that way.

1. From what I've been told, tt looks like you can only get credit cards from the bank you hold a savings or checking account with at the time. That's nuts. In the U.S., you can get a credit card from any bank at any time from anywhere. It doesn't matter if you hold a savings or checking account with them. For instance, my savings and checking accounts are with Washington Mutual. Do I have a WAMU card? No. I have cards from Capital One, CitiBank, and Bank of America.

As others have said, that's not true. You can apply for a credit card from a bank who you do no banking with. I still hold 2 Canadian credit cards -- one of which I never had an account with.

2. I've been looking around at Canadian credit cards and it seems that just about every single one has an annual fee. What's up with that? It's extremely rare to find an American credit card with an annual fee. None of mine have one and I don't know anyone who does own a card with an annual fee. Most people stay away from those cards like the plague.

Mine never had an annual fee. Some do but lots don't.

Sorry to hear things are a bit frustrating.

As for your EAD, did you get your NOA1 yet? You can make an infopass and try to get them to change it when you get the receipt number. Not sure if they'll be able to do anything without a receipt number. Anyway, making an infopass appointment to change the EAD code has worked for some people and not for others but worth a shot if the local office isn't that far.

Hang in there!

Misa,

He is a Canadian Citizen. He was probably denied for not having ties strong enough. First time he was denied (and flagged) was because they didn't believe he was going to leave the US (even though he has a wife and kids and a house and car etc)

Ah gotcha. Yeah, he should bring loads of evidence then and make sure the CBP knows that he's not receiving any renumeration from his U.S. business colleagues. It's always up to the individual officer but the more proof of ties he brings the better. I am not sure if the consulate would issue him a B-1 as he is a Canadian citizen, but it wouldn't hurt to try to apply for one as well as the proof of ties the next time he crosses.

I think there's not a lot of options for pre-paid debit cards in Canada because anyone can open up a bank account (savings or chequing) regardless of credit rating.

Direct your friend to this page http://www.amcits.com/business_canadians_usa.asp to see if his business trip falls under other categories.

Did he get denied for lack of proof of ties? Did his planned business trip violate the terms of a B-1? He can try contacting his local consulate but many of them do not provide advice on B-1 or B-2 visas (they just process them). Is he a Canadian citizen or a Canadian PR?

In closing... I'd just like to leave with this one thought/question: My fiancee and I end up arguing far more often when we're apart (such as when we're using Instant Messengers or talking on the phone) versus when we're together in person. When we're physically together, we rarely disagree or have any serious issues. I was just wondering if things work out this way for anyone else here and if anyone has any idea why it might be this way?

I think this is normal. The being apart and having to wait for immigration ####### really takes its toll and heightens emotions and frustrations with everything. Sort of like a bad day at work but with no end in sight. I know the hardest and most frustrating days for me were waiting for approval and not really having an idea of when we'd actually be able to live together. I was lucky though that my wait really wasn't long at all and we saw each other every 3 weeks, but back then, each day apart seemed like months.

Hang in there!

No good news this week. Birthday came and went with no luck. Guess I can hope for November at the worst, right?

You're in the U.S... which means MAIL ON SATURDAYS!

Hoping you get something tomorrow. When I was waiting for my NOAs, biometrics, interview letter then GC I would peer out the peephole in the front door everytime I heard my neighbour's screendoor open since my mailman does their house first. Luckily he never saw me or he'd think I was a complete freak... well more than I already am.

Hey! Google spreadsheets was my original idea I gave to Liz!

However, she's still the SQ = Spreadsheet Queen.

Glad to hear you made it okay!

no, i moved here back in 2003. i didn't have a passport until canada immigration made me get one for my permanent residency. then they stamped it when i became landed in 2004 and i haven't gotten a stamp since. they don't stamp it for me at the border and i've always driven, so no plane passes or itineraries. i've only been in the u.s. maybe 3 times in the past 3 years, too.

I guess it's a moot point since you are living there (Canada). Just document as much as you can that you live together currently and as per my previous suggestion, document when you first met, your visits, when you moved to Canada (add in a photocopy of your Canadian PR card), etc. because I really think the issue is the adjudicator not piecing together the entire picture. What might seem obvious to you might not be obvious to them. Or, they really just need it written out and signed to put in your file to cover their ###.

And don't forget the letters of intent like trailmix mentioned.

I am a hairdresser by trade, but still unsure what kind of work I will do when I get my EAD.

If you ever find yourself in central VA, you can come and cut my hair! I need to find a hairdresser and it's hard because I stuck with my old one in Toronto for like 6 years.

One more congrats for you.

neiks, I remember you talking about how you met your husband before and it always makes me chuckle... it also usually makes me think of you saying to him, "Sir, you'll have to go to secondary inspection for a strip search". (just kidding)

I'd suggest that the USC in the relationship write a letter detailing when you first met, when the subsequent meetings were and when you moved in together (stressing that you are living together in Canada) and include all that stuff again (the lease, the mail, dated photos, etc.). The adjudicator might not be on the ball putting 2 and 2 together and might need it spelled out for him/her.

Do you have any proof of boarding passes, flight itineraries, bus tickets, passport stamps, etc. from the USC last crossing into Canada?

What province do you currently live in? If in Manitoba or west you would interview for a K3 in Vancouver. If in Ontario and east, it would be Montreal (for a K3). Vancouver is months faster for interviews. Right now Montreal times for CR-1 and K3 are probably around the same -- it's a long wait.

If you're going for a CR-1 then you have no choice but to go through Montreal.

Be prepared for a bit of a wait whichever you decide though. USCIS is still pretty backed up with petitions. Good luck with whatever you decide.

or going to Veterinary school.

I've done so much "career-wise" but I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. I'd love to go to veterinary school but I feel like I'm too old to go through all that. Plus I'd have to get a GED here and then whatever else. I don't have much in the way of formal education despite the fact that I've been in some very professional corporate positions.

I'm the priss around here with one 4 inch by 2 inch back piece tee hee I LOVE MY TAT!!!

Oh shush, yours is lovely.

Let's see... I'm the Canadian... mom to 1 dog and 5 cats (all rescues). I used to be involved in cat rescue and once had 10 cats (and my dog) in my 1 bedroom apartment (it was an 1100 sq feet apartment so it was big). No human children and we're childless by choice (got my tubes tied a few years ago). I'm vegan and so is my husband (he's 6 years younger than me... woo hoo... younger man!). Love cooking and gaming (adventure games and sometimes FPS -- PC only, never got into console) though not at the same time.

Uh... I'm moderately tattooed and will get more when I have more money. Some would say I'm "heavily" tattooed but I don't think so. Largest piece is my full left arm sleeve. Have a bunch of piercings too but I took out 5 of them recently. I look much younger than I actually am always get carded both in Canada and the U.S. Err.. not sure what else to share!

"misa" is not my real name but I think I'll leave the story to that for another day...

I just noticed on Liz's K fiance & spouse list, two of the three cases still waiting surrounded by others who have gotten their interview dates are SPOUSES. Like we are. Maybe they are taking more time double checking us? I thought that by now they would have done all the paper checking since our cases are complete.

This happened last year/earlier this year too. K3s were bypassed for interviews at Montreal and waited a hell of a lot longer than other visa types... (CR-1/IR-1s were still fast at that time though).