mam521

How old were you when you moved to Canada and how come no US income tax returns have been filed?

I didn't try it myself, but I would assume so. IIRC, the kids' passport cards came in the mail, not with the passports. For rush passports, they print them on site; the cards aren't rush and I am pretty sure they are treated more like GC's in that they are printed at specific facilities.

It wasn't my idea of time well spent, let's put it that way. Luckily, getting my kids' passports was much less eventful. We went to the post office and did it there. The biggest "challenge" was I needed a DS-3053 for Kid2. The biggest annoyance was and still is that the post office agent stapled my naturalization certificate to their applications. It's not supposed to be stapled. Or folded. I'm sure @OldUser can empathize if their certificate was returned folded and stapled! We applied right before Christmas (Dec. 23 or 24) and had them back Dec. 29 and Jan 3 I think it was. Very fast turnaround. We weren't traveling imminently, so it was a pleasant surprise to get them back quickly. From there, a month or 2 later I applied for the kids' N-600's.

Is DoS giving you options? You're very lucky! In Houston when I needed mine rush (FYI - it may not be same day, it may be next day or 2 day, depends on the office and your travel date), I was told I might not even be able to get an appointment at the Houston office and might have to travel for an urgent passport. I was lucky enough to get a Houston appointment, though, but it was essentially 2 days spent sitting in the passport office. The salt in the wound was when they printed my passport, they spelled my name wrong, so they had to reprint which added a couple of more hours to the second day. Luckily, I was seated next to a friendly municipal utility district lawyer who'd naturalized and he was a total riot. We chatted it up and it definitely helped pass the time. Good luck! Don't forget to update your trusted traveller information if you have NEXUS/GE! You may need to stop into an office to do so.

Unfortunately, the good schools in this state are where there are HOA's. I have school aged kids so yeah.. HOA's are weird to me. Back home, we didn't have em. You don't mow your lawn and it ends up chest high? The city comes out and does it and fines you for it. Prefer that over this ridiculous can't do this and can't do that.

Do you have a ridiculous HOA that has to approve your color choices? We are supposed to get permission, even if we repaint the exact same color! Overreach IMO.

We did window replacement in 2021. They came and measured each window months before and made all the windows. The day they came to replace them, they did them all in one day (yes, 36 windows in a day). We had to move everything about 4ft from the windows. They laid down tarps inside and out and kept it reasonably clean. If you're doing the whole shebang, a proper contractor should provide you with the necessary recommendations and board up and section off areas, as necessary. Miu will be the challenge because she'll be scared of the noise and then she'll be nosey when the workers aren't there.

Make sure to consult your accountant before doing this. The minute you activate that visa, you become a permanent resident of the US and are responsible for taxes in both countries. Additionally, if you own and sell a property, you may be subject to capital gains taxes from the US side. Same goes on TFSA. There's a good number of intricacies that must be considered. If you plan to move in 2 months and the visa is still good in 2 months (typically they are good for 6 months from the date of the medical or 6 months from the date of issuance, whichever came first), activate it when you ACTUALLY plan to move.

Fat chance!!! Go Flames! 😁

I'm sad the Jays lost, but the friendly bet between Newsom and Ford was cute. Waiting to see what comes about with the "pay up"!

This was a catastrophic event, no question. However, that plane veering left was the best case scenario, given the circumstance. Additionally, the time of day helped immensely. There could have been so many more lives lost, especially had that aircraft hit the Ford Assembly Plant or the nearby restaurant and bar that was full of patrons at the time. Godspeed to the pilots who did lose their lives and sincerest condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. I will be interested to watch the Air Crash Investigation episode when it comes out.

That is an antiquated form. It's been replaced with ETA form 9089. Through your MyUSCIS account, if you have one. If not, the Case Status page. I'd also sign up for USPS Informed Delivery. I actually knew our greencards were in the mail by this app before it even registered in our MyUSCIS accounts.

That's going to depend what the laws are in your state in Brazil. Like I said, in the province my kids were born in and where we resided, informal (non-court ordered) parenting agreements are recognized and encouraged, so we have an informal, written parenting plan agreement. It is written in a fashion such that if something did happen and we were spending too much time disagreeing about the kids, that we could file it with the Provincial courts to formalize it. If we came from a different province, that was unlikely to be the case. Because it was the case, having the lawyer notarized letter from the children's father very directly acknowledging we were immigrating on a permanent basis in conjunction with that parenting plan agreement, it was accepted. Canada also isn't a high fraud country, so that likely played into the acceptance decision. So, check your local laws on parenting plans. Also check the local laws on taking your child internationally. If you are required to have a parenting agreement, find out if you and your child's father can write it, following a template and submit it to the courts yourselves. That route is typically pretty inexpensive because no lawyer is involved. If your state doesn't require it, you'll still have to sit down and write an agreement between the 2 of you to present with a letter of consent for US immigration. Make sure you understand the legal wording in both Brazil and New Mexico. For us, there were slight differences between our home province and Texas, so I included verbiage that covered both places. For example, you can have joint custody, but defining yourself as the primary, custodial guardian who has sole decision making authority for things like healthcare in the US are important. Back home, "guardianship" is defined, but "custodial" isn't a legal term used. In Texas, courts use "custodial parent and not "guardian". We make sure to include the equivalent legal defined name for the terms from both countries. You should also define your fiance's role as a step parent in the agreement. The Hague Convention exists for a reason - too many parental kidnappings, so informed, parental consent is paramount in any immigration case. Its hard because those individuals who can't get along and coparent effectively ruin it for the rest of us who can peacefully do so. I understand how important permission is when it involves taking a child internationally, but it's still pretty astounding how many people really aren't looking in the best interests of their kids! I'm happy to hear you are another co parent who stands beside me in making peaceful decisions in the best interest of our children.

Hey Nathan. Welcome to the forum! First and foremost, you need to work out what your faith is (or isn't - entirely for you to decide) and how that relationship works. Irrespective of what your parents want, you're an adult and you have every right to make those decisions about what you believe and how. Secondly, it sounds like you need to set some boundaries with your parents. Not sure what your relationship is or your living situation, but again, you're an adult. Maybe this requires heading to some counselling or therapy to learn how to manage all of that; I can't judge, I'm not in your shoes. How much time have you spent with your fiancé and how, if she doesn't know the language, do you communicate? Are you fluent in Mandarin? Why would she want to move to the USA? Would you move to her country? All questions you need to ask yourself. This sounds more like you need to do some soul searching on who you are as a person and what your values are and then evaluate how these other people fit into that structure. Yes, parents typically want what's best for their kids, but it doesn't mean their approach is always ideal. Maybe they are scrutinizing your partner somewhat emphatically, but do you have rose colored glasses on when it comes to this person and they are just trying to protect you? Yes, people who are in a relationship typically tell one another they'll never leave. The hard truth is people change, relationships change and sometimes things just don't work. So, deep down inside, are you prepared for that reality, be it happily ever after OR not so happily ever after? You have to take a pragmatic approach before making major life decisions, but that requires a bit of a philosophical visit to know yourself.

I moved with my kids on IR-2's. I was required to submit custody documentation and because their father and I are not required to have a court ordered custody agreement in the jurisdiction where the kids were born and where we resided, I did require an additional lawyer notarized letter from their father stating he was 100% aware that the children were immigrating to the USA and that he was in support of the move. Had I not had that letter, our case would have been denied. I worry that what you've mentioned above is not in direct agreement with what is required. You need to be the custodial parent if your child is to immigrate. Simply having court ordered, shared custody is not going to suffice. The child's father needs to agree to allow the child to move permanently to the US. Provisionally, the agreement can include visitation rights, but the primary legal decision maker needs to be you and the father needs to agree to allow that child to immigrate.