mam521

These need to be US passport photos, not Canadian passport photos. So make sure the size is to the US standard. The US doesn't require stamping like Passport Canada.

Sometimes the SSA fails to issue the SSN. Wait about 3 weeks and if it doesn't come, head into the SSA office with documents in hand. They will be able to tell you guys if the number has been issued. If not, then he can apply right then and there. Hubs is eligible to work right from the outset. He has proof of identity and authorized work status as indicated by his MRIV in his passport. The SSN is actually needed for the employer to pay tax withholding to the IRS and has nothing to do with his legal entitlement to work. Employers don't like when they have to hold onto the funds to send to the IRS, but according to the instructions on form I-9, that's just tough patootie. He's legally entitled to work and can provide the SSN within a reasonable timeframe after he starts his job. Some HR departments are not educated on this, so just pull up the I-9 instructions if there's a question about it.

I'm well aware that domicile is a complicated situation, but it's still a valid question to ask. I come from a country where the consulate is EXTREMELY strict about proof of domicile, hence my asking. If you can squeak it in that she meets substantial presence for this year, it will look even cleaner. She can also begin accruing her time towards petitioning for citizenship, should that be in the future cards.

This is called "flagpoling" and people do do it. Just keep in mind there are other potential repercussions. The 2 countries do share information. You can lose your provincial health care benefits and some other expectations coincide with your US PR. If you own a property, sell it before you activate that greencard or you'll have a giant headache to deal with. As per the instructions on the I-9, you do not require your SSN to begin working in the US. You do not require your physical greencard to begin working, either. For federal income tax with the CRA, sure. This works hand in hand with the IRS and substantial presence determination for income tax. This is, in part, why visitors to the US who spend too much time, irrespective of not holding anything beyond a visitor visa, can accrue enough time to have to pay the IRS income tax. Permanent residency from an immigration standpoint is USCIS territory and although you do have an obligation to the IRS and CRA for income tax, it's not treated the same way. Additionally, the provinces have their own criteria for determining whether you're still eligible for benefits. By activating the PR card, in their determination, you've indicated your emigrating and they can terminate benefits. If you do take advantage of the benefits, you may find yourself on the hook to repay. ON has started to crack down on this. BC has some funny rules, so you're less likely to violate the T&C and I am not sure about other provinces.

How'd you guys establish domicile if you're not living in the US? Take the baby and fly to the US. Take a couple of days off and spend some time here. Then go back to Europe. As pushbrk said, you missed the boat for where you could have delayed your case. Also keep in mind that the clock starts ticking when that PR is activated, so the expectation is that your wife will reside in the US. You don't want to be outside of the US for too long or it will raise flags with CBP and USCIS. Check her visa in her passport. The 6 months is typically from the date of her medical. Push out her entry until closer to the visa's expiration (not too close - that has bit people in the past), enter the US together and then head back to Europe. Delaying even 2 months, if you have 8 months left on your contract, keeps her out of the US only 6mo and that looks less sketchy.

You cannot fly internationally without your passport. Correct. And his sponsor (wife) has to be either with him or in the US before he attempts to cross the border with the passport.

I did an urgent passport within 10 days of travel when I had my ceremony in April last year. We just did expedited passports through the post office for my kids in December. Appointment was Dec. 19th, passports were issued Dec. 26. I don't know why they were sent separately, but one arrived a couple of days later and the other Jan. 3 I believe it was. Passports aren't backlogged like they used to be and are back to normal (and expedited) timelines without the extremes of requiring urgent service.

The children are under 18 and have obtained derivative citizenship through my naturalization. That is not in question. When they became LPR's, I was able to present to the interviewing officer a notarized statement from their father in addition to the informal Parenting Agreement. It was to a human, though, and they could ask questions (they didn't). When I got their passports, I was able to provide the DS-3052. I read earlier today on one of the immigration lawyer sites that a custody agreement is an example of evidence and not necessarily a requirement. In our case, it would be because the Family Law Act for the jurisdiction the father lives in does not require the Parenting Agreement to be filed in court so long as the guardians can make decisions for the children that are in their best interest. It's also important to note the agreement was made prior to obtaining both my PR and naturalization. If this is the case, a notarized letter from their father, like the one we had during our consular interview in addition to our Parenting Agreement, should suffice. It's really frustrating that there are formalized provisions for passports, but not for this. This requirement is really discriminatory against parents who can co-parent effectively and don't require, nor should they pay for lawyers and court time. Honestly, if I had sole custody, I wouldn't even have had to notify their father that I applied for their passports. By requiring the DS-3052, he is fully aware and provided permission for me to do so. It makes more sense to have a provision for a case like this where one can prove both parents are onboard with a simple notarized form.

The N-600 instructions, item 9 refers to Proof of Legal and Physical custody. Physically, yes, they reside with me. But I am not the sole conservator. Their father, who lives in Canada, and I partake in a joint managing conservatorship without a legally binding agreement as issued by a court. As such, I technically cannot prove that I have the legal right to apply for their citizenship certificates. When it came to their passports, Kid1 was old enough to have only 1 parent present. For Kid2, their father signed the DS-3052 and had it notarized for me so I could apply. Communication is an issue! Husband files I-130 to petition for us (USCIS) but our consular processing is handled by NVC (Department of State). Then you have AP which is administered by DOS, but utilizes which ever security agencies are required. It feels like a game of hot potato.

I have a friend who did Invisalign as an adult and she had lots of issues with different trays rubbing gums and causing pain. She said it was great for weightloss because you don't realize how often you want to shove something in your mouth but can't with a tray in! This is where we're at. Kid2 went through the whole process and got the braces off nearly a year ago. Said child needs to be reminded that the retainers need to go in at bedtime (they're essentially Invisalign) because I'm not forking over many $$$ for another round of braces. The end result is pretty amazing though and I was given Kid2's mouth molds in case a retainer goes missing or breaks. Kid1 is now in braces and opted for them because the Ortho said straight up it's faster and more effective to get the braces over Invisalign. Kid1 also knows that they'd not wear the trays properly, especially during sensory moments, which, of course, would correlate with new trays, etc. Getting physical braces meant there was no avoiding them. Luckily, things are moving along a little bit faster than the ortho anticipated, so the braces are likely to come off a month to 6 weeks earlier than anticipated. That said, Kid1 had 4 wisdom teeth removed on Friday. Everything went well, but this kid can be a bit of a hypochondriac. The dentist said text or call of anything is needed, so a text was sent by a complaining Kid1, reassurance given that what was being experienced is normal and that the one side of the jaw where more work had to happen is likely to be far more sore than the rest. Happy Birthday, Mini-B! We discovered yesterday that Kid2 is officially taller than I am, so I feel this! Hopefully nothing froze and broke at your place over these past few days of freezing temps! School was cancelled yesterday due to ice on the overpasses. Someone in our district parents group was saying they should cancel school again today because it was going to be cold. I laughed and said no, you should probably invest in some hats and mitts and a nylon shelled jacket because this is gonna happen again Friday and probably in December and then again next year. Dress your kid in layers and they'll be fine. She was like "but what if a bus breaks down?!". Lady, you're in the 'burbs of Houston and your kid attends one of the largest school districts in the state. The buses are not 50 miles from nothing in west Texas and I can assure you, your precious child will not die when it's just below freezing if they have to stay on the bus for a bit until the bus barn sends another bus. Worst case scenario - the kids take refuge in a nearby business. How does she think the northern states or Canada survive? My 2 nieces and my nephew went to school on Monday and it was -29°C/-20°F with a windchill of -44°C/-47°F. You put on your layers, and then some more layers and you get on with it. Is it fun? Not really. But you can't just stay home because it's chilly!

I understand this. However, did you read what I've written regarding custody? That is the challenge.

In the past, the post office didn't take the greencards. The post office took the greencards and returned them to USCIS, so they know the kids have passports. Like I said, the issue is a custody agreement. We've not needed one in the past. The IO for our greencards accepted a lawyer notarized letter from their father and for the passports, he had the DS-3053 notarized for me. I wonder if yet another notarized letter would be accepted. It's really a headache when people know how to adult in the best interest of their children.

As an LPR, you're still expected to file US income tax unless you formally rescind your US PR. By leaving the US and letting your PR expire doesn't mean you're off the hook, either. That just means your PR card has expired. If you get citizenship, you're still responsible for those taxes, but you can live anywhere in the world without worrying so much about being pulled into secondary or being handed a notice to appear because you're on record as an LPR, stayed out of country for an extended period of time and are attempting to reenter, even just for a visit.

It's cheaper to file for citizenship again! The challenge is their father and I happily adult, so we don't have a court ordered custody agreement. This is a requirement for the N-600. Not sure how to get around that and it seems redundant considering they were allowed their greencards and passports without it.

What are the actual advantages to filing the N-600 for the purpose of obtaining a Certificate of Citizenship for minors who already have a US Passport and a US Passport card? It's an expensive form to file two times and I question the necessity. Maybe this is a question best answered by @Mike E

My oldest will still be required to go take the oath because they're 16. It doesn't make any sense that this form is $1140 but the other is $725!

$540 to file to replace the GC with the married name.

Yup, as long as the names match, it's good. Just be forewarned, its $540 for the greencard. And she'll still have to change the passport. I'd honestly just put the 3 years in and put that $540 toward the $725 filing fee for the N-400!

To legally change her last name in Canada, your wife would have had to have notified federal agencies like CRA, Social Security and the province to update her health card as well as update her passport. If you wanted her greencard to come in her married name, she would have had to have updated her passport to reflect the married name so the visa that is affixed to the passport matches the passport. If married name is important, and for the sake of less headache, can you get a new urgent Canadian passport in her married name? Otherwise, you'll have to file an I-90 once you're in the US to change it at a cost to you. The other option is to do what many others do - they just wait until they naturalize to change their name when they file the N-400. Of possible interest. OP's spouse got a new passport ahead of the interview.

I naturalized at the end of April last year with required work travel booked before my ceremony was even scheduled. Attend your ceremony, get your certificate and then when it's within 10 days of travel, call DoS and ask for an emergency appointment. The caveat here is that you may not get an appointment where you live - you may have to travel within the US for your appointment. Additionally, you may not get a same day passport. It's often next day passport, so you have to be prepared to spend 2 days sitting in a passport office. When you do get your appointment, you will have to provide the passport officer your evidence of travel in addition to your passport application and naturalization certificate. You will get the naturalization certificate back when you pick up your passport. Make sure you CHECK the passport for correctness before you leave the building. Mine had a typo which lead to an additional 3 hours of waiting for a reprint of the passport.

I think the point is you believe in this moment that it is unnecessary, but it could become very necessary and then costly, both financially and physically (time) in the future when you could save the headache and file now.

Final update. We have received the passport cards for the kids. They came from Tucson. The required submitted documents have also been returned. I suppose next stop is to apply for citizenship certificates for the kids.

Not sure on how long NVC is taking to documentarily qualify petitions. Montreal is seeing about a 3-6 month wait between DQ and interview. Montreal does have a seemingly higher instance of DS-5535's being handed out, though.

You should fill out your timeline so people can better serve you. Knowing what consulate you're dealing with will help to understand timelines.