Hi everyone! My partner and I got engaged last weekend. We live in New York City, I am a US citizen and he is a Canadian citizen who's been living in the US for several years on a TN work visa, which is currently in the process of being renewed so he can stay in the country for the next three years. He is interested in exploring other options for work, though, and on his TN visa, he's tied to his current employer. For that reason, we're thinking it may be best to get started on the green card process ASAP. We are planning to get married at the courthouse in June and then plan the actual wedding.
Our concern is that we were really hoping to plan our wedding in Canada for the summer of 2024, and we're worried that if/when we start the green card process, he won't be allowed to leave the country until he's approved. This would obviously make it impossible to plan a wedding in Canada given that we won't know when exactly that will happen. That said, since he will still be on the active TN visa while his green card processes, I'm not sure if the 'no leaving the country' rule would apply to him.
Does anyone have any info on this? I'm also curious what the green card timeline for Canadian citizens looks like... is it typically faster than it is for citizens of other countries? Thanks in advance for any/all advice!