I am a Dual citizen, Canadian and US, my wife is a Canadian citizen. We have a 2 year old son together, we have been married 5 years. We are planning on moving to the US. Neither of us have lived in the US before. We have been told DCF is the best way for us to go, but we are wondering what happens after we file the I-130's. I will be going to the US in January, if the paperwork isn't through is my wife and son stuck in Canada? what is the best way to go about this. Also what visa do we need to apply for after we do the I-130?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

anyone?

Hi Chyatt,

First I would recommend that you read the guides, which can be found by clicking on the Guides tab above.

In Canada the IR1/CR1 process generally takes around a year or so, from filing the I-130 to getting the visa - that's for non DCF, there are not that many that have filed DCF recently, so I can't say.

We were not able to as they discontinued it for a few months last year, when we were filing, then they reinstated it.

Once you read the guides I would recommend you visit the Canada forum for consulate specific information.

And yes, if the paperwork has not been completed by then, ie if she has not had her interview and been issued a visa then she cannot go and live in the U.S. with you. She can generally visit though - although a border guard can turn her back if they suspect she isn't just visiting, but if she brings proof of strong ties to Canada there should be no problem. This has been discussed too many times to mention, in the Canada forum, so if you do a search you should certainly get some hits for that one.

If you decide to file for an IR1/CR1 visa, while you can DCF in Calgary, your wife will be interviewed in Montreal as only Montreal does the IR1/CR1 interviews.

Good luck!