This is a two part question.

A. Can you be military drafted if you have a green card? (I.E. - From Canada and in US. w/ GC)
If you do not yet have your green card, can you be military drafted? (Obviously, if the first answer is no, so is this)

B. We are 1/2 - 3/4 way through our process, he came here, we got married, filed K-1 and now awaiting Status of Adjust. and our interview, he's lived here for three years roughly. We now want to put it in reverse and he move back to Canada and I go w/ him. What is the most painless process to go through? Do we have any sort of headway since we have come so far in one side of the process, or are we even more behind because of it? Hearing draft rumors has got us even more motivated to go back to Canada.

Any sort of response would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Ummm. I could be wrong, but I thought the draft went out in the 1970's. I didn't think the US had a draft anymore. I could be wrong.

It did. But selective services are doing their reporting again. I am not trying to be an idiot, I just really am not sure what is going on. In any case, I do need answers..

This is confusing - you are married but you filed a K1?

How has he lived here legally for the past three years?

I haven't heard draft rumors and this is of course extremely unlikely. Anyway, he won't have a green card for a while now so nothing can happen in the forseeable future.

If you are going to move to Canada to live permanently, you can abandon your petition which is generally meant to bring a foreign fiance to the US for the purpose of both marrying here and living here longterm.

Filed a K1 then got married. I just didn't want to explain it all, it was a long process, but we did go thru it all so far, except AOS. Anyhow, why would selective services want you to register then? If someone could just atleast explain that part of things, my mind could half be at ease.

We are wanting to move to Canada for other reasons than a draft scare, we've been talking about it for a year or so now. So, what Im asking is, we've decided to go to his original country, instead of mine, whats the best, possibly faster route to take from here?

I apologize, I really dont mean to sound like a complete moron, my brain is just really stirred up over this selective services bit. I didnt explain well enough b/c I wanted a quick answer.

I am sorry.

Okay here is the law regarding selective service

ATTENTION, UNDOCUMENTED MALES
& IMMIGRANT SERVICING GROUPS!

If you are a man ages 18 through 25 and living in the U.S., then you must register with Selective Service. It’s the law. You can register at any U.S. Post Office and do not need a social security number. Be sure to register before your 26th birthday. After that, it’s too late! Selective Service does not collect any information which would indicate whether or not you are undocumented. You want to protect yourself for future U.S. citizenship and other government benefits and programs by registering with Selective Service. Do it today

You are required to register for the selective service, however there is no draft at this time and I highly doubt that there will be.

Now for my commentary and opinion and before I start let me give you some background. I am a 21 year military veteran. I have had two sons who have served in the military, one is still active duty. Thankfully he is in a job that he will not be in harms way!!! In spite of all that, I do not personally agree with the US foriegn policy in regards to this so called way (we wont talk about why just suffice to say I disagree). Because of that disagreement with this countries foriegn policy I would not want my children called up in a draft to fight. However, if they chose that path then I would be the first to tell them that they need to make that decision, and that by refusing to serve they then should not be able to enjoy the benifits of this country.

I really have an issue with your attitude about this. First of all you want to come to this country and enjoy the benifits of living here. But yet you are worried that this country may ask you for something in return. If you have religious beliefs, or political beliefs that would keep you from serving in time of an emergency, then I suggest you stay in Canada. There are many options under the current laws that would let you serve in a capacity that would not involve military service. Unlike a natural born citizen you do have a choice, either live here and accept the responsibilities of that or dont move here!!!!

If he is between 18 and 26 he has to register. If a draft is made (which hasn't been done for a very long time) then he can be drafted.

He's been here for 3 years since the K1 without adjusting status? If you move back to Canada without adjusting status, I would think that he now has well over 2 years overstay. A passport will soon be required to enter the U.S. from Canada. Will he have a ban? Normally waiting to file AOS isn't a big deal, because any time after the I-94 expired is forgiven at the marriage-based AOS, but it sounds as if you aren't contemplating completing the AOS at all.

I didn't move here, I am American Thank You. He's not. I am doing the asking, not him. I ask questions because I do not know the answers, I also made a mistake by not going to Canada. I don't appreciate ANY tone in this situation. If I can't freely come here to ask a process question - what is this site for?

John/Marlene - We filed for AOS immediately following our marriage, which was 2 years and 4 months ago. We haven't heard a word since. I asked someone roughly 6 months ago if our interview should have been scheduled and they said it could take up to 5 years.. ??

Now Im a bit more confused.

Wow, that is a long time. Do you plan to wait and complete the AOS? Have you made an infopass appointment to make sure it is still active? I've seen where some people found out that a notice was mailed and returned undelivered (usually because there was a name on the mailbox and the name of the beneficiary was not on the mailbox) and they never knew about it. The AOS was denied in those cases and they didn't find out until later. The reason I ask if you plan to finish it is because the overstay is applied if the process is abandoned or the AOS is denied.

No we haven't, make this thru my local BCIS? Will do that right away.

yes, make an appointment with your district office.

Thank you so much, you've been a wonderful help.

Let us know what you find out at infopass. It will give additional information back to the forum for future reference.

It would also give back to the forum if you would take the time to complete your timeline and profile information showing your local office. You can look up members based on the local office and compare wait times. It might have been a good thing for you to see if the 2 years was out of line.

What is your district office?

I did have all that here at one time, while we were doing all of the initial paperwork, I was on this site every day for a year. I forgot that ID and password =/. Our local office is Tampa. I made an appt for Friday so hopefully we'll figure out some good news.

The oldest active I-485 being worked on in Tampa is May 15, 2005 according to their status page:

https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/offi...lectedOffice=78

Great...

Hopefully you will get some guidance at the infopass appointment that will put you on the correct path to get this corrected.

Out of curiousity - if he is on overstay - what happens from there?

If the AOS was denied then he as accrued overstay days.

If it was denied, you can apply again and those days will be forgiven with a successful AOS.

I would not travel outside the U.S. until it is resolved--not even if he has AP.

I just looked @ the processing times from Texas, which is where we sent the I-485 to and it says they are processing from August 2001.

?

So, does that mean we are ok ?

Find out at the infopass. That has to be your first move.

Do you have a receipt number? Have you looked up the case status based on the receipt number?

https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/caseStatu...id=bqZdlGmvoOfd

Also, Tampa says there processing times for I-485 are 720 days +

Im keeping the appointment anyhow and we are going to get this settled one way or another.

mess,
If you re-read the I-485 that your husband completed, you'll see that the SSS reporting has already been made as a part of that application. It is just registration, not a draft. A draft will be a political hot potato, and it won't be sprung on us with no warning.

Tampa routinely takes up to 3 years for AOS cases. That said, it would be a very good idea to go in person and check it out. Infopass is your friend.
HOWEVER, you then say that you sent the I-485 to Texas?

If you add some more detail about what you filed, when and to where, someone might have some better info for you.

The Canada Regional Forum would be a good place for links on Canadian immigration. I hear it is expensive and time consuming.

It has been a few years since I assisted on US/Canadian couples relocating to Canada but the process is more or less as follows: The Canadian citizaen registers at the Canadian POE as a returning resident. This is required so he can start the clock ticking on qulifying periods for health benefits, etc. Before you go, you as the US spouse apply at the closest Canadian consulate that handles immigration visas for a visitor visa. That will allow you to accompany your husband into Canada. Once in Canada he can apply to sponsor you as his wife to become a permanent landed immigrant. You also complete parts of the application package. The good news is that the equivalent of the affidavit of support is waived for married couples so you don't have to meet the income requirement. Once his sponsorship is approved, the application is forwarded to the appropriate immigration office for review and an interview is scheduled if necessary. Once landing is granted you have to leave the country and re-enter Canada when you landing visa is then activated. The application fee is around $550-600 and you do have to have a medical as well which is extra. There was talk about the Right of Landing Fee - which was around $900 - being abolished but I don't know if that has happened yet or not. The supporting documents for Canadian immigration are very similar to the ones required by the US immigrations. The process runs around 12 - 15 months.

Kathryn, you are correct on the immigration process into Canada. I just wanted to add, that the American trying to become a landed immigrant in Canada needs to also meet certain education qualifications to become a landed immigrant. On top of that, as I researched this as a route for my husband and I, the American should stay out of the country, because this supposedly is suppose to be the shorter route. If the American stays in the country, the process may take as long as 2 to 3 years. My good friend brought his wife up here and she finally got all of her paperwork finalized after 2 ½ years. hopefully my spelling is ok, as spell check is no where to be found.
NO bound

Hi New Orleans Bound,

Yes, the in-country processing can take up to 2 or more years although this was more usual when they changed the immigration laws a few years back and had to deal with a processing backlog. THe path you suggest involves the same steps, except for the visitor visa (which needs to be extended every 6 months, btw), and instead of filing for in-canada processing, the US Spouse stays in the US and the sponsorship and landing applications are submitted to the Canadian Consulate in Buffalo. The processing from that point on is identical except that the US spouse is not inside Canada with his/her Canadian partner. The US spouse, for both types of applications, is also resposible for obtaining police security records from the FBI AND from any US State in which he/she lived for more than 6 months while over 18, along with any foreign records. This can add to the time taken just getting the paperwork to the application stage.

Kathryn41,

You are correct about the general process. I made an appointment here in Canada, a few months back to see what would happen, should my husband decided to come to live and work in Canada. The process is just as lengthy as what we're doing to get me back down to the States. AND the stupid thing IMHO is it shouldn't have to be this long, nor this complicated, or expensive. We had looked into using an immigration firm in Toronto but to costly for us right now. We're trying to cut our Governmental dealing to one government at a time. When Peter married his wife almost three years ago, they were told that it would probably take 15 months for all the paperwork to be processed. His wife lived up here and it did take longer for her to become a landed immigrant, than if she stayed at home. But than Peter had a good government job and they were able to survive on one income for 3 years. But they are both happy now that they are finally done.

Just wanted to say I just completed the Canadian imm. process and didn't have to meet any educational qualifications. I did an outside app, completed in 3 months (they strive to complete all straight forward cases in under 6 mos) from initial mail-in of app to visa granted. Outside applying, must be apart for several months, inside applying you get to be with spouse and can work, but no travel priviledges. Just depends on what you want to do and how long you are willing to be apart.

Buffalo is farming out the apps to other embassies in many cases to expedite. No interview either. Just wanted to post in case anyone is interested in this route.

Edited to add, they did reduce that fee from $900 to half that. Anyone who applied and paid the full 900 got half of it back as a refund as of May 06