I have a bunch of stuff sitting in storage in Canada. I've been living out of the country in Korea for the past 3 years. I am planning to wait in the US while the visa application processes....can I have my stuff shipped over to the US before the visa is approved?

He is US military, and I have a friend that says it can be done w/o a visa b/c we are married...that the army can arrange to transport my belongings to the US from Canada.

I am skeptical though.....what do you think?

I don't want to take it all out of storage and have it rejected at the border.

I'm not sure about anything to do with the military, but in order for you to ship your personal possessions you need to have the visa first.

Have a look at page 3 of this post as this was discussed there: Moving cross border

Not true. The US Army will not transport your goods, if they are in Canada, even though you are married. You will need a visa first to move your things.

That sounds about right. I know the US military will pay to transport your belongings when your hubby has been stationed somewhere new and the both of you have to move there, but I've never heard of them moving the Canadian citizen's belongings to the US for them just to prepare for visa approval.

The visa gives you permission to live in the US. Without permission you are only here as a visitor. A visitor is not allowed to live in the US, so is not allowed to bring their possessions into the US as the intent is that they will be leaving. Once you are allowed to live in the US - have your visa - you will be allowed to bring your possessions into the country. You will need to provide a copy of your approved visa and your own proof of admission on that visa to the US before the border guards will allow your belongings in, regardless of who is transporting them, so you will also have to make another border crossing into the US yourself when the time arrives.

I see you are on a CR-1 - you will have to activate that once it is approved in order to allow your belongings into the country.

B/c we were married in a 3rd country(korea) the army will pay to transport my goods to the US where my husband lives. They have contracts with moving companies in Canada apparently...the only catch is that I have to be there when they pick it up.

I just don't see how it works though if I have to already have a visa activated. Is it possible to say that I am sending my "husbands" goods...IDK.

I am a TRAFFIC MANAGER in the USAF. Before I can reseach it, I will need some basic information from you. I'll send you a PM with my personal email address, for you to reply to.

Basically, yes DoD will move the household goods, but there can be a little more involved.

Jon

It is possible, you can try and say that. But if you have a visa application pending, I'm sure they would go through the stuff, to make sure its not yours, and to make sure you are not moving down there permanently, until you have your visa.

As for the Army, they will already be paying to move any belongings you may have from Korea, along with your husbands, because thats where he was stationed. They will not send a 2nd truck to Canada (another country especially) to pick up your stuff. He didn't have orders in Canada.

You can try and say it's your husband's stuff.

Best to call up whatever moving company they use for Canada/U.S. moves and ask them about required documents that a USC needs to provide to them when they ship stuff without the person being there.