Hey guys! it's been a long crazy almost 2 months since I have posted (I think). At this time after I have done everything to have my green card, I have a couple of questions.

I'm thinking about moving back to Canada and having my husband join me there. How does that work exactly? As he is my spouse, can any direct me to where I can find out what I can do so he can work legally in Canada? Does any one have insight into the process?

Also, is there a cetain amount of time I have to spend in the United states to uphold my US residency?

Thanks guys for any help! I hope every one is doing well.

I read your vent and I just read this thread. I have a small story:

I moved to California when I was 19 as a student. I had no one and nothing, I just had some savings. I began to love it here, but at the same time I missed my family so much that I only gave it a year and I moved home thinking I would be happier and more stable. It wasn't long until I weighed everything again and realized CA was the place for me.

Make sure the decision you make is the right one, picking up and moving is expensive. I have done it about 10 times and spent about 20k in moving expenses, buying new furniture etc.

If you're miserable you know it better than anyone and if you love home then you need to go back to where the heart is. There's no way around that.

Hi Amanda. Welcome back to the board. I guess you could start here at Citizenship & Immigration Canada wrt your husband emigrating to Canada.

As a permanent resident of the US I believe you need to fill in a form if you're going to be out of the country for more than a year. But you need to file that form before you leave or you'll lose your status. I've seen relevant posts here on VJ but can't recall where, so you may have to weed through a search.

The other point to consider is perhaps waiting until you can naturalize here in the US. That way you won't ever have to worry about losing residency. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Here's some info on maintaining residency. Pay particular attention to the last paragraph. It's an older article but I think most (if not all) of the info is still correct.

http://www.visalaw.com/95mar/3march.html

Also from USCIS: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

Maintaining Permanent Residence
Maintaining Permanent Residence You may lose your permanent residence status if you commit an act that makes you removable from the United States under the law in section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. If you commit such an act, you may be brought before the immigration courts to determine your right to remain a Permanent Resident.

You may be found to have abandoned your permanent resident status if you:

* Move to another country intending to live there permanently.
* Remain outside of the US for more than one year without obtaining a reentry permit or returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the US may be considered, even if it is less than one year.
* Remain outside of the US for more than two years after issuance of a reentry permit without obtaining a returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the US may be considered, even if it is less than one year.
* Fail to file income tax returns while living outside of the US for any period.
* Declare yourself a “nonimmigrant” on your tax returns.

FWIW, I plan on going back but after I get citizenship. That way I never have to deal with USCIS again.

well blah, I'm sorry you new place of residence isn't working out for you!

My Husband did the PR thing about 7 years ago. He came over here, we got married and filed the papers. 5 months later he was a PR and he was able to work during some of that waiting period.

I think from some things I have heard that it's taking longer now for approvals.

Anyway it wasn't a big deal. The good thing is once he is a permanent resident he doesn't have to jump through any hoops to maintain that residency. As long as the PR is living with the Canadian Citizen spouse that is considered 'residency'.

It might happen that you will have to apply for your U.S. visa all over again if you do move back here and don't maintain your U.S. PR - however that's not the end of the world, at least you would be together when you do apply next time.

So no advice here really, just wish you good luck whichever side of the border you choose

I hate to hear things aren't going so great. I can't add anything to what misa and krikit have posted. My husband and I are going to do the same thing eventually...me the USC emigrating to Canada. Not sure if he plans on doing the necessary things to uphold his US Citizenship (when the time comes).

Thanks for posting the information misa and krikit...gives me more to read and mull over.

It took 9 months for me to get PR in Canada-but that included 3-4 months where our app was lost and we didn't know it. It seems like 6ish months is normal right now for out of country applications, in country apps are longer. you could apply now-I'm not sure what you have to do to prove to CIC that you and the hubby are planning on moving back to Canada quickly-and stay in the US together while it's processing.

I liked the britishexpats.com board for help during the CIC process. it's not as friendly as VJ but my questions were answered pretty quickly and reasonably accurately.

This forum is very friendly and helpful with Canadian Immigration issues. I personally don't recommend going through the CIC process, but it seems I am alone. But then again, I sat in limbo waiting for almost 2 years waiting for them before I gave up and returned to the U.S. I never was issued a work permit and our MP wasn't helpful. My personal experience doesn't seem to be the norm though. Be warned though, processing an outland application is much faster than waiting inland and they are 2 very different processes. I would recommend your husband applying through Buffalo and waiting out the process in the States.

Here's also an immigration lawyer's site for info http://www.canadavisa.com/ There is also a specific site for Americans moving to Canada http://www.us2canada.com/ that may be helpful.

I wanna go back too, but I'm having a hard time getting my husband's ### in gear to start the paperwork. We had already tried several years ago, but he's got a criminal record which complicates things and we gave up and I came here instead.

You will lose your US residency once you take up residency back in Canada, so you might want to wait until you have US citizenship before you move. And be careful if you try to do both at the same time, there was a woman on another list a few years ago whose US residency was recinded because USCIS discovered her husband's application to Canada

one other thing is in my experience (and I've moved quite a bit). It's my experience that it takes 1-2 years to get used to the new area and build up friends and just in general settle into a new place. You've done the first year, it could be that NJ is never going to work for you or it could be that you're just at the darkest moment before the dawn.

Treble...I can feel what you are saying . I send the warmest wishes to you and I really hope things do get better for you .

I moved to Canada in 2005, and it has been a very long and at times painful two years. My family and I are very close, and everyday seemed like an eternity(even though it was only 24hours hehehe). I finally had my cup overflow around easter. I have missed 2 family deaths, 2 weddings, and the first two years of my nephews life. For some things like this may not matter, but for me it was heart wrenching. On top of the fact that many people could tell I was from the states (darn accent! and sometimes hubby wouldnt know when to NOT mention my citizenship hehe) and would treat me quite rudely and down right nasty to me. The only good thing is that I had my loving husband with me everyday, and that is what has kept me going. (and yes I know not ALL Canadians are like that I have met alot of very sincere and friendly Canadians, and same goes for Americans, you can have some very rude and down right nasty individuals, and then there are the very sincere and friendly Americans )

It does take time to adjust, which is never the fun or easy part of life (my dream solution would be that we have magical golden wands! ). I do agree with what several other folks have mentioned...maybe you could move to a bigger town and stay long enough to get naturalized. I know personally after going through both the Candian and American immigration, I would not want to ever go through either again That way if down the road, you decide that you would want to move back to the USA, you wouldnt have to deal with all the pressures again. Before moving to Canada I lived in a fairly large city with an extremely large variety of things to do and see ( the area I was from had lots of music,art and theatre, and sports)so it was not hard to find something to do. The town I live in now is probably 1/4 the size of back home, and certainly does not have the selection of things to do here. I went through the same withdrawls


I can say that if you do decide that you would be happier moving sooner than later, I would suggest filing out of the country. From the time my husband submitted his packet to the day I became I landed immigrant was 2 months. Now granted....that was 2 years ago, but ... I still watch the boards, and some of the folks that applied within Canada at the same time I did just finished up 2-3 months ago. Not every situation is the same, but would rather give you a realistic possibilities. At least if you do out of country, when your husband lands, he can start looking for work right away (after applying for SIN card at least). There will always be positive and negatives when it comes to immigration packets, just depends on which approach suites you the best.


Again, I really hope things get better for you! I hope that whatever path you decide to take, that you and your husband find peace and happiness in that journey.