I've been reading the forum and guides and I've gained quite a bit more knowledge on the whole process but I'm still a bit confused heh. I actually have a couple, hopefully simple, questions. If they've been answered before, please direct me to the thread. I've tried searched and couldn't find them.
I'm a US citizen, California resident. My fiance is from Toronto. We have a wedding date set in Toronto for late July.

We met with an immigration lawyer a bit ago and he suggested that after the July wedding for her to come down for a visit, then after the 60 day period apply for residency. We were going to do that so we didn't do anything with a K-1. Since reading here and talking to one of her friends that is on here, that doesn't sound like the best idea anymore considering the riskiness of it.

We were thinking about getting married right now, she's down here visiting, and then starting the K-3 process. She's going back home next week. I figured the K-1 is out since it probably wouldn't come through by July and we'd have to start over with a K-3.
So I guess my question is, would getting married now and starting the process be the best thing to do?

Another question about financials. Does it matter that I don't work full time? I'm a contractor and I made a good amount of money last year, but I don't have a steady source of income. I'm just wondering if it'd be a good bet to have a secondary cosupporter ready.

Well, thanks for any help you can offer. I'm glad my fiance's friend sent me here, it's helped me learn a lot about the process's.

your in the best place

its kinda the same situation im in, do we go the fiance route or the married route. ill give any answers i can, although its never clear cut

first, i would forget setting the date till the whole process is over you just do not know how long its gonna take, so fix the date only after you have the visa in hand (or heck leave PLENTY of breathing space for mess ups and delays).

i think its accepted the fiance visa is the quickest way to be together. thats what most people do, and its probably the simplest way.

for me, im so tired of all the divorce crud being dragged out, i want to just get married and then tick down the waiting time, but at least I would actually be married. if it wasnt the situation, i would go the fiance visa route, generally quicker (i believe) and probably simpler (no k3 CR-1 dual forms).

as for money, you need to earn over the poverty line, think its 125% for your situation.

always good to have a sponsor if your not sure, just to be safe i would think.

good luck, sure many folk will over more advice and details

Yes you can get married now while she is there & file the papers!!
as for income as long as you have 125% above the poverty level on your taxes then your good to go, I cant actualy find the link to the poverty guide lines but i'm sure its around here some where!!

as for the info the lawyer told you BLAH!!! i dont know why the tell you to break the law like that........I guess maybe as long as they get the cash & they are not the ones getting deported for immigration fraud ( ya never know) then they will advice anything

I got married in the US on a visit, then returned while the papers processed!!

Good Luck & have a great wedding day

EDITED to say......K3 is some times faster than K1 and its a multi entry visa, K1 you have to ask permission to leave by way of (AP) advance parole!!
to beable to apply for K3 you first have to file I-130!! as the receipt from that(a copy) needs to be sent with the I-129F(K3).

Thanks for the input.
m_olask,
unfortunately, the K-1 is kind of a non option anymore. We have too much invested in the wedding in July to pull out. Castle rented, caterers on deposit, etc lol. If we get married now it'll just be the legal quickie ceremony and the one in July will be the one for her family and friends and the big fanfare.

euro,
are you able to visit during the paperwork process?


She isn't going to be able to move here til later in the year anyway, so if we're lucky we'll have the paperwork all done by the time she can move here anyway and we'll be set heh. Not sure how long the process takes. I've tried looking at peoples timelines but I've noticed, different countries or origin and destinations take different time for the same process's.

YES you can visit while the papers are being processed, BUT she will have to beable to show strong ties to Canada, I visited while our papers were being processed, & was asked at POE how our marriage worked with me in the UK & hubby in the us...lol, I told him we were going through the immigration process, and he asked did i have any paper work with me to show that, I had actualy taken our first NOA1 with me!! & he said your good to go!!................lots of people do visit while the papers are being processed, best advice is NEVER lie when asked a question, dont offer a big answer, and take evidence of ties!!

I think you can DCF in Canada now, that might be worth a read for you!!!

hmm, DCF is if we're both in Canada though isn't it? At least I thought it was.
I'm in California so I don't think that'd work hehe.

What do they consider strong ties? She has a union job that she's had for 17 years, most of her family is there. She's a naturalized Canadian, originally from Ireland.

Hi Dylan, we may have some parallels. I married my Toronto guy in New Jersey while he was visiting here last month. He has since gone back to Canada while we pursue the K3. An immigration lawyer in T.O. gave us some advice about U.S. Immigration: they prefer you to apply from outside the country.

I know a big wedding and reception can take on a life of its own, but I'd consider pulling the plug, since it's not too late. Get married right away, simply, wherever you like, and then start the process, while she's in Hogtown. Once she's in the States on a K3, have the biggest party imaginable. Not for the family, but for yourselves, to celebrate your marriage and her immigration.

Another thing the lawyer recommended: if you have a small engagement party and small civil ceremony, take plenty of pictures with family, in case you need to prove it wasn't a fly-by-night quickie in Vegas.

If your priority is to do things right and get her here asap, then the big wedding needs to be postponed. That's just one opinion and I'm sure there'll be many.

Well, the problem with canceling the big wedding is we'd be out about 8k heh. Invitations, castle rental, caterer's, etc that's already been payed and non refundable.

We had an engagement party with about 40 people there, we got a lot of pictures of that, so that's good. I'll make sure all the local family is invited if we get married this week lol.

The wedding in Toronto at this point would be for her family and just so she can have the big wedding she wants. But since we'd already be married, we wouldn't be changing any legal paperwork, just a confirmation of vowes I guess you'd say.

Sounds like a good plan

Well, thanks for the advice.
The ex fiance is now going back to Toronto. Except now she's my wife
Got married friday, so now I get to start the fun fun paperwork game heh.

We got lots of pictures of our 30 person reception like Jersey Girl suggested and I was amazed at what my mom was able to pull off with only 48 hours notice heh.

Congratulations! You're on your way.

Let your new wife know that there are several things she'll need to gather up before her interview, and she might as well start that now. Like her long form birthcertificate with both parents information on it, she may want to go see her doctor about getting blood tests done so that she can check to see if/what vaccinations she'll need before the immigration medical. She will also need a police certificate from Ireland, and one from Canada. The one from Ireland may take a while, as she's not actually there to go have it done, so she may want to do that asap. The RCMP on is easy enough, just go to any Commissionaire's office in Toronto and they'll do it in about a week. She'll also need to do a couple sets of biographic forms for you to send in with the petitions.

All the rest of the work is just you for now, the I-130, then the I-129F with the biographic forms for each.

Good Luck!

I see you're in good hands now

Congrats on the wedding, you 2 look fantastic!

Hugs, C.

Just wanted to add
M. won't need a police certificate from Ireland, unless she was there for 6+ months since she was 16 (I think I asked her about that). She can get the one for Canada at the Commissionaires office at King & Church, it's $35 + tax (cdn).

She can go to her regular doctors for her titres test, tell her to bring any vaccination records she has. She'll have to be titres tested for Mumps/Measles/Rubella & get a Tetanus booster. She should get any shoots at her regular dr's since OHIP covers it (I can't remember if she said she had the chicken pox before), then she would just bring all those records to the immigration physical.

Make sure she has a up-to-date Passport, by the time of the interview she'll need to have at least 6 months left on it.

Tell her to get her sister to dig up her birth certificate and make sure it has her parents name on it.

I also think it would be a good plan to just get legally married now and then petition for the K-3 immediately. Then have your ceremony in Toronto when you already have it scheduled for. That way by the time she can move here, she should at least be close to having her visa.

Congratulations on the wedding!

I think it was really smart you decided to get married now (and then do the confirmation of vows in July). My husband and I thought about it but decided against it because I wanted the whole traditional Catholic wedding. A month before our wedding, I learned from the parish secretary that we could have totally just done the confirmation of vows thing. The ceremony would have been different but it would still have happened in church.

Good luck with your visa journey!

Congratulations, Dylan. You and I recently married Canucks who'll wait in Toronto for the K3 Visa. The paperwork can be daunting but just take it one step at a time. Before she returns to Canada, get the passport-style photos you'll need for the I-130 (first step in the process) and the I-129F, which you'll have to file soon after. (They expect you to be wearing clothes even though you're honeymooners.)

Thanks for the kind words and further advice all
Now comes the fun of the paperwork lol

Cygnet,
Yes, we're doing that once she's here for good. Hardcore Roman Catholic on my side and Irish Catholic on the wifes side, family would hang us if we didn't get the church's blessing, plus we want to baptise the kids and you have to get the marriage confirmed to do that.

Carrie,
You and the hubby will have to come out and visit us sometime once she's out here

Ok, already confused on the I-130 lol

On section 17 am I supposed to put my information or my wifes? It looks like I would put my wife since she is the alien, but in the example it shows to put mine?

And on section 21, if we've never lived together, do I put N/A there?

Other then that it's done. Wasn't too painful. Lot easier then trying to register my scooter lol.

Hi everyone, thanks for all the great advice and encouragement that you have given Dylan and I so far.

I just had a question that I would like to add,

Scenario 1
In the event that I get pregnate and have the baby in Canada before our 'visa journey' is compleat, what would happen? Would we be allowed to take our child with me when I move or would we have to start a new visa process before that could happen?

Or Scenario 2
If I received my visa but was visibly prengate, could they refuse me entery?

1-If the child's father is a USC, the baby is a USC (yes everyone, special rules apply-this is based on what this couple has posted). You should investigate something called Consular Report of Birth Abroad and get the baby a US passport before you leave Canada. The child does not need a visa, but evidence of its US citizenship.

2- Pregnant women are not barred from immigrating. I have never heard of this being a problem, especially for the spouse of a USC.