5 year ban for Canadian husband

[horselady 3]

I am a USC I have been married to my Canadian husband for 10 years.

We are both retired.

Owing to our age & lack of knowledge my husband returned to Canada last week on trying to reenter the USA he was detained & the result was he has been given a 5 year ban.

We now realize that we should have filed correct paperwork years ago when we married but at the time we where told incorrectly we did not need to do anything.

I would appreciate any help or advice as to how to resolve this situation as quickly as possible.

My husband is 68 years old, we have lived together in USA over the 10 years he has often travelled back to Canada often with no problem.

I have no idea where to start or what I need to do?

I think I need to apply for him to come to the USA to live with me? Is it I-130? Do I also need to apply for waiver of his ban?

He is currently in Canada & I am in the USA.

Or can anyone suggest a good immigration lawyer in Northern VA or DC? If you do not think I can file for this myself.

[Ryan H 3,790]

***Moved from Bringing Family Members of US Citizens to America forum to Waivers forum; OP's spouse will require a waiver.***

**Moderator hat off**

You will file the I-130 to begin the process (you will not apply for anything). It will not be possible to file the I-601 until after the visa has been denied by the Consulate. For a waiver to be successful, you will need to show how your spouse not being here constitutes a hardship.

Since immigration is a federal matter, any lawyer in the country can represent you should you choose to retain one.

[Boiler 43,381]

In that 10 years what was the longest time he visited the US?

IR1 visa which takes about a year plus another 6 months or so for the waiver. I would start by reading the Guides, this is a DIY site but not verybody is comfortable DIY.

Sounds like he has been tax resident in the US all that time.

[newacct 688]

Yes, you need to petition him with I-130 and would need to deal with the bans when applying for the immigrant visa.

It sounds like he has a 5-year 9A ban from being removed upon entry. (Though if he was coming from Canada, it seems unnecessary to remove him since they can just turn him around. It sounds like they were trying to punish him for his past violations.) There is no immigrant visa "waiver" for this ban; rather, if he wanted to immigrate within the 5 years he would apply for "permission to reapply" with I-212 which removes the ban (some people might call this a waiver).

There is also the consideration of whether he has a 9B unlawful presence ban. Unlawful presence is generally accrued by staying past the date on the I-94. Leaving the US after 180 days of unlawful presence triggers a 3-year ban; leaving the US after 1 year of unlawful presence triggers a 10-year ban. This is complicated in this case by the fact that Canadian visitors crossing by land often do not get I-94s (paper or electronic) so they generally do not accrue unlawful presence no matter how long they stay. If he has an unlawful presence ban, he would apply for an immigrant visa waiver with I-601 based on "extreme hardship" to you; if he doesn't, then there is no need for this.

[horselady 3]

The longest he was here was 4 or 5 years when we first married as we where told at that time as he was married to me he did not need to do anything. Obviously we feel foolish now.

They gave him a 5 year ban?

I am just checking the paperwork to see what they gave him.

[horselady 3]

We have a statement of Determination of Inadmissibility I-860

Plus I-296 which has the 5 year ban ticked

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

During that 4-5 years did he travel to Canada at all ?

[Boiler 43,381]

They might smack him with a I 601, actually sometimes I think that is an advantage as a lone I 212 processing is all over the place and it is the same hardships.

The main advantage if it is just a I 212 is that you can get that going now.

[Jawaree 717]

You can file the I !30 yourself, but since you are clueless I would recommend

you speak to a waiver atty. A reasonalbe, honest one is Lizz Cannon...google her

Immigration cases are Fed the atty does not havr to be in your state, she has free Ph

consultation & payment plans

[horselady 3]

They might smack him with a I 601, actually sometimes I think that is an advantage as a lone I 212 processing is all over the place and it is the same hardships.

The main advantage if it is just a I 212 is that you can get that going now.

How will I know which is the correct waiver?

I have just read up on the I-130 & I think I can get all that paperwork put together if I have to but I will call the lawyer suggested as well.

[Boiler 43,381]

You do not know for certain until the interview. Now if it was not Canada it would be clear, you need both, but there is fudge issues with Canadians.

I guess if they were feeling really nasty they could slap him with Misrep, but probably unlikely.

[horselady 3]

So I file I-130 then at the Interview they will deny it & tell us which waiver to file?

What is Misrep?

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

a misrepresentation, telling the immigration people a lie at some point. It could happen during his last attempt or something they recorded from a prior one and now find to be a lie. It would be rare for this to happen.

[Boiler 43,381]

They could smack him with misrep for entering the US repeatedly as a tourist whne in fact he was living here, not sure it is something the Candian Consulate does, but a possibility, probably remote.

[town&country 9]

we where told

Not to be snarky, but OMG, who told you the misinformation? Just a rhetorical question. My point is that most Americans don't have a clue about the legal immigration process. Culturally, movies and t.v. shows get it wrong all the time.

If I were you I'd be contacting at least one attorney since this looks kind of complicated. But don't just hand the case over to them, you have to be involved the whole time to make sure it's done correctly. You can do your part by studying the guides and sample applications, and searching for like cases.

Wishing you success and good luck.