CR1 visa question for a Canadian

[anastomosis 0]

I had a question I hope somebody maybe able to answer. I am a US citizen (husband), and my wife is Canadian, and has an interview at Montreal on Feb 13^th for a CR1 visa, which I believe will get her a green card stamp once she crosses over to the US.

 

1. Usually how long after the interview can she cross over to the US and get her passport stamped with a green card equivalent

2. Is she mandated to stay in the US after? Can she come visit the US, and go back to Canada and stay for a few months to possibly a year, and then come back to the US.

 

The reason I am asking is because I still have residency training and will finish in June 2019, so Jenny is not planning on moving to the US permanently until I am done training. Will this affect her greencard status? Thanks in advance.

[jle2234 68]

Hi @anastomosis!

 

1. If your wife is approved at her interview, she should receive her passport back within 1-2 weeks. The passport will have an immigrant visa pasted in to it, which she will use to cross in to the U.S. There may be delays getting the passport and visa back if there are complications with her case/interview. Your wife should listen carefully to instructions at her interview -- some people must send confirmed travel plans to the consulate before their passport will be shipped back to them. She will receive her physical green card in the mail at her U.S. address 1-3 weeks after entering the country using her immigrant visa.

 

2. She can cross back to Canada after immigrating to the U.S., but can not stay out of the country for more than a year without special approval. It is important that she be able to prove that she is domiciled in the U.S. when returning after extended stays out of the country -- this will prevent any claims that she has abandoned residency. Furthermore, to be eligible for citizenship in three years, she must spend 18 or more combined months in the U.S. over the course of the three years.

[anastomosis 0]

Thank you so much for the detailed response. So from your reply, it looks like we should just go ahead with the interview instead of delaying it. I also talked to USCIS, and they said this should not be an issue and just say it as it is during the interview. Couple more questions if you do not mind.

 

1) does the time of three years start when she receives the passport back, or when she crosses to the US. She plans on visiting me in early May, and the longer we delay the start time of 3 yrs, the better

2) Where did you get these answers from (i.e. 18 months in 3 yrs, can't stay out of country more than 1 yr). Is there a website or place to clearly delineate this, or this is from experience? 

3) Does she need to apply for the i-485. USCIS i believe was mentioning this, but nowhere in the instructions mentions this form.

 

Thanks so much for your time. 

[Ontarkie 13,884]

The only problem I can see here is the Montreal is very strict with domicile. you not moving back to the US until June 2019 I don't think they will issue her visa. 

[anastomosis 0]

Her plan is not to officially move until June 2019 to the US, but she will be visiting me relatively often, around 1 month at a time each time I anticipate. Would that ease their fear? We also have a 1 month old baby, that we are also getting her US citizenship (though is relatively easy) and I am sure makes our story very legitimate. 

[Lemonslice 4,544]

1 minute ago, anastomosis said:

Her plan is not to officially move until June 2019 to the US, but she will be visiting me relatively often, around 1 month at a time each time I anticipate. Would that ease their fear? We also have a 1 month old baby, that we are also getting her US citizenship (though is relatively easy) and I am sure makes our story very legitimate. 

What Ontarkie means I think is that you, the petitioner, will have to live or move to the US with her.  Are you living in Canada or in the USA?

[anastomosis 0]

Just now, Lemonslice said:

What Ontarkie means I think is that you, the petitioner, will have to live or move to the US with her.  Are you living in Canada or in the USA?

I am the petitioner. I live in the US. My wife currently lives in Vancouver Canada, and used to visit me often, until she recently gave birth to our kid, and has stayed in Vancouver because she has more help with the baby in Vancouver, rather than come to the US with me. Once I am done with my medical residency training (June 2019), she will plan on permanently living in the US with me (wherever I find a job within the US). She will probably move to the US permanently in June 2019. 

[Ontarkie 13,884]

12 minutes ago, anastomosis said:

I am the petitioner. I live in the US. My wife currently lives in Vancouver Canada, and used to visit me often, until she recently gave birth to our kid, and has stayed in Vancouver because she has more help with the baby in Vancouver, rather than come to the US with me. Once I am done with my medical residency training (June 2019), she will plan on permanently living in the US with me (wherever I find a job within the US). She will probably move to the US permanently in June 2019. 

ok this makes a huge difference. The way I read it sounded like you lived in Canada and would not be moving back to the US until 2019. 

 

Once she crosses the border and her visa is endorsed. She is no longer a resident in Canada. She cannot use her Canadian health care. Is that something you two want to risk with a baby? They will not have insurance in Canada. 

Edited January 19, 2018 by Ontarkie

[jle2234 68]

14 minutes ago, anastomosis said:

Thank you so much for the detailed response. So from your reply, it looks like we should just go ahead with the interview instead of delaying it. I also talked to USCIS, and they said this should not be an issue and just say it as it is during the interview. Couple more questions if you do not mind.

 

1) does the time of three years start when she receives the passport back, or when she crosses to the US. She plans on visiting me in early May, and the longer we delay the start time of 3 yrs, the better

2) Where did you get these answers from (i.e. 18 months in 3 yrs, can't stay out of country more than 1 yr). Is there a website or place to clearly delineate this, or this is from experience? 

3) Does she need to apply for the i-485. USCIS i believe was mentioning this, but nowhere in the instructions mentions this form.

 

Thanks so much for your time. 

1. To be clear, she doesn't HAVE to apply for her U.S. citizenship after three years -- but that is when she will be eligible to apply. However, she will not be eligible for citizenship if she spends more than half of her time outside the U.S. Upon getting her passport back from the consulate, she will have six months to cross in to the U.S. with her immigrant visa, at which point her permanent residency will begin.

 

2. I will link to a naturalization eligibility worksheet below. But, again, your wife does not HAVE to apply for citizenship after three years. Personally, I am aiming to apply for citizenship ASAP, which is why I am keenly aware of eligibility requirements. However, whether or not your wife plans to apply for U.S. citizenship, she can not spent more than one consecutive year outside of the U.S. without special permission, as such a long trip may cancel her residency.

 

3. I believe your wife will need to apply to remove conditions. I immigrated on an IR-1 visa, not a CR-1, so can't speak to that process or if there are special eligibility requirements for it. Perhaps another poster can help you with that.

 

You have been given good advice by others in this thread -- it is important that your wife be able to prove that she intends to be a full-time permanent resident in the U.S. She may intend to visit Canada while you're in training, etc. etc., but she may run in to problems at her interview if she states that she is planning to live part-time, reside in Canada after immigrating, or anything of the sort.

 

Naturalization eligibility worksheet: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Citizenship & Naturalization Based Resources/A Guide to Naturalization/PDFs/M-480.pdf

[anastomosis 0]

3 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

 

Once she crossed the border to and gets her visa endorsed. She is no longer a resident in Canada. She cannot use her Canadian health care. Is that something you two want to risk with a baby? They will not have insurance in Canada. 

Woah... this is news to me. Why would she lose her Canadian health care? She is still a Canadian citizen, and still has her job (albeit on maternity leave) in Vancouver. 

[Ontarkie 13,884]

7 minutes ago, anastomosis said:

Woah... this is news to me. Why would she lose her Canadian health care? She is still a Canadian citizen, and still has her job (albeit on maternity leave) in Vancouver. 

Because she cannot be a resident in Vancouver if she is a US resident and that happens as soon as she gets her visa stamped. The health care system is based on residency and they are cracking down on ppl who abuse it. 

She can also keep her maternity payments to the US. If she stays in Canada goes back to work she needs to be taxed as a non resident.

IF she uses the Canadian Health care she can lose her US Permanent Residency. As using it claims her a Canadian resident not a US resident. You cannot be a Resident in two Countries you either live in the US or live in Canada. Cannot have it both ways to keep the CG. 

Edited January 19, 2018 by Ontarkie

[anastomosis 0]

7 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

Because she cannot be a resident in Vancouver is she is a US resident and that happens as soon as she gets her visa stamped. 

She can also keep her maternity payments to the US. If she stays in Canada goes back to work she needs to be taxed as a non resident.

IF she uses the Canadian Health care she can lose her US Permanent Residency. As using it claims her a Canadian resident not a US resident. You cannot be a Resident in two Countries you either live in the US or live in Canada. Cannot have it both ways to keep the CG. 

Would she still be allowed to keep her job in Canada?

 

[anastomosis 0]

She has an interview scheduled for February 13th. Is there a way to delay the interview for 1 year. If I would have known about this, I would have delayed it at the CEAC level, and drag my feet on the paperwork. 

[Ontarkie 13,884]

2 minutes ago, anastomosis said:

Would she still be allowed to keep her job in Canada?

 

Yes she can, she just needs to tell them to change her taxes to a non resident. She will still be paying into the health care system she just cannot use it. 

[NikLR 13,220]

11 hours ago, anastomosis said:

She has an interview scheduled for February 13th. Is there a way to delay the interview for 1 year. If I would have known about this, I would have delayed it at the CEAC level, and drag my feet on the paperwork. 

Yes but you have to pay fees again. The immigrant visa fee is only valid for 1 year.  The medical is only valid for 6 months and she would also need a new police certificate.

Now what I suggest doing is contacting Montreal and delaying 6-8 months. This keeps the IV fee active and current (thats why I gave a range, do the interview within 1 year of the IV fee payment.)  Her medical will make the visa valid for 6 months provided it is taken close to the interview.  Police certs are valid for 1 year so be aware of that too.  You may want to update the I-864 and support paperwork for her to take to interview too.   She will have 6 months to activate her visa after getting it back based on medical date. 

It does mean she may not be able to visit the USA after the visa and passport are returned because the CBP may require her to activate her visa if she tries to just "visit."  But this plan should allow her to continue in Canada until you two are closer to move time.  It will also allow time for you to get the CRBA for the child as required. 

Edited January 19, 2018 by NikLR
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