Starting a very complicated immigration process

[Barb & Tom 0]

Bear with me while I lay out details:

Met my husband online in February 1997 and met in person in October 1997. He was single/never married and I was divorced. He is from outside of Detroit, Michigan and I live right across the bridge in Windsor, ON so distance was never much of an issue. I became pregnant and gave birth to twin boys in May 2000 at which time he got a visitor record and started the landing process into Canada.

Skip forward to the present: I have 7 yr old twin boys with my husband. He has moved back to Michigan to re-establish residency and credit...he never did land, just kept extending his visitor record in Canada. I have 2 daughters from my first marriage, one is 21 and the other turns 16 this September. We are to go to the US Embassy in Toronto (with long form birth certificates in hand) to register the twins as US births abroad. The process is fairly quick and painless from all accounts.

Now..here's where it gets confusing: I've read that I have to have Tom apply with an I-130 form as spouse, wait for a receipt number and then file again an I-129F as if I was a fiancee form? Do we pay this twice? I've also read that I do and I don't have to include the 15 yr old on a separate I-130 form and just add her as a K-4? Someone else on this forum said he mailed both I-130 and I-129F at the same time and only paid the fee once?

Would it be simpler to have him move back to Windsor and apply for another visitor record, stay for 6 months and go to the US consulate in Toronto and request the Visas for us at the same time as the birth abroad records for our sons?

He has a job in Michigan and my job here in Canada is being outsourced at the beginning of October. Our situation has changed drastically in the past few months. What is the quickest route to get us into the US legally so the kids can go to school and I can go to work? I would imagine that Nebraska would be the Svc Center (after sending to Chicago) and apparently Toronto doesn't do interviews...so I'd have to go to Montreal???

Please HELP!

A very confused Canadian

Barb

[MsZ 6]

Have you read the guides? They'll answer your questions about what you send and what the fees are. You only pay once with the I-130/129F -- that's called a K-3.

Honestly, there's no fast route into the US. If you filed today you'd be looking at 8-10 months, I'd wager. And then you'd have to wait to be able to work as you apply for that and have to wait to be approved.

I don't know the deal with the child, I'm afraid. But I believe you'd be processed together.

In any case, begin with the guides.

[EdgarVirginia 0]

Bear with me while I lay out details:

Met my husband online in February 1997 and met in person in October 1997. He was single/never married and I was divorced. He is from outside of Detroit, Michigan and I live right across the bridge in Windsor, ON so distance was never much of an issue. I became pregnant and gave birth to twin boys in May 2000 at which time he got a visitor record and started the landing process into Canada.

Skip forward to the present: I have 7 yr old twin boys with my husband. He has moved back to Michigan to re-establish residency and credit...he never did land, just kept extending his visitor record in Canada. I have 2 daughters from my first marriage, one is 21 and the other turns 16 this September. We are to go to the US Embassy in Toronto (with long form birth certificates in hand) to register the twins as US births abroad. The process is fairly quick and painless from all accounts.

Now..here's where it gets confusing: I've read that I have to have Tom apply with an I-130 form as spouse, wait for a receipt number and then file again an I-129F as if I was a fiancee form? Do we pay this twice? I've also read that I do and I don't have to include the 15 yr old on a separate I-130 form and just add her as a K-4? Someone else on this forum said he mailed both I-130 and I-129F at the same time and only paid the fee once?

Would it be simpler to have him move back to Windsor and apply for another visitor record, stay for 6 months and go to the US consulate in Toronto and request the Visas for us at the same time as the birth abroad records for our sons?

He has a job in Michigan and my job here in Canada is being outsourced at the beginning of October. Our situation has changed drastically in the past few months. What is the quickest route to get us into the US legally so the kids can go to school and I can go to work? I would imagine that Nebraska would be the Svc Center (after sending to Chicago) and apparently Toronto doesn't do interviews...so I'd have to go to Montreal???

Please HELP!

A very confused Canadian

Barb

Please check the link belows and you might find some helpful information in regard to what to file for yourself and your children.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3830.html

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3191.html

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...amp;page=guides

Good luck!

[EdgarVirginia 0]

Have you read the guides? They'll answer your questions about what you send and what the fees are. You only pay once with the I-130/129F -- that's called a K-3.

Honestly, there's no fast route into the US. If you filed today you'd be looking at 8-10 months, I'd wager. And then you'd have to wait to be able to work as you apply for that and have to wait to be approved.

I don't know the deal with the child, I'm afraid. But I believe you'd be processed together.

In any case, begin with the guides.

If you apply for IR/CR1 visa, you won't have to file for a work permission, as I said you will be able to work as soon as you enter the US as a permanent resident. IR/CR1 process is taking from 8 to 10months to be concluded. Check pluses and minuses of either IR/CR1 and K3 visas on the general guides.

[Delicia 1]

Have you read the guides? They'll answer your questions about what you send and what the fees are. You only pay once with the I-130/129F -- that's called a K-3.

Honestly, there's no fast route into the US. If you filed today you'd be looking at 8-10 months, I'd wager. And then you'd have to wait to be able to work as you apply for that and have to wait to be approved.

I don't know the deal with the child, I'm afraid. But I believe you'd be processed together.

In any case, begin with the guides.

If you apply for IR/CR1 visa, you won't have to file for a work permission, as I said you will be able to work as soon as you enter the US as a permanent resident. IR/CR1 process is taking from 8 to 10months to be concluded. Check pluses and minuses of either IR/CR1 and K3 visas on the general guides.

The IR1 (which the OP would qualify for it seems) is taking much longer than 8-10 months. It is about 6 months to get approved at USICS, 3 months to finish at NVC and the wait time for a MTL interview is 4-6 months.

[MsZ 6]

Since some 130s are going through fairly quickly, it might not take her 3-6 to get through USCIS. NVC --> MTL, yeah, that's going to take a long time just because it is Montreal. She could conceivably do an IR1 in 8-10 filing now. But it seems that the K-3 is still the faster route into the US because it is less likely to get hung up in the USCIS portion.

If you want to start the kids on a school year boundary, you can go the IR1 route and then just not move until the summer of '09.

But no way you'll be here to work or for any other purpose than visiting by October.

[EdgarVirginia 0]

Have you read the guides? They'll answer your questions about what you send and what the fees are. You only pay once with the I-130/129F -- that's called a K-3.

Honestly, there's no fast route into the US. If you filed today you'd be looking at 8-10 months, I'd wager. And then you'd have to wait to be able to work as you apply for that and have to wait to be approved.

I don't know the deal with the child, I'm afraid. But I believe you'd be processed together.

In any case, begin with the guides.

If you apply for IR/CR1 visa, you won't have to file for a work permission, as I said you will be able to work as soon as you enter the US as a permanent resident. IR/CR1 process is taking from 8 to 10months to be concluded. Check pluses and minuses of either IR/CR1 and K3 visas on the general guides.

The IR1 (which the OP would qualify for it seems) is taking much longer than 8-10 months. It is about 6 months to get approved at USICS, 3 months to finish at NVC and the wait time for a MTL interview is 4-6 months.

Well I think that after NVC forward your process to your local Consulate it won't take that long for the interview. I was informed by my local Consulate that as soon as they receive our case, they may take around a month to send packet 4 giving us another month to get all the lab and medical exams ready to take to your interview. So I would say that it wouldn't take longer than 2 and half months for the interview.

Anyway I would suggest you to check that information with your local Consulate in order to be sure.

[Barb & Tom 0]

Thanks for the responses. At the border in Detroit (we cross frequently), they stated all we had to do was file an I-130 form to get the K Visa. The process would take approximately 6 months. The "goal" was to have the process completed and to be in the States after my daughter finishes her first semester (in January 2009).

I have read the guides (and am still confused). There was a site where the K process was explained step by step and it stated to send in all documentations and fees for the I-130. When the receipt comes, send in the files and applicable fees for the I-129F. When that gets returned, go for K visa status and then...wait.

A gentleman on this board said he forwarded both forms at the same time with just one fee. Therein lay my confusion. It was also mentioned in the gov website to file for each additional person on an I-130. However, on this website there was a discussion (or link) that stated you do not have to file for underage (I'm assuming that is the 21 yr old cap???) child on the I-130 just add a K4 application when the K3 is done. So again, I'm uncertain.

Believe me...after dealing with our govt with immigration, I knew it would be no parade over the Ambassador Bridge. We filed and paid at the bank for his landing information. They had the file..lost the payment. We produced proof of payment...they lost the file. We were filing during 9/11 originally (he was stuck across the border for days trying to return home from work) and the whole thing was so nightmarish that we dropped it and just kept getting his visitor record redone.

We are going to the US Embassy in Toronto for to get the birth abroad records. Can we not go to Toronto for interviews? I've only seen Vancouver and Montreal listed and both are very far from where I live:

Toronto is 245 miles away and is by far the closest to us. Montreal would be next and it's 570 miles away. Vancouver is basically an impossibility as it's almost 2500 miles away. Meanwhile, the Detroit office is actually about 10 miles (if that) from my house. It seems so silly to be so complicated.

Would it be better to simply have him give up his apartment in Michigan and come home and do a Consular filing after 6 months? This is starting to seem more difficult than having him move here. If we go to the Detroit office in person, will they be able to offer any information on the process or simply give information on status as listed on their website?

Thanks again.

[Delicia 1]

Only Montreal does IR-1/CR1 interviews and both Montreal and Vancouver do K-3 interviews. You will be assigned to the one closest to your Canadian address; in this case, you would be at Montreal either way.

I am confused about you paying landing fees... for Canadian immigration? (click the link to my blog in my signature to read my Canadian immigration nightmare)

Simply put, if you want a IR-1 visa, you file a I-130 alone. When finished, you receive a green card and do not have to do any additional paperwork/fees after the IR-1 process is complete (you would receive a 10 year unconditional green card). If you want a K-3, you file the I-130, wait for your receipt (takes about 2 weeks) then submit the I-129F. The K class visas require you to submit additional paperwork after receiving your visa in order to get a Social Security number and the right to work.

[MsZ 6]

There was a brief period when you could send in both the I-130 and 129F together. That time has past. So follow the guides.

It is also important that you know that border guards often have little to no understanding of the actual visa process. So it is important that you know what is true and what is not.

If you started today (which I would encourage), you *may* have a prayer of getting in on a visa before the end of the year.

There is no simple process. There is no fast process.

Do yourself a favor and download all of the forms and read them. The government provides instructions on what is required. Once you've done that and compared those instructions to the guides, come back and ask specific questions. If you are overly influenced by what individuals did, you may be unintentionally misled. Follow the instructions on the documents because those are the ones your application will be judged by. Failure to do so may result in an RFE (request for evidence) which will slow down the process.

Since you need an I-130 no matter what, get the documentation together for that and file them right away.

[Delicia 1]

Thanks for the responses. At the border in Detroit (we cross frequently), they stated all we had to do was file an I-130 form to get the K Visa. The process would take approximately 6 months. The "goal" was to have the process completed and to be in the States after my daughter finishes her first semester (in January 2009).

I have read the guides (and am still confused). There was a site where the K process was explained step by step and it stated to send in all documentations and fees for the I-130. When the receipt comes, send in the files and applicable fees for the I-129F. When that gets returned, go for K visa status and then...wait.

A gentleman on this board said he forwarded both forms at the same time with just one fee. Therein lay my confusion. It was also mentioned in the gov website to file for each additional person on an I-130. However, on this website there was a discussion (or link) that stated you do not have to file for underage (I'm assuming that is the 21 yr old cap???) child on the I-130 just add a K4 application when the K3 is done. So again, I'm uncertain.

Believe me...after dealing with our govt with immigration, I knew it would be no parade over the Ambassador Bridge. We filed and paid at the bank for his landing information. They had the file..lost the payment. We produced proof of payment...they lost the file. We were filing during 9/11 originally (he was stuck across the border for days trying to return home from work) and the whole thing was so nightmarish that we dropped it and just kept getting his visitor record redone.

We are going to the US Embassy in Toronto for to get the birth abroad records. Can we not go to Toronto for interviews? I've only seen Vancouver and Montreal listed and both are very far from where I live:

Toronto is 245 miles away and is by far the closest to us. Montreal would be next and it's 570 miles away. Vancouver is basically an impossibility as it's almost 2500 miles away. Meanwhile, the Detroit office is actually about 10 miles (if that) from my house. It seems so silly to be so complicated.

Would it be better to simply have him give up his apartment in Michigan and come home and do a Consular filing after 6 months? This is starting to seem more difficult than having him move here. If we go to the Detroit office in person, will they be able to offer any information on the process or simply give information on status as listed on their website?

Thanks again.

Just some additional info, you will not be qualified to do a direct consular filing in Canada. The US Consulates in Canada require that the U.S. individual has legal status in Canada, and visitor status does not qualify. The U.S. spouse must be a Canadian perm resident, or in Canada on an authorized work permit. You can start him on his Canadian perm resident application, but that is taking 9 -12 months to process and if you aren't planning on staying in Canada, its at $1500 wasted (not counting additional fees for medical exams, etc).

I would strongly suggest that you get the I-130 submitted immediately to even get close to your goal of moving to the U.S. by Jan 2009. I submitted my I-130 in October 2007 for my Canadian LPR husband and am still waiting to clear the first hurdle.

Edited April 18, 2008 by Delicia

[Barb & Tom 0]

Delicia: Thanks for your help so far. As for the landing stuff: Yes..it was sent in for Tom to immigrate to Canada. We filled out allof the paperwork with the $500 fee paid at the bank. They lost the payment. We faxed them a copy of the bank receipt and they couldn't find the file. They finally got both together and we set up the medical. (Started in January 2001) Passed the medical. A year went by with no word. Contacted them again and they could not find the payment again. Faxed again. Then the first info we got back was that a new law had been passed that required Tom get an HIV test. Back to the doctor's with the results being forwarded. Then another letter saying too much time had passed between the HIV test and the original medical and to redo it. That got redone. Another year went by and his file was split between two locations, neither apparently knowing what the other was doing. He got an immigration lawyer involved and paid out more money. After another few months, it was decided to remain on the visitor record and abandon the immigration process and wait for an opportunity to move back to the States. So I'm sure..whatever the hold up is with immigrating from Canada to the US?? The Canadian side has a LOT to do with it.

[Cassie 8]

So I'm sure..whatever the hold up is with immigrating from Canada to the US?? The Canadian side has a LOT to do with it.

trust us, the US doesn't need Canada's help in being slow! They're doing perfectly well in that regard all on their own.

[Delicia 1]

trust us, the US doesn't need Canada's help in being slow! They're doing perfectly well in that regard all on their own.

Never truer words were spoken.

OP should go back to the guides for the K-3 and gather all the info (marriage certs, birth certificate, divorce docs, etc) for the I-130, get the form filled out, makes copies and get it in the mail asap. It will buy you a couple weeks time while you work on gathering info needed for the I-129F.

Also, you might want to check out the Canuk forum. Lots of people there talking about Timmy's, beer and hockey.