Information regarding how to proceed....

[tyriun_j 0]

Hello, this is my first post here as this site was recommended to me by a friend who found this useful.

Let me explain my situation. So I have a fiance I Canada that is trying to get citizenship here in the United States. We have a very hard time being apart, so we have tried to explore some options on how we can be together as much as possible without constantly flying to and from Canada & the US to be together. We discussed me going up there on a work permit/VISA, but unless you have a degree or a certificate, its near impossible to be accepted by a VISA & I dont have my associates for another 6 months. I also dont have my EMT certificates anymore plus they cost ALOT of money to renew so thats not an option. We also don't want to wait on her work visa for here either cause it will take too long. We later then found out that for travel between Canada and US, you only need a passport. After doing some extensive research we found out that between both of the countries that you can stay in either one for a maximum of up to 6 months ( given that the port of entry deems that you can do so ). At first I offered to go up there, but as of lately, my fiance and I have been bouncing the idea around of having her come down here in the spring to be with me as we continued with her K-1 Fiance process. Now my question is this: If she comes down here to be with me for 5-6 months, can we still continue to work on the VISA process cause shes not sure if she wants to come down if we can't work on it at all. Most of the process is being done on my end so it wouldnt affect her as much till the end of it, but I want to be sure that her being in the states with me won't affect us being able to continue forward with it. My next question is this: At the port of entry to the US, we will have proof of income to support that she can support herself, addresses where she will be staying & proof of a job she will still have in Canada when she returns home. If anyone has done this before ( I mean, coming down here on a passport and staying for a few months ) can you offer me any advice as well on anything that we may need to present to them at the port of entry? My last question is: Can some people offer up how long their K-1 Fiance processing times were? I want to get a good idea for it so I can plan ahead for the future and see roughly when I can get my fiance down here as soon as possible. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this and respond accordingly. I appreciate any help in this matter

Jared

[pushbrk 14,564]

Hello, this is my first post here as this site was recommended to me by a friend who found this useful.

Let me explain my situation. So I have a fiance I Canada that is trying to get citizenship here in the United States. We have a very hard time being apart, so we have tried to explore some options on how we can be together as much as possible without constantly flying to and from Canada & the US to be together. We discussed me going up there on a work permit/VISA, but unless you have a degree or a certificate, its near impossible to be accepted by a VISA & I dont have my associates for another 6 months. I also dont have my EMT certificates anymore plus they cost ALOT of money to renew so thats not an option. We also don't want to wait on her work visa for here either cause it will take too long. We later then found out that for travel between Canada and US, you only need a passport. After doing some extensive research we found out that between both of the countries that you can stay in either one for a maximum of up to 6 months ( given that the port of entry deems that you can do so ). At first I offered to go up there, but as of lately, my fiance and I have been bouncing the idea around of having her come down here in the spring to be with me as we continued with her K-1 Fiance process. Now my question is this: If she comes down here to be with me for 5-6 months, can we still continue to work on the VISA process cause shes not sure if she wants to come down if we can't work on it at all. Most of the process is being done on my end so it wouldnt affect her as much till the end of it, but I want to be sure that her being in the states with me won't affect us being able to continue forward with it. My next question is this: At the port of entry to the US, we will have proof of income to support that she can support herself, addresses where she will be staying & proof of a job she will still have in Canada when she returns home. If anyone has done this before ( I mean, coming down here on a passport and staying for a few months ) can you offer me any advice as well on anything that we may need to present to them at the port of entry? My last question is: Can some people offer up how long their K-1 Fiance processing times were? I want to get a good idea for it so I can plan ahead for the future and see roughly when I can get my fiance down here as soon as possible. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this and respond accordingly. I appreciate any help in this matter

Jared

Begin by clicking on the word "Guides" at the top of any page here.

[Wis-Can 0]

Hello,

I'm from Canada, and my sweetie is from Wisconsin. We applied for our K-1 Visa first part of September, we our hoping that by the end of May that I will be moving if all goes well. We've both been going back and forth visiting but usually only a couple weeks at a time. I haven't had any problems getting through, I just say "visiting" when asked purpose of visit. I do bring proof of employment, mortgage documents etc just in case but have never had to use them. Your right, she can come stay with you for quite a while just using her passport. I know on one of the forms they did ask if the benficiary was in the US at the time of the application...I don't know if by ticking the yes if it would send up any flags for them. I plan on going back down in January for a couple months and don't anticipate any problems. I just know that if we get our NOA2 while I am there I will just have to get my butt home to wait for the packets to arrive. Its not fun being separated but I am on this website everyday and it helps to talk to people who are going through the same thing. I have a friend going through the K-1 Visa as well and she's been down with her honey in Nevada for almost 6 months, she's coming home just before Christmas as they received their NOA2 last week. GOOD LUCK!!

[tyriun_j 0]

Hello,

I'm from Canada, and my sweetie is from Wisconsin. We applied for our K-1 Visa first part of September, we our hoping that by the end of May that I will be moving if all goes well. We've both been going back and forth visiting but usually only a couple weeks at a time. I haven't had any problems getting through, I just say "visiting" when asked purpose of visit. I do bring proof of employment, mortgage documents etc just in case but have never had to use them. Your right, she can come stay with you for quite a while just using her passport. I know on one of the forms they did ask if the benficiary was in the US at the time of the application...I don't know if by ticking the yes if it would send up any flags for them. I plan on going back down in January for a couple months and don't anticipate any problems. I just know that if we get our NOA2 while I am there I will just have to get my butt home to wait for the packets to arrive. Its not fun being separated but I am on this website everyday and it helps to talk to people who are going through the same thing. I have a friend going through the K-1 Visa as well and she's been down with her honey in Nevada for almost 6 months, she's coming home just before Christmas as they received their NOA2 last week. GOOD LUCK!!

When you said there is a question " if your beneficiary is in the country at the time of the application? ", were you in the country at the time when your fiance sent the application in? I'm not sure how I should answer that cause I don't want to raise any flags that will slow us down I plan on getting this sent in before she comes down in March, but I just want to be sure if its wise to say " no "

[pushbrk 14,564]

Hello,

I'm from Canada, and my sweetie is from Wisconsin. We applied for our K-1 Visa first part of September, we our hoping that by the end of May that I will be moving if all goes well. We've both been going back and forth visiting but usually only a couple weeks at a time. I haven't had any problems getting through, I just say "visiting" when asked purpose of visit. I do bring proof of employment, mortgage documents etc just in case but have never had to use them. Your right, she can come stay with you for quite a while just using her passport. I know on one of the forms they did ask if the benficiary was in the US at the time of the application...I don't know if by ticking the yes if it would send up any flags for them. I plan on going back down in January for a couple months and don't anticipate any problems. I just know that if we get our NOA2 while I am there I will just have to get my butt home to wait for the packets to arrive. Its not fun being separated but I am on this website everyday and it helps to talk to people who are going through the same thing. I have a friend going through the K-1 Visa as well and she's been down with her honey in Nevada for almost 6 months, she's coming home just before Christmas as they received their NOA2 last week. GOOD LUCK!!

When you said there is a question " if your beneficiary is in the country at the time of the application? ", were you in the country at the time when your fiance sent the application in? I'm not sure how I should answer that cause I don't want to raise any flags that will slow us down I plan on getting this sent in before she comes down in March, but I just want to be sure if its wise to say " no "

According to Wis-Can's timeline no visa has been applied for. Only a petition has been filed. When the petition is approved the foreign beneficiary is invited to apply for a visa. For a Canadian, it's not going to make any difference one way or another how you answer the question about he beneficiary being in the US at the time the petition is filed. Just obey the law and follow the procedures in the step by step guides here. After you've studied them, feel free to ask any remaining questions.

[Wis-Can 0]

Hello,

I'm from Canada, and my sweetie is from Wisconsin. We applied for our K-1 Visa first part of September, we our hoping that by the end of May that I will be moving if all goes well. We've both been going back and forth visiting but usually only a couple weeks at a time. I haven't had any problems getting through, I just say "visiting" when asked purpose of visit. I do bring proof of employment, mortgage documents etc just in case but have never had to use them. Your right, she can come stay with you for quite a while just using her passport. I know on one of the forms they did ask if the benficiary was in the US at the time of the application...I don't know if by ticking the yes if it would send up any flags for them. I plan on going back down in January for a couple months and don't anticipate any problems. I just know that if we get our NOA2 while I am there I will just have to get my butt home to wait for the packets to arrive. Its not fun being separated but I am on this website everyday and it helps to talk to people who are going through the same thing. I have a friend going through the K-1 Visa as well and she's been down with her honey in Nevada for almost 6 months, she's coming home just before Christmas as they received their NOA2 last week. GOOD LUCK!!

When you said there is a question " if your beneficiary is in the country at the time of the application? ", were you in the country at the time when your fiance sent the application in? I'm not sure how I should answer that cause I don't want to raise any flags that will slow us down I plan on getting this sent in before she comes down in March, but I just want to be sure if its wise to say " no "

No, I came back to Canada when we were getting the forms together. We wanted to be putting "NO" in the question on the I-129F form that asks if your fiance was currently in the US. Not sure why we thought it would be better, just a personal choice I guess. You apply for your I-129F then once that's approved you get your packets and go for your interview, this is where you are actually applying for your visa. Which is what Pshbrk was referring to. But I know most people consider the whole process just "applying for a K1 Visa". When people ask me what's going on with my moving with Peter its a hell of a lot easier to say we are awaiting the fiance visa, then to explain the whole process.

I haven't had any problems getting into the country, but its entirely up to the officer at the POE. So where in Canada is your honey from?

[Labhrais 6]

J. was here visiting when we filed the I129F, and we answered "yes" to the question about whether or not he was in the US because (a) it was true and (B) we believed it bolstered the point of proving we had seen each other within the last two years. We got our NOA2 without troubles.

[Carlawarla 1]

Your fiance can visit while the process in on-going. It's best to bring proof of her ties to Canada as indicated in your posting. Having a job to return to and a letter from her employer is the best resource for crossing the border. While on her visit with you, she can't work, she needs to know that. If you can support her during the visit, or if she has funds, then that's okay.

As far as the timeline goes, a lot will depend on which part of Canada and what part of the US you two are from. Different timelines are determined by what Centre in the US your application will be processed in, and what Consulate in Canada she will have her interview in.

Don't forget to fill in your timeline here!

Drop into the Canada forum as well, for lots of regional information from others who are going, or have gone through this process.

Here's the link:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showforum=93

Best of luck on your journey!

[Wis-Can 0]

J. was here visiting when we filed the I129F, and we answered "yes" to the question about whether or not he was in the US because (a) it was true and (B) we believed it bolstered the point of proving we had seen each other within the last two years. We got our NOA2 without troubles.

Yes you have a point as well, it would prove you've been together. I guess its all in how you look at it. It would make it much easier getting the paperwork together. It saves the mailing back and forth!!

[aravis227 1]

I'm in Utah and my now-husband lived in Manitoba when we filed our K1. We mailed our application on February 9th, 2008 and he had his visa in hand on September 16th. The California service center (CSC) takes longer to process than Vermont (VSC) does. In Canada there are two embassies that handle K1 applications: Vancouver and Montreal. Vancouver is faster than Montreal. Which service center and embassy you go to depends on where in your respective countries you live.

You can certainly visit in each others countries, but it is best to bring proof that you are going to return in a timely manner. Having a pending visa application puts you under more scrutiny than a regular visitor (don't ask me to explain that...seems like being in the midst of the legal process should prove your good intentions...). You can visit the Canada forum for more details about Canada specific issues, there are people over there who have been turned away at the border. Your best bet to find more information on that is to click on the search box near the top of the window and search for visiting while your visa is pending. Dennis (my Canadian husband) visited several times while our application was pending and never had a problem, but he always brought a folder with him with his mortgage, recent bills, and a letter from his employer stating his expected return date in it. He also had a return flight within a week or two. Your best bet is to tell the absolute truth to the border officer. If they deny you entry based on the truth you will have no problems later on. If you lie about your intentions they can issue a ban and then you're out of luck until it expires, regardless of the visa (they can even issue a lifetime ban, although I think it's rare).