Married in Canada...now in U.S...next steps...

[carslo 0]

Welcome,

I can only tell you what we have done. Got married in the USA, I am staying for 176 days, filed for Spousal Visa CR-1 while I am here. Returning to Canada to wait for visa - January 3, 2009. After waiting 7 years, I am not willing to risk any delay or possible ban on entering the USA. I contact brsdcanada here at VJ, and he offered sound advise regarding staying in USA and adjusting status.

Janet

The sooner he files the sooner you can come legally, and yes the CR-1 is the better visa - except for the trip to Montreal to attend the interview.

Good luck in your journey to be with your loved one.

Janet

[bluegreen 0]

And because you're already married, and the wedding took place in Canada, you have no legal basis to stay and adjust status. Had you gone to the US for a visit, and then decided spontaneously to get married, and then stay to adjust status, that is legal. However, already being married, entering the country as a visitor with intent to immigrate is Not legal. You will have to return to Canada and wait out the process, or risk being deported and banned from the country.

Ohhhh totally missed that point, yeah if you were married in Canada, you can't use your Canadian marriage licence to file. I missed that big point. Even further puts a huge red flag up here...

Can we say this? Another VJ member Delicia is doing that right now - and she and her Husband were married in Canada.

I'm not trying to be annoying about this, just want to be sure we are giving the correct information.

There is no law that says you cannot use your Canadian marriage license to file, that I am aware of, does anyone have a link or anything to information that states this?

If a couple are married and say the Husband is living in Canada and the wife in the U.S. and the Husband visits the U.S. and 'spontaneously' decides to stay (immigrate) - I don't see where they would not be able to just adjust status - the 'marriage' part of it has nothing to do with the AOS.

The only issue is the intent when entering the U.S. (I am not saying you wouldn't have a heck of a time proving that though!)

I haven't read through the entire thread here so sorry if I am being pedantic, but yes, Trailmix, I believe you are completely correct here. Intent means intent to immigrate, not intent to marry. Anyone can come here to marry anybody. That's why Vegas does a roaring trade. Technically you could be married in Canada, come to the US to visit (intending perhaps to immigrate later, or not immigrate at all—maybe your partner was planning on coming to Canada, etc) and then change your mind and file for AOS from the US. There are lots of VJ members doing this right now. But of course you are going to be scrutinized to ensure you are not just taking a shortcut and that there was no intent. Your marriage license can be from Timbucktoo, it does not matter.

Having a marriage license from Timbucktoo would be cool.

Edited December 3, 2008 by bluegreen

[zyggy 9]

You could use the Canadian marriage license to file, but it is FAR more risky as the bar of evidence to prove non-immigrant intent at entry would be more difficult to gather. The conventional wisdom is that those who are married to USC's have immigrant intent, i.e they will eventually wish to be together at some point in time. The challenge is to show that the intent did not exist at that entry.

How would the OP handle questioning from a AO along the lines of what was said at the border during the AOS interview. Did the OP exclude any pertinent information that would change a CBP officer's determination of the eligibility for entry. Did the OP commit a material misrepresentation by either deliberately giving misleading information or by wilfully concealing information. It's a high stakes situation with a very bad result if you happen to roll snake eyes by getting the AO that wants to probe into the legality of the entry. Losing that game results in immediate removal with a permanent ban on entering the US with no option for a waiver.

I know that is a situation I wouldn't want to put myself in if I could help it. But I'm not the OP.

Edited December 3, 2008 by zyggy

[Brian and Jenn 0]

Now if you were to go 2 weeks after being married in Canada and file for AOS in the USA that would be very very suspicious.

She would have a hard time doing this because of the intent. If I am already married and I go to the US, I'm more than certain the PO is going to think I'm intending to BE with my husband.

That was my point

[warlord 72]

The whole thing about where the marriage was is not the issue, it's the fact that if she was in the US trying to file for AOS and at the interview they will ask to see all documentation. When presenting the Canadian certificate, the question will then arise of how she legally got into the US. This is what the red flag is about, not the location.

Yes you can get married anywhere, but must file the proper documents before moving into the US. In this case that was not done and can easily come up showing more proof that she entered ilegally. If it had been a US marriage certificate, then they would be more lenient thinking you could have just come across without intent on a vacation and would up getting married. Being married to a USC and living with him in the US you need the proper documents to be here. So this will cause a red flag for them even more so now that the immigration intent was there when they crossed the border, but had no qualifying visa or status to legally allow them to be here.

That is what the point I was trying to get across with the marriage licence in this situation...

[trablus 0]

Welcome,

I can only tell you what we have done. Got married in the USA, I am staying for 176 days, filed for Spousal Visa CR-1 while I am here. Returning to Canada to wait for visa - January 3, 2009. After waiting 7 years, I am not willing to risk any delay or possible ban on entering the USA. I contact brsdcanada here at VJ, and he offered sound advise regarding staying in USA and adjusting status.

Janet

The sooner he files the sooner you can come legally, and yes the CR-1 is the better visa - except for the trip to Montreal to attend the interview.

Good luck in your journey to be with your loved one.

Janet

Thanks for all the help, everyone.

At this point, I am in the US with the intention to return back to Canada once the vistor's visa I have expires. If I filed for a CR-1 within the next week, would the issue of the intent of my travel to the US still be an issue? or do I need to return to Canada and then file for the CR-1?

[Flames9_RN 358]

No, you can file now.

[Reba 2]

You could use the Canadian marriage license to file, but it is FAR more risky as the bar of evidence to prove non-immigrant intent at entry would be more difficult to gather. The conventional wisdom is that those who are married to USC's have immigrant intent, i.e they will eventually wish to be together at some point in time. The challenge is to show that the intent did not exist at that entry.

How would the OP handle questioning from a AO along the lines of what was said at the border during the AOS interview. Did the OP exclude any pertinent information that would change a CBP officer's determination of the eligibility for entry. Did the OP commit a material misrepresentation by either deliberately giving misleading information or by wilfully concealing information. It's a high stakes situation with a very bad result if you happen to roll snake eyes by getting the AO that wants to probe into the legality of the entry. Losing that game results in immediate removal with a permanent ban on entering the US with no option for a waiver.

I know that is a situation I wouldn't want to put myself in if I could help it. But I'm not the OP.

zackly.

I've seen in other forums where a Canadian married to an American entered the US on vacation with their US wife to visit family for the holidays, whose parent then fell terminally ill and they decided to stay. The applied for AOS and it was granted. HOWEVER, he was easily able to PROVE non-intent at his interview. They still had their home and jobs back in Canada when they entered, their employers expected them back after the holidays, but they decided to stay to care for the ailing US parent.

The OP here however obviously has intent, and to misrepresent yourself and then apply for AOS is not a recipe for a happy outcome. Unless the desired outcome is possible deportation and permanent banning. Which is why I would never recommend that ANYone come to the US with intent to marry and stay. The risks are just too great.