Getting married in 71 days!

[Holliday 4]

Hi everyone!

I'm new here, and I just wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself, since I'll probably be bombarding you all with a ton of questions and stuff over the next many many months. I figure that the Canada forum is the most logical place to post my introduction, since I assume I'll be looking for advice and all that from other Canadians with similar situations. I've been reading through all of the info and guides on here, and I think this site is going to be an incredibly valuable resource for my fiance and I as we begin our "journey". It has already provided us with some great information to start with, which has helped us decide which approach to take as far as when to get married and what kind of visa we will be applying for, etc. So thanks very much to everyone who is involved in putting that information together!

To continue on with the long-winded introduction, my name is Erin, and I live in Ottawa. My fiance Jason lives in Tulsa. We will be getting married on February 13, 2009 in Dallas, at the Dallas Stars/Vancouver Canucks hockey game! That's absolutely the coolest wedding I can even imagine! Jason and I are both avid hockey fans, and we actually met kinda because of the Canucks/Stars playoff series in 2007, so having a hockey related wedding makes a whole lot of sense to us. We are both incredibly excited to be getting married at the game. He's a Stars fan (booo!!) and I'm a Canucks fan, so it's really just the perfect situation for us. I'm not going to get a wedding dress, or have flowers or bridesmaids or anything like that. It'll be a really simple ceremony with just a few family members and maybe friends. Heh. I'm going to be wearing my Canucks jersey, and Jason will be wearing a Stars jersey when we get married. Some people might think that sounds tacky, but I think it sounds spectacular.

I guess after we're married we'll be starting the process for a CR1 visa as soon as possible, so that I will eventually be able to move to Tulsa so we can be together. I never in my life imagined that I would wind up falling in love with an American and wanting to move to the U.S. I seriously never thought I'd ever live outside of Canada, and yet here I am planning to do exactly that. Go figure.

I guess that's the ‘short’ version of my story, and I actually have a question, because I want to make sure I’m not missing anything here. Basically, I’ll be flying from Ottawa to Tulsa about a week before the wedding, so that there will be enough time to drive down to Texas to get the marriage license and wait the 3 days for it to be issued. I’ll be returning home to Ottawa a week or so after the wedding, so I’ll be in the U.S. for around 2 weeks. I’m a little nervous about going through customs, because I don’t want to be denied entry. I figure the best way to prove that I don’t intend to immigrate illegally will be having a return plane ticket, and a letter from my boss stating that I’ll only be gone for two weeks and will be returning to work a week after the wedding. I don’t have a lease or anything to bring along, since I live with family. Is there anything else I should be doing to avoid having problems at the border?

Edited December 3, 2008 by Holliday

[xtinab 0]

I dont have an answer for you but wanted to say Hi! Congratulations and welcome to VJ!

[MrsCat 6]

This may sound like lying, but personally (which is what I did when I left to get married in the US), I didn't say anything about getting married - AT ALL. I figure unless they specifically ask, there is no reason to open that whole can of worms.

I brought my car registration/insurance, a letter from my employer saying they were aware of my vacation and that I was expected back to work on such and such a date. I actually wrote the letter for my manager. Also - as you wrote a return ticket.

I think you should be fine with what you already have. Its always roulette, but I think for the most part many have been allowed entry with no problems.

Your wedding sounds awesome. Certainly different and very memorable. Congrats on the coming special day!

Welcome to the Canadian Forum.

[Emancipation 2]

Well hi there! Congrads and WELCOME!

[Krikit 1,166]

Your wedding sounds like a hoot! Don't forget to come back and post pictures!

This is a helpful link: Visitation FAQ's

Welcome to VJ!!!

[Flames9_RN 359]

Welcome to VJ!! I got married in the USA as well on a visit and then returned and did the CR-1. I never told the POE officer that I was getting married, nor did he ask! Always tell the truth, but dont blab away,lol, here is my standard advice:

1) Always tell the TRUTH. never lie to the POE officer

2) Be confident in ur replies

3)keep ur response short and to the point, dont tell ur life story!!

4) look the POE officer in the eye when speaking to them. They are looking for people lying and have been trained to find them!

5)pack light! No job resumes with you

6) Bring ties to Canada (letter from employer when ur expected back at work, lease, etc etc)

7) Always be polite, being rude isnt going to get ya anywhere, and could make things worse!!

8) have a plan in case u do get denied (be polite) It wont harm ur visa application if ur denied,that is if ur polite and didn't lie! Refer to #1

9) maybe its time to pick a new hockey team if your team has NEVER won the Stanley Cup, or it looses two in a row to the worlds best team--Flames!! Its not called bandwagonning if you jump ship before Xmas!

Best of luck

Edited December 3, 2008 by flames9

[Jenni and Bo 0]

Hi and welcome!!

I agree with Mrs. Cat, I'm not sure if you have to mention the wedding. YOu are going down for the hockey game But if it does come up, I think you have good ties. I would maybe take a bank statement and a bill you have with your home address on it as well, just to show (even though it's with your parents) you have a permanent address in Canada.

I think the wedding sounds fantastic Hope you have a wonderful day and I hope your Visa Journey goes smoothly!

Jen

[OBX 51]

Welcome!

I travelled to the US to get married in August and similar to other posts had no issues at the border. We routinely travelled to North Carolina every August on vacation so decided to marry there as there was no waiting period after obtaining the marriage license and it was the only time we could get all of our kids together. To make a long story short; all I told the border guard was where we were going (North Carolina), purpose (vacation) and when we were going to return. I was travelling with my 2 teenage sons and my son's girlfriend. They did not ask me where my "husband" was or any questions regarding my status. The only unusual question they asked was whether or not everyone was returning together. I just answered yes. I did not have any documentation regarding my job or any ties to Canada. As others have posted I would just give them short, concise answers but to be safe you can bring documentation verifying your ties to Canada.

Congratulations and have a wonderful wedding.

[thetreble 19]

Hey Girl! Welcome. I lived in Ottawa for 5 years before I moved here to the US. It's still my one true love.

[CDAgirlMI 51]

I never in my life imagined that I would wind up falling in love with an American and wanting to move to the U.S. I seriously never thought I'd ever live outside of Canada, and yet here I am planning to do exactly that. Go figure.

HA....you could say that again!

Early congrats to you, hope everything works out great with your wedding!!

And ya, you gotta post pics when you get back!!

[Holliday 4]

Thanks for the warm welcomes and congratulations and advice! I appreciate it very much!!

I'm hoping that I won't have to mention the wedding when I'm at the border, I mean I'm not gonna lie, but as many of you have suggested, I won't bring it up unless it's necessary. I feel like that's a bit deceptive, and I'm concerned that if I say the purpose of my trip is vacation, and then I have to mention the wedding due to subsequent questions that it'll make the officer suspicious that I didn't bring it up in the first place. That's just probably me being a fusspot though. I'm sure it'll all be fine, because since it's such a low-key wedding, I can give lots of details about the wedding if I'm asked without mentioning that it's even a wedding and I'll still be telling the truth.

I'm getting super excited about everything. All the planning is going so incredibly well so far! Jason and I only decided a month ago that we were going to get married, and our intention was to have a civil ceremony with just the two of us. Of course when we told our parents, they seemed to want to be involved, and now it's escalated to be essentially our dream wedding! My family has been stressing me out a little bit about it, which I suppose is understandable. And it's just been little things, really. My mom had to reschedule her golf vacation. I feel bad about that, but when the opportunity to get married at the game came up, I couldn't turn it down! And I don't have control of the NHL schedule, so yeah... But it's been worked out so she can have her vacation and just leave a few days early and fly to Dallas instead of driving back home to Ottawa. Then there's my dad. He keeps making comments like "why are you moving to America? America scares me. I'm never going to see you anymore." I haven't seen him in a year and a half anyway since he hasn't bothered to drive the 5 hours it would take to come and visit me, even though he's retired. Blah. Plus, I'm not moving for quite a while, so that doesn't even need to be worried about right now. Oh yeah, and then my aunt 'accidentally' invited my other aunt and uncle without telling me, and there are a limited number of spaces in the suite at the game, and it didn't seem like there would be room for them, even though I'd really like them to be there. But that has worked itself out. I think all in all, I've had it pretty easy compared to a lot of other people who are planning a wedding, so I probably shouldn't be complaining.

[Carlawarla 1]

Thanks for the introduction Holliday,and welcome to VJ! Hope you find lots of answers here. Feel free to jump in the fray with comments and questions!

[JennaLyn 0]

my boyfriend is from Ottawa, he's not a hockey fan at all though..My cousin used to play for the Canadians(Matthieu Schneider) but I'm the sports fanatic, or let me correct that..I'm a WICKED huge Boston Red Sox fan..and I would love to have a wedding at Fenway Paaahk...so your wedding sounds perfect and congrats to the both of you...

I'm also new to this forum..but already have found so much helpful information...the people here are fantastic!!

Welcome!!

[thetreble 19]

my boyfriend is from Ottawa

He must be the coolest of dudes then. Did he go to university? Where is he from in Ottawa...

[JennaLyn 0]

He did go to Algonquin College and he's from Napean...near Craig Henry.

I must say that I visited Ottawa in August and I LOVED it!! Eventually I do want to move there...in about 2-3 yrs.