Need Help

[steveball 0]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on my situation.

I am a Canadian citizen currently working in Kazakhstan on 6 week on 4 week off work rotation. During my 4 weeks off I spend my time in Hawaii "visiting" my girlfriend (American). I have a brother (American) who also lives in Hawaii so when i go through customs I always say that I am going to visit him. Eventually my girlfriend and I would like to get married and purchase a home together in Hawaii. I want to keep working as an expat and keep the same type of work schedule .I have no real interest in being able to work in the US. I would just like to be a legal resident so that we can get married and purchase a home together in Hawaii. What would be the best option for my situation?

Thanks

Stephen Ball

[Carlawarla 1]

If you eventually want to marry your American girlfriend, you're going to have to decide where you're going to want to reside. You indicated you want to eventually purchase a home in Hawaii, so I assume that you'll be immigrating to the US. Part of immigration is a committment that you're going to marry, make application to be a permanent resident, and stay there, at least for the first while. You say you work in Kazakhstan. Who are you employed by? A Canadian company?

Have you read the Guides above? That will outline all the different "marriage, and finance" visa's there are, and then you can both decide what's best for you. If you want to continue to leave the country, without having to wait for your green card etc. you'll probably be looking at a CR-1 visa. It takes a little longer, but not that much longer than a K-3, and allows you to leave the country and not wait for an adjustment of status once you're in the US.

You might want to read up and visit the Canada forum here as well. Here's the link:

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

There is also a VJ Wiki page on Canada here:

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/...ter.2FChecklist

Once you've read the Guides and decided what kind of Visa to move down on, come back and ask any questions to clarify things!

Welcome to VJ fellow Canadian!

[pushbrk 7,673]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on my situation.

I am a Canadian citizen currently working in Kazakhstan on 6 week on 4 week off work rotation. During my 4 weeks off I spend my time in Hawaii "visiting" my girlfriend (American). I have a brother (American) who also lives in Hawaii so when i go through customs I always say that I am going to visit him. Eventually my girlfriend and I would like to get married and purchase a home together in Hawaii. I want to keep working as an expat and keep the same type of work schedule .I have no real interest in being able to work in the US. I would just like to be a legal resident so that we can get married and purchase a home together in Hawaii. What would be the best option for my situation?

Thanks

Stephen Ball

I'm not at all certain you need to be a legal permanent resident to buy a house together. If so, you'll need to complete an immigrant visa process and get a green card. I would think your six on and four off schedule would be sufficient to maintain the permanent resident status. If you could accomplish the home purchase as a Canadian (and I really think you can) then you could wait on the immigration process until you're ready to live full time in the USA.

A K1 fiance visa doesn't sound like a solution for you. Just get married when and where you desire and deal with a CR1 visa soon after or potentially an IR1 later.

Edited December 23, 2008 by pushbrk

[Mononoke28 134]

One of the conditions for permanent residents is for them to live in the US for at least 6 months out of the year. So if you think you're total amount time spent in Hawaii would be more than this, then you could qualify for a CR1 visa. Now, even if you do that, you would have to an explanation ready for the POE officer when they ask you why you spend so much time outside the US. Some of them get really ticked off that permanent residents don't actually reside in the US for most part of the year, so just be ready for that.

You can also find out from a realtor or mortgage broker to see if you have to be a US resident to purchase a home in Hawaii, you might not have to be.

Diana

[pushbrk 7,673]

One of the conditions for permanent residents is for them to live in the US for at least 6 months out of the year. So if you think you're total amount time spent in Hawaii would be more than this, then you could qualify for a CR1 visa. Now, even if you do that, you would have to an explanation ready for the POE officer when they ask you why you spend so much time outside the US. Some of them get really ticked off that permanent residents don't actually reside in the US for most part of the year, so just be ready for that.

You can also find out from a realtor or mortgage broker to see if you have to be a US resident to purchase a home in Hawaii, you might not have to be.

Diana

The bold statement above is a misinterpretation. There can be problems maintaining permanent resident status if you leave the USA for more than six months at any one time. A person who travels extensively but resides in the USA, can maintain LPR status.

[payxibka 10,021]

The bold statement above is a misinterpretation. There can be problems maintaining permanent resident status if you leave the USA for more than six months at any one time. A person who travels extensively but resides in the USA, can maintain LPR status.

I am quite certain there is a "boatload" of Japanese nationals that own property in Hawaii ....