POE by land with no I-94

[Reba 2]

The usual route to proving non-intent is to show that you hadn't quit your job, sold all your stuff and headed to the border. However, since you were not working, and had not belongings to start our your marriage, that part will be difficult for you to do obviously.

You could use affidavits from family and friends who knew of your plans to have your husband immigrate to Canada as evidence of non-intent. Also, if his employer transported him to his/your home in Canada, they could also attest to where he was living up until December of '08. If you still have active bank accounts in Canada, or other financial obligations, that is also secondary proof of non-intent (though with the internet and ABMs, bank accounts are not really geographically binding anymore)

You can either stay to apply for adjustment of status (AOS) or you can return to Canada and wait out the process for a CR1.

Did you register your child's birth abroad with the US consulate before you left? Does your child have any form of US ID? If not, you should apply for it asap.

[JulieG 0]

No, I didn't get an I-94 or file one with my application. At the border they asked where I was going. Then they asked why I was going there. I said I was going there to visit and staying for a couple of weeks. They did not ask to see proof of anything (another time, I had been asked for proof of employment, when crossing into the US with my now husband).

They may ask you to prove your intent at your interview, I am not sure. At my interview, it came up that my husband had lived with me in Canada for quite awhile, prior to me coming to the US and prior to the marriage. They didn't seem to care about that. In fact, they seemed to just want to get me through my interview as fast as possible (it was ten minutes total). The IO made a comment. "You are Canadian, so I am not worried about you getting married just to get a green card" (wasn't that nice of him?!?). I was concerned that they may ask about my intent, seeing as I had recieved all these dire warnings, but it did not happen.

I think the onus would be on you to prove that you did not have intent to immigrate, but I believe that they do not ask for that very often (at least from things I have seen in this and other forums). Maybe if they have some reason to be suspicious or think the marriage may be fraudulent.

You might want to make an appointment with someone at the local USCIS office, explain your situation and see what they say. We were advised to do the I-130/I-485 concurrently.

That is such good news. If you don't mind I would love some more information from you, it appears our circumstances are very similar.

Did your husband have any kind of status in Canada while he lived with you?

What did you put in the space on forms which asked for your I-94 number or for a copy of your I-94?

What were you prepared to say if asked why you came to the US? If you were here as a tourist, something must have changed. Did you have ties to Canada when you came across? Bank, home, belongings etc.? And if you didn't wouldn't that appear suspicious?

Whenever you have time

Thanks

Julie

[Caladan 19]

If I'm reading you correctly, it sounds like you had plans to come down and visit, but the situation with his ex and the home changed your circumstances. Getting documentation of that might help your case. In any case, you weren't planning to immigrate when you came down in December, so have an explanation with as much documentation as you can in case they ask for it. But it is legal to file for AOS within the country, and plenty of people have successfully done it.

[JulieG 0]

The usual route to proving non-intent is to show that you hadn't quit your job, sold all your stuff and headed to the border. However, since you were not working, and had not belongings to start our your marriage, that part will be difficult for you to do obviously.

You could use affidavits from family and friends who knew of your plans to have your husband immigrate to Canada as evidence of non-intent. Also, if his employer transported him to his/your home in Canada, they could also attest to where he was living up until December of '08. If you still have active bank accounts in Canada, or other financial obligations, that is also secondary proof of non-intent (though with the internet and ABMs, bank accounts are not really geographically binding anymore)

You can either stay to apply for adjustment of status (AOS) or you can return to Canada and wait out the process for a CR1.

Did you register your child's birth abroad with the US consulate before you left? Does your child have any form of US ID? If not, you should apply for it asap.

Hi, thanks for replying. I did not register my childs birth abroad with the US consolate. Now that I am here can I register her birth in the US? It states on the website that in lieu of going to a consolate abroad that I can go to a US passport office and file for her passport, but you need an SSN to apply for a passport and you need a passport or some form of US ID to apply for a SSN. Do you know anything about this?

[antda 13]

Hi JulieG,

No, it's not illegal to come to the US and get married while you were down here for a visit from Canada. As long as you came here WITHOUT the intention to get married in the first place on your visit and are not doing this as to avoid and/or break immigration laws, then it's fine and legal to do.

I was in the same situation before too, as a Canadian, when I came over to visit my boyfriend (now husband), on a

2 week US tourist visa (they gave me a B-2 visa and I-94 in my passport, even though I'm from visa-exempt Canada and travelled here by land crossing in Niagara Falls), and then ended up getting married here in the USA. And yes, I did file for the adjustment of status and was approved and got my green card afterwards.

For more information on my sitation, see my VJ timeline (the link can be found on my signature).

As well, I stayed in the US for several (7-8) months, before my green card was approved. I just stayed, as I did not need to return to Canada during that time, nor did I bother applying for an Advance Parole or Employment Authorization Document, even though others apply for these because they have a need to return to Canada before. I was told too, by an immigration lawyer, that my expired visitor's status was "forgiven" if I had filed for the Adjustment of Status/Green Card during that time. Personally though, during those months, even though I was in the midst of filing my paperwork, I felt kind of weird to be in the US somewhat "illegally", as I did not have valid status during that filing time. And yeah, I felt a lot better when I finally did get my green card later.

The next steps for you are:

1) DO NOT LEAVE THE USA AND DO NOT RETURN TO CANADA (unless you have Advance Parole) until your Adjustment of Status/Green Card case has been fully approved, otherwise your case will be abandonded and you will run into the risk of never being able to come back to the ever USA again.

2) File the following paperwork: I-130 (Petiton for Family Member), I-485 (Adjustment of Status), I-864 (Affidavit of Support), I-765 (Employment Authorization Document), I-131 (Advanced Parole), I-693 (Medical Forms)....Cost-wise, the total costs should be about $1000+ or so nowadays....

3) Hire a good immigration lawyer, if you run into any more problems, and/or if you are totally unsure about your situation.

However, if your situation is different and/or you have other plans from what you described in your post (Visitor to AOS route), you should instead consider the following immigration options for you: CR (spousal visa, go back to Canada and have all your paperwork filed in Canada with your Green Card, come back to the USA).

Hope this helps. Good luck with your immigration journey too.

Ant (Visited, Married, Adjusted, Living Happily Ever After....Waiting for 10yr Card and Baby....)

My husband is an American and we were married in Florida last October. Since then we lived in Canada for 13 months and had our child. We have since relocated to Louisiana where he is from. We came by land and therefore I did not recieve an I-94. I now know I should have started the process while I was in Canada. How do I go about starting my CR-1 under these conditions. I have been here since December 08. It is my understanding that I, as a Canadian, am legally a visitor for 6 months, how do I prove when I came through the border.

Thanks for any help on this, I am at my wits end with the complicated look of everything to be done,

Julie

Edited May 23, 2009 by AntandD

[Reba 2]

Hi, thanks for replying. I did not register my childs birth abroad with the US consolate. Now that I am here can I register her birth in the US? It states on the website that in lieu of going to a consolate abroad that I can go to a US passport office and file for her passport, but you need an SSN to apply for a passport and you need a passport or some form of US ID to apply for a SSN. Do you know anything about this?

Nope, sorry I don't know anything about it, I don't have children. AFAIK, you would still have to register her birth abroad at the US consulate closest to where she was born. But that would require you leaving the US, which is not a good idea because it is unlikely they'll let you back in! You have to prove somehow that she was born to at least one US citizen parent, and at the moment, her only form of ID is her Canadian birth certificate. Which only proves she's Canadian.

The only thing I could suggest is to either just go down to the SSA office to find out what documentation they would need in order to give her a SSN, but you may have to sit there the entire day.

[trailmix 77]

Hi, thanks for replying. I did not register my childs birth abroad with the US consolate. Now that I am here can I register her birth in the US? It states on the website that in lieu of going to a consolate abroad that I can go to a US passport office and file for her passport, but you need an SSN to apply for a passport and you need a passport or some form of US ID to apply for a SSN. Do you know anything about this?

If you have a look at the Department of State website, relating to issuance of passports, it states the evidence you can submit if you do not have primary evidence of U.S. citizenship:

Secondary Evidence of U.S. Citizenship

Foreign Birth Documents + Parent(s) Citizenship Evidence

If you claim citizenship through birth abroad to U.S. citizen parent(s), but cannot submit a Consular Report of Birth Abroad or Certification of Birth, you must submit all of the following:

Your foreign birth certificate

Evidence of citizenship of your U.S. citizen parent

Parents' marriage certificate

An affidavit of your U.S. citizen parent showing all periods and places of residence or physical presence in the United States and abroad before your birth

NOTES:

See Documentation of U.S. Citizens Born Abroad for additional information.

Edited May 24, 2009 by trailmix

[trailmix 77]

I just want to mention that the above information does not appear to actually answer your question regarding not having the SSN to apply for the passport - however - I would absolutely contact the department of State. I am a dual citizen, I applied (and received) my passport before I got my SSN (in fact they gave me the application for the SSN at the same time they sent my passport)

So basically it can be done and it is not uncommon for a person to apply for a passport to have proof of citizenship.

Edited May 24, 2009 by trailmix

[Killer_Clown_2009 0]

Hi Julie,

No my husband never had any status in Canada, other than as a visitor. He crossed back and forth from the US a number of times, staying a year the last time, he came over. We intended to get him status, but we were not married and he went back to the US for a job.

We put "none" in the space for the I-94 number. I believe that I attached a letter to the application and explained why I did not have an I-94.

I was going to tell them that I had came to visit and we decided to get married and then applied for AOS as we did not want to be seperated. I had some ties to Canada, a bank account and investments. My stuff was stored at my sister's house, as I was leaving the small town I had been living in (two hours from sister's house) and moving back to my hometown. I was unemployed, but at the time was still being paid by my former employment as part of deal the cut with my union, when the office I worked at closed. I was still on a recall list, so could have been recalled back to work if an opening became available within the next 2 years.

My plan was to return to Canada at the end of August and start looking for new employment, but my not then husband wanted me to stay beyond that time, so I agreed. We got married and were looking into immigration for both the US and Canada, not yet sure of where we permanently wanted to live. (I had planned to go back to Canada at the end of December and get a job). When it was time to go back to Canada in December, it wasn't really making a lot of sense, as my husband had a decent job and the job market here in the Boston area is a lot better than in my small Northern Ontario town.

I was not really nervous about being grilled or anything at the AOS interview. I figured the worst that could happen is that they would deny the application and I would return to Canada. At some point my husband would immigrate there or we would use another process for me to return to the US.

Hope this helps. To me, your change in plans, sounds pretty valid (but that's just my opinion). It can be stressful wondering if your application will be approved. Luckily, my application was processed in 5 months and I didn't need to wait for a lot longer, like some people have.

Edited May 27, 2009 by jane2009