Activating Visa

[Greenman 0]

Hello all,

I called the NVC for an update regrading my application on March 31, 2010. The agent informed me that my application had been complete and I would receive and email regarding my interview. She also stated that Montreal had limited availability for interviews in May. Yesterday, May 1, 2010, I received an email that my interview is scheduled for Tuesday, June 29, 2010. I submitted my DS-230 forms to the NVC on March 31, 2010 and it was received April 4, 2010.

I have been reading various posts about whether or not I should re-schedule my interview. I have decided not to because I only need to be in Vancouver until the end of December to finish off my last semester at university.

I do have one question regarding the activation process: once I receive my passport with the visa inserted inside, I have 6 months to activate my visa, which means going to a POE (Port of Entry) and having customs stamp the passport, right?

But how long do I have to actually move and take up residency after having my visa activated? For example: Say I receive my visa in July but activate it in September, how long can I remain in Canada before having to move to the USA?

Thanks,

[mikey78 6]

Hi,

It all boils down to maintaining your residency once you cross the border and become a perm resident. From that moment on you have to have the US as your primary residence and spedning extended periods of time in Canada will not work in your favor especially if you continue working full time in Canada. There is a whole bunch of things they consider to determine that the US is your primary residence (e.g. family bonds, banking activity, job, driver license, cell phone contract, property, etc).

In your situation when you will be coming back to the US they will always ask how long you spent outside the country...if you keep traveling between the US and Canada the longer the period of time in between trips the more follow up questions they might ask. One other thing is that you will not get your green card for another month or so and you will have to travel using your endorsed IV visa. It is all good but they might keep asking where your GC is and what the rush leaving the country was so that you couldn't wait for it. Having said all this, the truth is it all depends on the CBP guy you get...some just swipe your card and don't even finger print you and others will ask every single detail about your trip to Canada. So be ready to present very compelling evidence that you live in the US and your trips to Canada are only of temporary nature and there is a definite end to it based on some previously fixed event (like the end of your employment contract) in forseeable future. Again, simply telling CBP that you need to finish your work in Canada will not work as they will most likely say that you should've done that before you immigrated.

In some cases immigration lawyers advice people to get a Re-entry Permit. I guess it might be benefitial to consult a good lawyer on that because if you waited all this long for your IV and went through the whole process it would be a shame to do something that would endanger it later on.

[mikey78 6]

PS. And in case anyone asks how you got all this information you will have to say that a red furry monster was acting up online sharing his immigration wisdom

[zenaxe 22]

Hello all,

I called the NVC for an update regrading my application on March 31, 2010. The agent informed me that my application had been complete and I would receive and email regarding my interview. She also stated that Montreal had limited availability for interviews in May. Yesterday, May 1, 2010, I received an email that my interview is scheduled for Tuesday, June 29, 2010. I submitted my DS-230 forms to the NVC on March 31, 2010 and it was received April 4, 2010.

I have been reading various posts about whether or not I should re-schedule my interview. I have decided not to because I only need to be in Vancouver until the end of December to finish off my last semester at university.

I do have one question regarding the activation process: once I receive my passport with the visa inserted inside, I have 6 months to activate my visa, which means going to a POE (Port of Entry) and having customs stamp the passport, right?

But how long do I have to actually move and take up residency after having my visa activated? For example: Say I receive my visa in July but activate it in September, how long can I remain in Canada before having to move to the USA?

Thanks,

Although I appreciate that my reply in no way answers your actual question, I have to say, I had a look at your timeline and haven't a clue what's what. Any chance you want to clean that up to show your actual time line? And, were you pursuing a K1 visa or ?

[trailmix 77]

Hi,

The title of your topic is a bit misleading - an F1 visa is a U.S. student visa.

If the rest of the title is correct (unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens) and from what you have said, you are in the application process for an IR1 visa.

So if I have that right -

What you have to remember is, once you use (it really isn't an 'activation, just so you know) your visa at the border, you are now a PR of the U.S. and they actually expect you to be one. That said, they probably won't have a huge issue with you visiting in September but not actually moving until December, you have to finish school so that seems like quite a reasonable amount of time to get all your stuff in order in Canada.

Edited May 3, 2010 by trailmix

[mikey78 6]

Well, if he had a timeline here it would probably date back to like 7 years ago with long time of waiting for his priority date in the visa bulletin. It's traumatizing for family-based categories (all these F1, F2, etc.) to have a timeline and be reminded how long they have been waiting...so excuse the fact that he doesn't...

Although I appreciate that my reply in no way answers your actual question, I have to say, I had a look at your timeline and haven't a clue what's what. Any chance you want to clean that up to show your actual time line? And, were you pursuing a K1 visa or ?

[trailmix 77]

Well, if he had a timeline here it would probably date back to like 7 years ago with long time of waiting for his priority date in the visa bulletin. It's traumatizing for family-based categories (all these F1, F2, etc.) to have a timeline and be reminded how long they have been waiting...so excuse the fact that he doesn't...

Yeah, who wants to look at a 9 year timeline

Plus it's probably better if he doesn't - just skews the entire IR1 VJ timeline.

Edited May 5, 2010 by trailmix

[Greenman 0]

Well, if he had a timeline here it would probably date back to like 7 years ago with long time of waiting for his priority date in the visa bulletin. It's traumatizing for family-based categories (all these F1, F2, etc.) to have a timeline and be reminded how long they have been waiting...so excuse the fact that he doesn't...

Thanks Mikey78 for the help!

It has been exactly 7 years since I first applied.

I created my own timeline below for the F-1 (Limited Family-Based Immigrants) because I don't fully understand the one used for IR (Immediate Relatives) applicants. The timeline is as follows:

January 2003: Brother and I complete first initial sponsor form & sent it to the USCIS (we initially applied under Family Second Preference (F2): Spouses, minor children, and unmarried sons and daughters (over age 20) of lawful permanent residents because my dad and step-mom were not American citizens at the time)

May 2008: USCIS approved the I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN

January 2009: Dad & step-mom become American citizens

February 2009: Applications are moved from F2 to F1 category and submitted to NVC

June, 2009: NVC requires payment

July - August 2009: NVC receives payment

November 2009: I-864 (Affidavit of Support) completed & submitted by father and step-mother

March 2010: Completed & submitted the DS-230 documentation (criminal records check, photos, birth certificate, etc)

April 2010: Documents received by NVC

April 30, 2010: Application completed & forwarded onto US Consulate in Montreal

June 2010: Medical Examination

June 29, 2010: Interview in Montreal

[Greenman 0]

Hi,

The title of your topic is a bit misleading - an F1 visa is a U.S. student visa.

If the rest of the title is correct (unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens) and from what you have said, you are in the application process for an IR1 visa.

So if I have that right -

What you have to remember is, once you use (it really isn't an 'activation, just so you know) your visa at the border, you are now a PR of the U.S. and they actually expect you to be one. That said, they probably won't have a huge issue with you visiting in September but not actually moving until December, you have to finish school so that seems like quite a reasonable amount of time to get all your stuff in order in Canada.

Thanks for your help Trailmax!

Here is a link that provides a description of all the Family Based Immigrant Visas.

The F1 is not for a student visa but for Limited Family-Based Immigrants: Family First Preference (F1): Unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, and their children.

Edited May 5, 2010 by Greenman

[trailmix 77]

Yes, that part of my reply was totally off base, thanks for the info Greenman.

Interesting timeline, I see now that you had an extra wait because your Dad and step Mom were not citizens when they first applied but they are now. Yeah I was thinking that seemed a bit long, even for USCIS with children over 21!

I know someone who applied for this about 3 years ago now (citizen parent though) - so they figure she has another 2-3 years to wait. Another silly part of the children's visa scenario - her little Brother, who just happened to be under 21 when his parents decided to do all this immigration stuff just entered the U.S. and automatically became a citizen upon entering as a PR.

It's a visa that needs to be fixed. I have also always found it strange that it's faster to sponsor your parents than it is to sponsor adult children.