Living in the states while working in Canada.

[Northernpete 0]

Hi everyone. Got directed here from Canuckabroad.com. And will ask some questions that I asked there. Just want to make sure what I'm doing. Lol.

I am a Canadian citizen who works and lives in northern ontario. I work for a mining company and have a 7 day on 7 day off schedule. I own my own home up here as well.

For the last year and a half I've been in a long distance relationship with a girl who lives in the thousand island area of ny state. I travel and stay there on my days off and allways tell the boarder guards I'm visiting a friend when I go there. I allways bring my pay stubs and some utility bills just in case though.

We are engaged for just over a year, can't get legally married yet until I am legally divorced though. My ex lives about an hour north of that area with my son.

Now my questions

1- when we get married, can I be sponsored by her to become a legal resident but continue to work up north. And during the visa application process, as long as I can show significant ties to Canada (job, residence and immoderate family) will I be able to cross the the boarder back and forth without being denied entry (I get the idea that cbp may look at me as a potential risk for illegally staying if I'm waiting on the visa) I don't want to end up being barred entry especially if we decide to start a family.

2- after I get a green card will I still be able to work in Canada, and will my employer need to do anything differently? Will I need any permits?

3- while my schedule is 7 and 7 I woul be in Canada for about 8 days then in the states for 6 due to the travel time. Will this cause any issues?

I'm sorry if this is the wrong part of the forum to post this but it's a multi faceted question. Thanks for any replies.

Also would it be adventageous to apply for a fiancé visa or get married and go spousal?

[KLS2010 30]

If you come to the US on a K1 (fiance(e)) visa....then you won't be able to leave the country until your AOS is done (Adjustment of Status) or I believe, you apply for and are granted Advance Parole. From what I've read here on VJ, that can take 3-6mths (or more). So that will put a dent in your plans to travel back and forth to Canada to work. Also, you won't be able to work in the US either until you get your EAD.

On the other hand....if you get married and then file for a CR-1 - you will be able to travel and work in the US straight away.

Not sure what the situation is with Canada specifically - but I would be checking into the tax implications of what you are thinking of doing. If you are thinking that you can just keeping working in Canada as you have been....that may not be the case and you may end up paying more tax. I know that in Australia you are taxed at a higher rate if you are not a 'resident' of the country. And I believe that if you claim to be a resident of another country (even your home country) then you can be deemed to have abandoned your US permanent resident status.

Hopefully someone with more Canada-specific knowledge can help you out more

[Canadiandggal 49]

Hi everyone. Got directed here from Canuckabroad.com. And will ask some questions that I asked there. Just want to make sure what I'm doing. Lol.

I am a Canadian citizen who works and lives in northern ontario. I work for a mining company and have a 7 day on 7 day off schedule. I own my own home up here as well.

For the last year and a half I've been in a long distance relationship with a girl who lives in the thousand island area of ny state. I travel and stay there on my days off and allways tell the boarder guards I'm visiting a friend when I go there. I allways bring my pay stubs and some utility bills just in case though.

We are engaged for just over a year, can't get legally married yet until I am legally divorced though. My ex lives about an hour north of that area with my son.

Now my questions

1- when we get married, can I be sponsored by her to become a legal resident but continue to work up north. And during the visa application process, as long as I can show significant ties to Canada (job, residence and immoderate family) will I be able to cross the the boarder back and forth without being denied entry (I get the idea that cbp may look at me as a potential risk for illegally staying if I'm waiting on the visa) I don't want to end up being barred entry especially if we decide to start a family

. Yes she can sponse you once you are married by going the cr-1 route. The process will take about a year and during that time you can work in Canada and visit her. It is still always up to the CBP and you may be denied entry but even if you are it will not affect your visa.

2- after I get a green card will I still be able to work in Canada, and will my employer need to do anything differently? Will I need any permits?

I know you can still work in Canada and you wont need a permit but im not sure how it works exactly. Im sure someone will be more imformitive.

3- while my schedule is 7 and 7 I woul be in Canada for about 8 days then in the states for 6 due to the travel time. Will this cause any issues?

I'm sorry if this is the wrong part of the forum to post this but it's a multi faceted question. Thanks for any replies.

Also would it be adventageous to apply for a fiancé visa or get married and go spousal?

In your case I would go with the spousal (cr-1) visa once you two have gotten married. You will be able to still work while you wait for the pprocess. Also it is less expensive and more convienent in my opinion.

The fiance visa will not let you travel back and forth until you AOS so you will be unemployed for a few months.

Edited March 13, 2012 by Canadiandggal

[pocheros 101]

As everyone else stated, CR1 (marry and THEN apply for visa) would be the best route. However, I'm concerned about how you'd maintain permanent resident status in the USA if you're in Canada for 8 days at a time and then in the US for 6 days at a time. I think you have to spend a certain amount of time in the USA in order to maintain your status/green card. I don't know how much time that is though...

Edited March 14, 2012 by pocheros

[Flames9_RN 358]

Yes keep in mind, one has to LIVE in the USA the majority of the time! At any time you enter the USA on your greencard and the POE officer thinks you are not living most of the time in the USA, he can deny you entry and take your greencard! Welcome to VJ

[sheeshkabelle 153]

You would probably not fulfill the requirement of being in the US for the majority of the time by working the schedule that you do.

You would also have to file US income tax on your foreign income from Canada. If you make more than 90k US a year, you could have a pretty big tax liability.

It might be better for your fiancee to move to Canada. You have a good job and own your home.

[neiks 19]

No issues of working in Canada after you have your US status. I do it. The only issue you would have to take into consideration is what the others said about where you are spending the majority of time to be considered a resident. IF you are in Canada for 8 days full days and US 6 then you will technically be in Canada more than the US. I work in Canada 4-5 days then am off in 4-5 days but my working days I still return home to the US after my shifts.

You don't require any permits to work in Canada (assuming you are a Canadian citizen) after immigrating to the US. Tax wise under the International tax treaty you will probably be taxed as a Canadian and your tax home will be Canada and will not pay US federal taxes. YOu will file both a Canadian and US tax return plus depending on the state you may have to pay state income tax.

You will definitely want to go the CR1 (spousal) route if you are planning on going back and forth to Canada to work.

I would say your only worry is to make sure that you are spending enough time in the US to fulfill the US residency requirements in order to keep your status. If you have a big chunk of vacation time that you have that you can use to spend more time in the US would be a bonus. I would be very carefully in documenting where you spend your time in case you are ever challenged on it to prove you are in the US more than Canada.

[Northernpete 0]

Thanks for the quick replies. I appreciate it. About my travel time. I work Thursday to Wednesday, I usually leave Wednesday afternoon to drive the 8 hours to where I work. So it would all depend on what they consider a day.

The reason we aren't doing her coming north is in regards to her child custody with her ex. Messy messy.

I do have vacation available, so it would work out to me being in the USA for over half the year. I'll do a bit more research and also am going to get in touch with a former coworker who is doing what I'm planning and get some first hand info from him as well. Thanks all for the promo replies again and I'll keep people informed.

[sheeshkabelle 153]

The reason we aren't doing her coming north is in regards to her child custody with her ex. Messy messy.

Same reason I did not go to Canada.

Good luck!