Filing Time, Last minute advice, answers please

[darcness 3]

Greetings all, old time member of VJ here, just finally getting around to filing all this lovely paperwork for our AOS. My wife is a Canadian citizen and is currently in the US. We ARE filing from within the US so I'm not sure if I should put this here or some where else. If I'm putting it in the wrong place, please let me know.

My wife came here last year as a visitor, during which time her mother (who recently paid for her sister's wedding) surprised us with a rather sizable gift so we could pay for a wedding as well (we were engaged at the time). Up until this point we had no concrete plans of marriage, immigration, or anything of the sort because they were things we simply couldn't afford, myself being divorced and in much debt. We ended up getting married in November and she's been here since. We will be filing for our AOS shortly. We first were going to hire an attorney to help, but it seems like something I can handle on my own after checking out VJ and doing a TON of research. We did consult briefly with an attorney who is a family friend so we have a basic idea of what to expect between that and research I've done here.

Just to be clear, she came here as a VISITOR. There was no intent to immigrate what so ever. Last time I posted that here, I got pretty negative responses. If you feel that's the case, please understand that it's not. I understand completely the rules and what the implications of this are. We aren't trying to misrepresent ourselves here in any way.

That being said, I'm sure I will have questions during the process. I was hoping I could start a thread like many that I see here and ask any questions I have, keep an updated process log, and just talk with others who are going through the same process. Also I'm sure my wife would enjoy visiting this forum as she's very homesick at this point.

Thank you so much for any advice you can give me and I'm sure I'll be asking plenty of questions. Just wanted to say hello and get started "officially" with this journey.

[darcness 3]

One question I had regarded the medical exam, form I-693 to be percise. Is that something we have to do before we file, and file with our I-130, or is that something that CIS will inform us when and where we need to do it? Just for reference we will be filing from Michigan, if that makes any difference. I'm confused because I read that it MAY be required, but there is no clear timeline when it needs to be completed.

[kzielu 1,144]

I-693 has to be sent with I-485 (assuming you will be filing concurrently with I-130) - otherwise you'll get RFE. Try guides (http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2) - they're quite useful...

[darcness 3]

Got it, thanks so much, so in other words get the medical done ASAP so we can file it with our I-485. Will do!

I have another question too. This one might be a little bit tough, but I have to ask it. It's the only thing I can see causing us an issue, and one of the reasons we talked to a lawyer first...

While entering into the US for one of her visits, she was caught with a small amount of marijuana on her persons. She had to sign a form saying that they had confiscated it, and telling why she had it, what she wanted them to do with it, etc. She also had to pay a fine. No criminal charges were brought about, but she had to sign a promissory note for the fine, and obviously pay it within a set time period, which she did (at the office in Detroit, MI). I've been told by two immigration lawyers that this shouldn't be too much of an issue because she wasn't formally charged with anything.

The part that worries me is that on one part of the form, she had to write an explanation of why she had it. She wrote in the box something alone the lines of using it in Canada to help with her insomnia. At the time we were honestly both so scared we had no idea what to do, and that statement isn't even truthful. However, it's probably now on record with the border patrol and I'm assuming will come up at some point during this process. The marijuana wasn't even hers, but rather her ex-boyfriends who she had spent time with previously that day, and who had placed it in her purse. In hind sight I wish she would have just told the border patrol this, but like I said we were both scared out of our wits.

I noticed in the forms that there are questions regarding this, and have no idea what to answer. I know honesty is the best policy and I also know that there is no point in lying about it because it's obviously on file with the border and their files on her anyway. No point in trying to skirt around this obviously.

Is this going to be a major issue for us? I'm hoping that we can explain this based on our state of mind at the time. She has since visited the US and never had a problem getting back in, they obviously made us go to secondary every time, but they still admitted her into the US as a visitor many times even after this incident.

She has absolutely no criminal record in Canada, no history of drug use, and only this one incident on file with the border patrol. Hind sight being 20/20 she should have told the border patrol the truth, but we can't go back and change this now.

What's our best plan here?

[darcness 3]

Also, how do a find a civil surgeon to go to? Is this something that I can find a link to somewhere here on VJ? Sorry, still learning all this stuff. I have it down for the most part, but it's still a bit confusing!

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

Also, how do a find a civil surgeon to go to? Is this something that I can find a link to somewhere here on VJ? Sorry, still learning all this stuff. I have it down for the most part, but it's still a bit confusing!

https://egov.uscis.gov/crisgwi/go?action=offices.type&OfficeLocator.office_type=CIV

[jkelly07 120]

click uscis civil surgeon,enter your zip code.

[darcness 3]

Thanks all, figured it out on the civil surgeon!

Now I have a new question:

My wife is a Canadian citizen. Since Canadian citizens are visa exempt and she wasn't given an I-94 on her last entry, how would I find her A#? I see it asked for on many of the forms, but she doesn't have one that I know of...

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

Thanks all, figured it out on the civil surgeon!

Now I have a new question:

My wife is a Canadian citizen. Since Canadian citizens are visa exempt and she wasn't given an I-94 on her last entry, how would I find her A#? I see it asked for on many of the forms, but she doesn't have one that I know of...

The A# is an Alien Registration Number. She does not have one of those as of yet.

[torontogal4388 20]

The A# is an Alien Registration Number. She does not have one of those as of yet.

Hi Darcness;

Good luck on your journey through immigration. Its a challenging one to say the least.

If your wife is having "times" and needing people to chat with, you can count me in. I'd be happy to be there for support to get her through her moments.

Georgia

Edited April 24, 2012 by torontogal4388

[DandT14 272]

Good Luck, darcness. I'm in a similar situation and about to file too. Also married to a Canadian who entered as a visitor, with no intention of marriage. I know, nobody ever believes that... We weren't engaged, I was actually still married because my very long drawn out divorce wasn't final. Then my ex husband suddenly decided to speed things up and finish the divorce, and I was free to get married...so off to Reno we went. Kind of spontaneous, I had no idea the amount of money and paperwork required to take care of all this. It's all very scary, but he's been living here with me with no SSN, no drivers license, and no job for a long time and we are looking forward to finally moving forward and living like "normal" people. So, good luck. Let me know when you file. I expect to have my paperwork in the mail by Friday...finger's crossed!

[Ontarkie 13,902]

moving to adjustment of status from tourist visas

[Little_My 463]

Thanks all, figured it out on the civil surgeon!

Now I have a new question:

My wife is a Canadian citizen. Since Canadian citizens are visa exempt and she wasn't given an I-94 on her last entry, how would I find her A#? I see it asked for on many of the forms, but she doesn't have one that I know of...

A# has nothing to do with the I-94, they are two different things. A# is "alien number", and I-94 number is the number series on the I-94 card. She most likely does not have an A#, and my understanding is that Canadians usually write something along the lines of "Canadian visitor" etc. for the parts that ask for the I-94 no.