American-Canadian Couple - Not Moving Yet

[hansven 3]

I'm American, my fiancee is Canadian. We're getting married in November (not enough time for the I-129F route). She owns a home and has a good job in Canada. I recently graduated from a Canadian university and have a work permit for Canada (but not yet permanent residency). I still have bank accounts and savings in the US. I'm living off savings right now (job hunting) and we live together in Canada.

We plan to move to the US sometime in the next year or two. From reading the forums, it seems that it would be unwise for me to establish permanent residency in Canada after we marry because of the sponsorship/support issue. We're trying to take the right steps now to minimize the time apart later (and the time when she would be unable to work in the US) when we get to that step. Is the correct step right now for us to apply for her I-130 after we get married? I've heard that the I-130 to Green Card process is quicker for Canadians that for other nationalities. Are we doing this right, and does anyone have recent experience on how long it takes for Canadians to get the spouse I-130 and Green Card? Ideally, we'd get all of this processed while living/working in Canada and then pick up and move together once everything's settled.

Advice from people with recent experience would be greatly appreciated!

[Ryan H 3,795]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to Canada regional forum; OP's questions are specific to Canada.

Is the correct step right now for us to apply for her I-130 after we get married?

...to get the spouse I-130 and Green Card?

An I-130 is not something that is applied for, it is a petition form that you, the US Citizen file with USCIS to start the immigration process.

If the petition is approved by USCIS, your wife will then be able to apply for a CR-1 visa.

[hansven 3]

An I-130 is not something that is applied for, it is a petition form that you, the US Citizen file with USCIS to start the immigration process.

If the petition is approved by USCIS, your wife will then be able to apply for a CR-1 visa.

Should we do the I-130 as soon as we get married? Again, we don't have definite plans to move to the US yet -- we just want to have that option open to us when/if we make that decision.

[alizon 77]

Should we do the I-130 as soon as we get married? Again, we don't have definite plans to move to the US yet -- we just want to have that option open to us when/if we make that decision.

Canadians don't have a faster timeline than anyone coming from any other country, except that you will unlikely be placed in Additional Processing (AP) like many people coming from Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) countries. So you are looking at 8-10 months from petition to CR-1/IR-1 visa. There has been some anecdotal evidence, however, that if the American citizen files for their spouse while both of them are living abroad, they have been expedited so the first step may take only 2 months instead of the typical 5. From what I've heard, this isn't an official policy; it's just something that seems to be happening. Once your I-130 petition has been approved, I believe that you can let the petition wait at the next step (NVC) for up to a year, so you could apply right after you get married and then drag your feet on the rest of the paperwork. But by the time you get to the interview stage, you will have to have evidence that you have begun setting up a household in the US; Montreal is strict about that issue.

As a side note, why don't you think you should pursue Canadian permanent residency because of sponsorship? Regardless of your residency status, you won't be able to use any Canadian income to sponsor your spouse unless you will continue to work for the same company after having moved back to the US.

Edited September 6, 2012 by alizon

[hansven 3]

As a side note, why don't you think you should pursue Canadian permanent residency because of sponsorship? Regardless of your residency status, you won't be able to use any Canadian income to sponsor your spouse unless you will continue to work for the same company after having moved back to the US.

Thanks for the input! Regarding your question, it was my understanding that for sponsorship it's important that I maintain my US ties. I don't own property in the US, but still keep my permanent address there (parents' address) since I'm still in Canada on a work permit and not PR. Either way, I won't have US income, but I have enough savings to meet the income requirement. I just assumed it'd be better to not aim for Canadian PR, but maybe I was wrong...

[alizon 77]

Thanks for the input! Regarding your question, it was my understanding that for sponsorship it's important that I maintain my US ties. I don't own property in the US, but still keep my permanent address there (parents' address) since I'm still in Canada on a work permit and not PR. Either way, I won't have US income, but I have enough savings to meet the income requirement. I just assumed it'd be better to not aim for Canadian PR, but maybe I was wrong...

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but as a US citizen, you are always entitled to petition for your spouse, regardless of your current ties to the US or your permanent residency elsewhere. Having bank accounts and an address in the US are definitely things you will need during the interview to help prove that you are reestablishing your domicile in the US (in fact, you will probably need more than that), but it doesn't have any impact on your financial sponsorship. Probably just a confusion of terms here, sponsorship vs. domicile.