Need advice for engagement visa

[Emily12 0]

Hi everyone, I wanted to ask a question in regards to the VISA process and if anyone would have kind advise, I'd appreciate it.

I am now engaged with someone in the Philippines, but I'm Canadian with an American Green Card. I currently live in the US but financially I'm not exactly the biggest profit making machine, after all, California is a tough place to live even as a programmer, but we're now deciding on the details of our future, namely where we're going to live. I heard that In Canada they look at your Canadian tax records to see if you've been making a decent amount for the past 3-years (above the poverty level) but I haven't filed Canadian taxes in about 8 or 9 years, only American taxes. My fiance has completed college and had no loans to pay, and has had a steady career for the past 6-years.

Given this whole situation some thought, we're both uncertain on where we want to live, because there are good and bad things about each country choice. The US is teetering towards bankruptcy, the Philippines is nice and while I'm interested in moving there, he's tired of it, and I still hold Canada close to my heart. What do you think is our best bet to settle and raise a healthy family without having to wait many years for the process? Thank you for your time~

[KayDeeCee 4,904]

I don't have an answer as to what you can do or where you should live. That would be something personal for you and your fiance to decide. I can tell you that you must be a US citizen to file an I-129F fiance(e) visa petition.

The wait time for a permanent resident to file for a spousal visas is years.

Here is a comparison chart: http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

[Birdysboy 5]

This is easy, just move to the Philippines.

Edited November 7, 2012 by Birdysboy

[Emily12 0]

Thanks for your help, so far I'm just finding out what are our options and the time-frame between these options. It turns out that I will have to become a US citizen which means it'll take an additional 6-15 months from the estimated time. Afterwards it'll take about 7months to a year to go through the engagement visa, and by the end of it all, it'll cost nearly $6000 for travel costs, health bills, application costs, and so forth and nearly 2-years if the process started today.

In Canada this process seems to be different from what I'm seeing, but the length is about the same if you think of it as the visa application process but there wouldn't be a delay assuming i moved back overnight (which I can't). If I were to move back to Canada, I'd have to find another job, work, pay for moving expenses, and by the end of it all, it may cost even more than $6000 for the whole thing when being realistic. Price isn't too much of an issue but it's not something that I can afford right away. So moving to Canada would effectively take almost as long as going the the process of being a US citizen and then applying for the visa. *sighs*

Then of course there's moving over there, which is an option but I'm not fluent in Tagalog and won't be for another year if not year and a half. I don't think I can compete in the Philippines, but you never know. Has anyone lived there as an American or Canadian before? How was it like from a foreign perspective? /is sad that it's a very long process and not just a year thing.