Fiancé from Canada wants to move to US after married

[zorro_lance 0]

Ok, so here's my deal. It's not very complicated but it has a couple hiccups that seem really difficult to understand what to do.

I live in Miami and my fiancé lives in Toronto.

My fiancé and I got engaged on January 1st of this year, 2013. I'm getting a temporary work visa (already have this handled with the SWAP program, I don't have any quesitons concerning that) to work in Toronto for the summer - I will be in Toronto until we're married and we get married in Toronto - and we get married in August. Once we get married we're off to Europe for our honeymoon and then straight back to Toronto. A few days later we'll be on our way to Miami to live there together.

Here's the issue, she has to go back to Toronto in December for her RN exam to become a nurse (she's also going to take it in the states. She's taking it in both places so she can be registered in both nations so she can work as a nurse in Canada later in our lives). From what I hear, she can't go back until her green card/citizenship is completed. She needs to go back in December so she can get hired as soon as possible. So what do we do? Do we pretend to be engaged still when we cross the border or should she just come on a tourist visa and then when she goes back she can get the engagement visa?? And we want her to move down but they might not let us pass the border with a u-haul truck full of her stuff on a "tourist" visa.

Here's our questions,

What visas do we get?

When should we get the visas?

How long will each take?

How quickly/when do we need to get them?

Should I be aware of or know anything else?

[Sweetcheeksss 91]

Well, one issue I could see you having is...

After your honeymoon in Europe, she cannot come into the US to live in Miami with you straight away. You'd have to file a spousal visa for her, which can take 9 to 12 months to get. She can, at the discretion of the border guards, come and visit with you (up to 6 months) but she'd have to return to Canada. Her medical will have to be conducted in Canada and her interview would take place in Montreal.

Good luck with everything!

[belinda63 2,990]

Well problems.....she can't come on a fiance visa if she is married. You can file for a spousal visa but not until you are married (August) and it takes about a year to obtain the visa. She can come to visit for up to six months, which sounds like it would be the best idea, but as you said, what about her belongings? I assume she is still in school there?

[hikergirl 277]

There are guides here on VJ that are your friend. There’s even one on “what visa do we need”.

If the plans are firm for your wedding you will be chasing the CR-1 Visa. Look at the guide for that.

Your wife CANNOT “move” to the US without an immigrant visa. She can “visit” you after the honeymoon but will have to spend at least half of the time of the wait for the visa in ON.

She can visit back and forth that is not an issue as long as she can show ties to Canada.

NEVER, EVER LIE AT THE BORDER! This can get her barred from the US.

She also cannot move her belongings until she gets her immigrant visa.

Right now the CR-1 visa is significantly faster than the K-1 (fiancé) visa. My husband petitioned for me in September and I am almost through the last phase and then it’ll be a month or two until I get my visa, however some Canadians have been processed quicker than I have but some people are taking even longer. It’s a ####### shoot right now based on how quickly your local office processes petitions.

[Kevin & Laura 1]

Sounds like you guys made plans, then looked at the immigration options. We ddi the same thing. My fiance and I had a similar issue. We got engaged last September. She had just accepted a big promotion in July at our company's facility in Mexico. She needed to stay in that job one year before she was eligible for transfer within the company (which was one thing we were hoping for). Since July (2013) will be too hot to get married there we decided to marry in October 2013. We decided this before even looking at the immigration options.

After looking at the immigration options, we changed our mind slightly. A very important thing for us was that she could obtain a job transfer within our company and get free trips back home in the future or work in Mexico for a few weeks 2-3 times each year even if we pay for the trip. To get a job transfer, she'd need to be able to work pretty much immediately after her move to the U.S. Looking at the options, the CR1 visa is the only option that lets the immigrating person work almost immediately (it takes 3-6 months before you can work with the K1 visa). The only thing about the CR1 option was that we'd need to get married a lot sooner. When I researched the average times for both visas (K1/CR1), the time from submittal to interview was about 9 months for both. Also, the cost of the CR1 visa was going to be a lot less over the first year than the K1 visa because of less forms and not having to pay the high cost of the adjustment of status. The total cost of the CR1 would be closer to the cost of the K1 after filing to remove the 2 year conditons 18 moths down the road.

So we went over these options in Nov/Dec and we decided that getting married early was no issue. We love each other very much and knew it's what we wanted so why wait, especially if it's best for her immigration and our future. So, we had a civil wedding in Mexico on December 29th with just closest family and friends (we will still have the large wedding in Oct). I filed the I-130 the following week when I returned to the US. We just received our NA02 a couple of weeks ago and could potentially have the visa by Late June or July.

So a potential option for you guys is to get married earlier and go for the CR1 if you want her to be able to work quickly in the US. Although having it by Aug is unlikely. Having either visa is unlikely by August. You need to look closely on here about what is going on with the K1 visas right now and the timing of the approvals from the service centers. We definitely made the right choice i think since we already have our NA02. One option that I've seen mentioned on here is filing for the visa in the country of the immigrant. Then it goes a lot faster from what I've heard. How long will you be in Canada? If you're going to live there a while, can you potentially ge married earlier and apply for the visa in Canada for faster proessing? Just an option for you to look into.

[Boiler 43,870]

You need to rethink. Something has to give.

[Kevin & Laura 1]

Upon further investigation on filing in Cananda, that option doesn't sound promising because of proving the exceptional situation exists. See below from travel.state.gov

U.S. embassies and consulates may only accept I-130 petition filings from petitioners who believe they have exceptional situations that would merit an exception from filing by mail to the USCIS Chicago Lockbox.

Petitioners who believe that their situation merits an exception may contact the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate to request an exception and explain their circumstances in detail. Each request for an exception will be evaluated individually and must be authorized by the USCIS office that is responsible for that specific U.S. embassy or consulate.

[Scott and Emy 1]

Since you will be working in Canada and have residency, You might check into DCF CR1. It is much quicker. You can find info in the guides here.

[Krikit 1,163]

Since you will be working in Canada and have residency, You might check into DCF CR1. It is much quicker. You can find info in the guides here.

There is no DCF available in Canada.

[Krikit 1,163]

Ok, so here's my deal. It's not very complicated but it has a couple hiccups that seem really difficult to understand what to do.

I live in Miami and my fiancé lives in Toronto.

My fiancé and I got engaged on January 1st of this year, 2013. I'm getting a temporary work visa (already have this handled with the SWAP program, I don't have any quesitons concerning that) to work in Toronto for the summer - I will be in Toronto until we're married and we get married in Toronto - and we get married in August. Once we get married we're off to Europe for our honeymoon and then straight back to Toronto. A few days later we'll be on our way to Miami to live there together.

Here's the issue, she has to go back to Toronto in December for her RN exam to become a nurse (she's also going to take it in the states. She's taking it in both places so she can be registered in both nations so she can work as a nurse in Canada later in our lives). From what I hear, she can't go back until her green card/citizenship is completed. She needs to go back in December so she can get hired as soon as possible. So what do we do? Do we pretend to be engaged still when we cross the border or should she just come on a tourist visa and then when she goes back she can get the engagement visa?? And we want her to move down but they might not let us pass the border with a u-haul truck full of her stuff on a "tourist" visa.

Here's our questions,

What visas do we get?

When should we get the visas?

How long will each take?

How quickly/when do we need to get them?

Should I be aware of or know anything else?

Fiancé = male

Fiancée = female

File for your marriage certificate immediately. Ontario is notorious in that it takes months to receive. You won't be able to file for a CR-1 visa without it.

As Inky says.... NEVER "pretend" to be anything when talking to a CBP Officer. There are serious consequences for that. Always be truthful.

Scratch ".. might not let us pass the border with a u-haul truck... " and make that "... will not let us pass the border with a u-haul truck... "

I am going to move your thread from the K-1 Process forum to the CR-1 forum, as that is the visa you will be going for. Also check out the Canada Regional forum for country-specific questions as every country is different.

[Darnell 8,478]

Since you will be working in Canada and have residency, You might check into DCF CR1. It is much quicker. You can find info in the guides here.

And Also Not Available for Canada

Sorry.