Grr- help please! B2? K3? How to enter most legally?

[ppihtr123 68]

OP.

Sell the house and start in the US. Husband will be the one working in the US and the assumption is the only breadwinner. You can come for long visits on the Waiver but can not work in US while the paperwork is being processed and DO NOT overstay on any visit. You will still need a valid Canada place for you to stay while on that side not visiting but that can just be a room rental somewhere (if no family is around to call home base) so expenses should be very low. I agree with the above that the only formal path for you is the CR1 visa.

You are very lucky to be able to use the waiver program to visit while things are being processed. Do your research on the wavier and be sure you don't abuse it or misrepresent yourself during any boarder crossing.

P.S. you in no way have to give your husband all the money from the house. You can buy and/or rent property in the US while not having status. You make it seem like all or nothing which certainly is not the case. Even if a rental was only in his name, you could make the payments monthly ether directly or through transferring him the funds. Also why couldn't he just rent a room on the US side while working until you get over and you guys decide what to do for living arrangements for your new life together.

And if he takes the car and you have sold the house, maybe you can rent a room close to your current job and not loose that also.

Edited July 19, 2013 by ppihtr123

[NikLR 13,232]

Canada is not part of the visa waiver program. A Canadian may stay up to 180 days in the USA without acquiring an overstay, all without a visa. This is subject to CBP officers of course and one should never lie to the CBP about the purpose of their visit. They also have the right to deny someone if they feel they have immigrant intent.

[veer143 5]

I like some of the info people have given you, but i felt like some people are showing you the door. I truly empathize with your situation, as i have seen better and worse than yours, now your options: Legal only, modify to your benefit: I'll break it into parts for your convenience, so you can add up and make the best working option for you:

About your job:

1. You can work in canada and save money.

2. You can go to USA as a visitor, cross the border on a bus if broke, You cannot legally work in the USA, your husband has to take care of you (did you say you got married already).

3. Look for a job in USA, if you fall in a category where work visa for a year is easy for canadians.

About the USA Green Card:

1. Let your husband send the paperwork right now, right away, let all communication (for you) come to your parents/close relative place in canada, and fill the place to receive visa as that place only. Let your spouse's address go as his parents/relatives house in USA. (you can update addresses later). Fill marital home address as your house that you're gonna sell. Even if you visit him in US, you can come back and take the visa when time comes.

2. If you are able to get a work visa TN-1 i suppose, for USA, then your husband can apply for Adjustment package, it wouldn't seem like a fraud in that case, as that visa is designed on lines of H1, which is immigrant visa.

About your husbands work:

1. Should return to USA, pick up jobs (x2) and save money.

About the house:

1. Sell it asap if the fines you are talking about are less than the rent you'll pay if you live in Canada and Work, and you can make enough wages to support yourself and this fee then only keep it a while longer.

2. In any case don't just give the money to husband, as this immigration procedure tests relationship, you get where i am going with this. Also buying a house in United states should be your last step not first. Renting is wise right now, you can pay deposit which is just one month or less of rent. for a 1br apartment when you're leasing that here in the US. Put money in the High Yeild savings account. You can use for emergencies.

[fridaynitewine 5]

First, don't give him ALL your money from the sale of your house. How well do you really know him? Give him enough for a month's rent and damage deposit and he will have to find a job. You would be amazed at how much you can endure when you want something badly enough. Entering illegally would be the dumbest thing you could do!!!! For those of us who applied legally and are waiting patiently, we resent people like you that do enter with fraudulent intentions because you are part of the reason the process is so painfully slow.

[Muliena 0]

OP.

Sell the house and start in the US. Husband will be the one working in the US and the assumption is the only breadwinner. You can come for long visits on the Waiver but can not work in US while the paperwork is being processed and DO NOT overstay on any visit. You will still need a valid Canada place for you to stay while on that side not visiting but that can just be a room rental somewhere (if no family is around to call home base) so expenses should be very low. I agree with the above that the only formal path for you is the CR1 visa.

You are very lucky to be able to use the waiver program to visit while things are being processed. Do your research on the wavier and be sure you don't abuse it or misrepresent yourself during any boarder crossing.

P.S. you in no way have to give your husband all the money from the house. You can buy and/or rent property in the US while not having status. You make it seem like all or nothing which certainly is not the case. Even if a rental was only in his name, you could make the payments monthly ether directly or through transferring him the funds. Also why couldn't he just rent a room on the US side while working until you get over and you guys decide what to do for living arrangements for your new life together.

And if he takes the car and you have sold the house, maybe you can rent a room close to your current job and not loose that also.

OP - Thank you, and some of the other usefull replies.

Overlooking all the hypertensions of some of the replies, I did say I wanted to just drive across together, explain the intent, and move on with life.

The waiver that SCIS told me about, and filing from the US while visiting (other than the I-130 process from inside Canada) IS a legal entry, and since that is the intent...I do appreciate the information without the judgement.

I was looking for alternatives from experienced immigrants, that would allow us the fastest route where I could work as quickly as possible....certainly not for a method to sneak through a crack to cross a border thats as open to me as a kitchen door.

Perhaps in my exasberation of the time crunch I am in, I didnt portray that well enough, but your reply stuck out as helpful, understanding and kind.

Thank you.

I just don't want my husbands next two years to be as hard as mine have been here so seeking a responsible path the expedite our both working seemed best before the journey.

[NikLR 13,232]

The whole CR1 process should take 6-12 months. Mine was 8 months, I was home by June 2014, but we didn't file until October 2012 but were married in May 2012.

CBP will very likely deny you entry if you explain to them that you do not have a job, or a home, and you want to move down. It's not like Canada in that regard. You can't start the process like that because the border agents will deny you entry. I can pretty much guarantee you that.

In the whole, the Canada process takes longer, for almost every country, than the US immigration does. Especially if the spouse moves there or was already living in Canada to start. I think it started Aug 2012, they cut the time for both spouses inside Canada in half. When I first looked into it, Feb 2012, it took 11-12 months, of which he may never get a work visa. Then in Aug it went to 6 months. But it's still the fastest if the spouse is outside Canada with 30-90 days. The longest part was always the American side. Getting an FBI clearance before trying to move is the most important as it take several months, but either way was 8-12 months after the Canadian side was finished. Probably was shortened by the FBI time if the US spouse already had that clearance. I have 2 friends that have American husbands. The one didn't have any trouble at all, her husband was a teacher in NYC though so brought a set of skills to the table, so had a work visa in about 6 months and PR in about a year, and the other was annoyed at what Canada was asking for, but hired a lawyer and he had his PR in 2 years, but a work visa in 6 months.

Being responsible about this is understanding you can't sell your house, give your car to your husband, and be homeless. It's also understand that the US Customs and Border Patrol are not going to let you move into the USA just because you're married to an American Citizen.

You know the routes you can go and you can start them NOW! You do not have to wait for your husband to move to the USA and get a job! Start now, send in the application NOW, the first part is the long stage, the part where you have no control. If you're both in Canada, it goes faster. Then you're on the next stage and can speed up or slow down. Have you guys talked to his family members or US friends about joint sponsorship? About having a place to move? That is an option as well. You can delay certain parts in the Visa stage by up to a year between contact with the NVC. (National Visa Center) So if you have to wait for the house to sell so you can rent a room for a few months, then that might be a plan. Then you can both move down together, get jobs and start a new life, if there is a friend or family member willing to sign the I-864 affidavit of support, to help you two out. If not, that is the time for him to move and get a job, maybe to a larger city where he can use public transportation to avoid duty fees on a car.

The hard part is, we can't give you alternatives. There are two spousal visas that run off pretty much the same time frame. IR1/CR1 and K3. Currently more K3 are getting through than in previous years but it also requires an adjustment of status making it the most expensive visa route. If you've been married 2 or more years when you enter the USA after the process is said and done, you receive a 10 year green card, (IR1) otherwise you get a 2 year conditional green card. You can work and travel right away. Collect EI. (that's what I'm currently doing.)

It's hard to live away from your spouse for any period of time. Most of us, more than understand this. We all want the shortest time frame, the fastest, but it is what it is.

[NikLR 13,232]

I wanted to add, that if he does move down first, you two can still visit, just that the CBP and CBSA may require you both to provide, if asked, proof of your ties to home country.