Speaking to an immigration lawyer soon. Checking in with you guys first.

[george89lol 0]

Hi,

I've posted here a few times before and my girlfriend and I have been constantly switching up plans and adjusting what our "dream" life situation is. We're 23 and 22 years old, and she is a Canadian citizen while I am a United States citizen. At first we were pretty set on just tying the knot and getting married and her moving here to the U.S., but we've recently been pretty successful in our business, and we're wondering if it has given us more options. Our key goal is staying flexible - neither of us really wants to completely tie down to the other country yet, because both of us want to try out living in multiple countries until we figure out where we like. We will be buying a house in the United States by January, and in regard to salary/financial support etc, none of that is an issue. Neither of us have any problem with the 6-month visa length as we both plan to visit each country in less time than that. Our main issue/only concern is the hassle they give my girlfriend whenever she is traveling between both countries. They've stopped her at the border, interrogated her for 3 hours at a time, etc, and every time we cross the border she gets extremely anxious - this is likely made worse by the fact that we're young and people just assume we're working illegally to support ourselves (we aren't). My question to my great friends here is... is there anything we can do to "legitimize" all of our back and forth? If she owns property in the United States, will that make them easier or harder on us? We're just pretty in the dark about how people who travel/live in other countries for ____ months of the year are able to do it. If anyone has any helpful advice/insight, that would be greatly appreciated! Thank you very much

[canadian_wife 1,823]

Since she has no rights to live in the US right now, as in she does not possess a legal visa to allow her to live there, the property will certainly work against her. It is seen as a 'tie' to the US. What she wants is substantial ties to Canada.

She can only visit, and entrance and duration of stay is up to the CBP at each crossing. If they ever feel that she is abusing the system, she can be denied entry...which can complicate your future together. She should always travel with strong ties to Canada; especially if she has been stopped before.

What do both of you do where you can take 6 months off and stay in another country?

Good luck

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

If she has a business in the US then she is working illegally in the US, in fact.

If I were you I would just marry and live in the US and get her permanent residency. She can still go to Canada but would cross to the US easily. Being a PR doesn't make her tied down... she can leave a any time. If she continued to live in the US, then in 3 years she could be a US Citizen and you two could move back to the US whenever you want.

She wants to buy a house in the US but not live there, just come and visit there?

Edited August 26, 2013 by Harpa Timsah

[george89lol 0]

Since she has no rights to live in the US right now, as in she does not possess a legal visa to allow her to live there, the property will certainly work against her. It is seen as a 'tie' to the US. What she wants is substantial ties to Canada.

She can only visit, and entrance and duration of stay is up to the CBP at each crossing. If they ever feel that she is abusing the system, she can be denied entry...which can complicate your future together. She should always travel with strong ties to Canada; especially if she has been stopped before.

What do both of you do where you can take 6 months off and stay in another country?

Good luck

Fair enough, makes enough sense! Thanks a lot!

If she has a business in the US then she is working illegally in the US, in fact.

If I were you I would just marry and live in the US and get her permanent residency. She can still go to Canada but would cross to the US easily. Being a PR doesn't make her tied down... she can leave a any time. If she continued to live in the US, then in 3 years she could be a US Citizen and you two could move back to the US whenever you want.

She wants to buy a house in the US but not live there, just come and visit there?

She does not have a business in the US. Sorry for the misunderstanding. Thanks for the advice! And we're buying a house that we plan on living in for a while then renting it out etc, so I was trying to see if that could factor into the plans at all.

[NickD 203]

Your topic question was on immigration attorneys, unlike any other attorney that must be licensed in your state, immigration attorneys are not limited to this. Found one of the top immigration firms in Ohio, very knowledgeable and REASONABLE. Agreed to a flat fee to guide me through the process. Heck, I had thousands of other things to do besides study the entire USCIS mostly written in Greek.

In regards to just us, couldn't do anything about my wife during the AOS stage, couldn't even open a joint 50 buck checking account due to that stupid APA. Owning a home didn't make any difference, to be brief, only thing the USCIS was interested in, was did I have enough bucks to support her. Well stepdaughter as well.

In regards to countries, we also had that long discussion, has to be one or the other, both in our case have residency requirements that have to be met. In the case of the US, after the AOS stage, another three years to obtain US citizenship. Could consider this as either being drafted or serving a prison term, whatever. After this period, you are then finally free to do whatever you want to. But if a US citizen, still have to pay taxes.

Thousands of people if not millions cross that US-Canadian border everyday. With the USCIS, only counts if that trip is over 24 hours. Guess that makes a difference where you live. Is Canada across the street or across the country for you?

[NickD 203]

Whoops, see you are in Chicago, not exactly across the street. Oh, the hundreds of trips I made from O'Hare to Toronto. We had many divisions in Canada. Paychecks came from the same bank, only difference is mine had a wad of money withheld for health insurance. But these guys were effectively my co-workers. Could try Thunder Bay instead, border crossing is far more humane.

Then that idiot Bush had to come along thinking that terrorists were just as dumb as he was and would only sneak in with the airlines. For the rest of us, meant waiting in long lines three times longer than the actual flight. Just saying, appreciate your concerns about crossing the border. Wasn't that way, even six years ago.

Still have 3,500 miles of unprotected border. Not good a remembering names, but if we had different leadership after that 1812 war, Canada and the US would have been one country. It's those damn leaders causing all the problems!

[TBoneTX 45,536]

What does post #6 have to do with the OP's situation?