Bringing My Canadian Husband Back into US with Baby on the Way

[Immigranteducator 0]

I am a US born citizen. My Canadian husband already received a green card after getting married in 2010--at the time he was already here when we were married so he filed for an adjustment of status and received his conditional green card in 5 months. We moved to Canada last January 2013 and he withdrew his green card according to our lawyer's instructions. After running into some unforseen bad luck and living in NB where the economy is shite, we have decided that it just isn't in our long-term interest to put in the years of struggle it is going to take to get good-paying jobs here, so we want to move back within the year. I am also 6 months pregnant.

Questions:

1) I have applied for permanent residency here. I may get an open work permit in the next few weeks, but shouldn't get PR for another few months. I have medicare and a driver's license but I'm still technically a resident of the US. I have just been here physically for a year (except for going back to the US for a week in October). Can I claim that I still have domicile in the US and begin the I-130 now? I understand that you need to be a residency and have domicile in the US, but saw that they do allow people to sponsor from overseas in some situations. I believe it is in the best interest of our baby that I stay here to have her because I have medical coverage (which I could only get in the US if I went through the welfare system--Medicaid) Could this be a possible exception to the rule, considering I'm technically still a resident of PA and would be paying state and local taxes this year?

2) If I absolutely have to be physically present in the US to sponsor, would my husband be allowed to come for the birth of the baby and stay for a few weeks? If so, at that point would he be eligible to apply for an adjustment of status given the fact that we have a newborn? Would he be allowed to stay under a visitor's visa until the green card is approved?

3) As I mentioned before, If I have the baby in the US the only way to obtain medical coverage would be to go through the welfare system (Medicaid). I would not be taking any other welfare benefits, but would this make me an ineligible sponsor?

4) I will also obviously have little or no income until a couple of months after the baby is born, but will be living with family. Will the lack of income make me an ineligible sponsor or can my parents sign as guarantors?

5) If we decide to have the baby in Canada, what is the process for getting her US citizenship, and how long would that take?

6) Is there a place where we can see some estimated wait times for all of these processes?

Thank you so much for any and all feedback!!!

[Boiler 47,572]

Domicile will only be an issue when you reach the interview stage, sometime next year.

Sounds like you will have moved back by then and it will not be an issue. If you do not have the income at the time you can use co sponsors, your financial situation benefits etc would not be relevant.

[NikLR 13,234]

Most of your stuff can be answered by reading the guides.

Questions:

1) I have applied for permanent residency here. I may get an open work permit in the next few weeks, but shouldn't get PR for another few months. I have medicare and a driver's license but I'm still technically a resident of the US. I have just been here physically for a year (except for going back to the US for a week in October). Can I claim that I still have domicile in the US and begin the I-130 now? I understand that you need to be a residency and have domicile in the US, but saw that they do allow people to sponsor from overseas in some situations. I believe it is in the best interest of our baby that I stay here to have her because I have medical coverage (which I could only get in the US if I went through the welfare system--Medicaid) Could this be a possible exception to the rule, considering I'm technically still a resident of PA and would be paying state and local taxes this year?

- residency is only needed for the I-864. That information is sent to the NVC and then approved or asked for more info at the interview in Montreal. You have probably a year + (give or take) before the interview. You can certainly stay in Canada until then

2) If I absolutely have to be physically present in the US to sponsor, would my husband be allowed to come for the birth of the baby and stay for a few weeks? If so, at that point would he be eligible to apply for an adjustment of status given the fact that we have a newborn? Would he be allowed to stay under a visitor's visa until the green card is approved?

- You don't have to be present as the answer above explains. But either way your husband is still allowed to visit the USA, but he needs to bring proof of his ties to Canada whenever he goes.

3) As I mentioned before, If I have the baby in the US the only way to obtain medical coverage would be to go through the welfare system (Medicaid). I would not be taking any other welfare benefits, but would this make me an ineligible sponsor?

- No but as you don't have a job, you need a joint sponsor

4) I will also obviously have little or no income until a couple of months after the baby is born, but will be living with family. Will the lack of income make me an ineligible sponsor or can my parents sign as guarantors?

-the term is "joint sponsor" and yes, you will need a joint sponsor. You will sign a completed I-864 and your joint sponsor will sign a completed I-864. This is not needed until the NVC stage which is 7-10 months (approximately) after filing the initial petition (I-130) and it's approval.

5) If we decide to have the baby in Canada, what is the process for getting her US citizenship, and how long would that take?

- you must complete a CRBA. (consular report of birth abroad.) There is a forum on the board here for exactly that.

6) Is there a place where we can see some estimated wait times for all of these processes?

- No. Unlike Canadian immigration there is no estimated wait times. Once you send the I-130 you can fill out your VJ timeline and that will give you an estimate but it's not necessarily accurate. It is dependent on how many people are accurately filing out their own timelines. The petition can take from 2 months to over a year. Then you have the NVC stage which generally works as fast as you can. There is a special guide for beneficiaries from Canada. Normally from NVC case numbers to interview, in Canada, it is 2-3 months. The interview can only take place in Montreal as you are married.

Thank you so much for any and all feedback!!!

I hope that helps.

Edited January 12, 2014 by NLR

[Ryan H 3,906]

***Moved from What Visa Do I Need - Family Based Immigration forum to IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures as the only path for the OP's spouse is an IR-1 visa.***

**Moderator hat off**

2) would my husband be allowed to come for the birth of the baby and stay for a few weeks? If so, at that point would he be eligible to apply for an adjustment of status given the fact that we have a newborn? Would he be allowed to stay under a visitor's visa until the green card is approved?

Answers to the above:

• Would he be allowed to come for the birth of the baby an stay a few weeks, yes. Here's the but, there is no guarantee he will be admitted by CBP.
• For the section in bold, absolutely not because intending to immigrate without the proper visa is illegal
• For the last question, no, as the length of stay he would be granted should he be admitted is unlikely to be sufficiently long enough for the process to complete itself.

[Immigranteducator 0]

- residency is only needed for the I-864. That information is sent to the NVC and then approved or asked for more info at the interview in Montreal. You have probably a year + (give or take) before the interview. You can certainly stay in Canada until then

Will it matter if I have an open work permit, am working, and possibly even have permanent residency in that time?? I am worried that if I withdraw my application here in Canada that I will be forced to leave.

I hope that helps.

This most certainly does help. thank you immensely. The first time we went through a lawyer so we weren't very informed about all of the details. We did Canada by ourselves, and the CIC's website is very clear and intuitive. I feel a little lost when trying to navigate the US immigration sites. More than likely we will go through a lawyer again and hope that will expedite the process. When we left for Canada we had asked him about how long the entire process would take if we needed to file again and he said 6 months.

Time. Money. Repeat. Hopefully one day we will find our home and can start to build our life.

Thank you again!

[Ryan H 3,906]

Will it matter if I have an open work permit, am working, and possibly even have permanent residency in that time?? I am worried that if I withdraw my application here in Canada that I will be forced to leave.

More than likely we will go through a lawyer again and hope that will expedite the process.

Answer to the question in bold and red:

No

Answer to the statement in bold and blue:

Having a lawyer in no way will expedite the process. Additionally, other VJ members have stated having a lawyer slowed down the processes and caused delays. Furthermore, any lawyer promising you any kind of short timeframe (e.g. 6 months total from filing to interview) is full of it. There are some VJ members who filed last March and April and are still waiting on a decision on their petition. With all that being said, whether or not you have a lawyer is a decision only you can make.

Edited January 12, 2014 by Ryan H

[Immigranteducator 0]

Having a lawyer in no way will expedite the process. Additionally, other VJ members have stated having a lawyer slowed down the processes and caused delays. Furthermore, any lawyer promising you any kind of short timeframe (e.g. 6 months total from filing to interview) there are some VJ members who filed last March and April and are still waiting on a decision on their petition. With all that being said, whether or not you have a lawyer is a decision only you can make.

We hope that having a lawyer will allow us to put all of the information together quickly and correctly so that there are no delays because of errors. With a newborn and three year old we will have our hands full for sure. He did a really wonderful job last time and the whole process was so much less stressful and complicated than it was when we did it on our own here in Canada. If that can be the case again, it will be money well spent. Here's hoping!

Thanks for your response!

[NikLR 13,234]

We hope that having a lawyer will allow us to put all of the information together quickly and correctly so that there are no delays because of errors. With a newborn and three year old we will have our hands full for sure. He did a really wonderful job last time and the whole process was so much less stressful and complicated than it was when we did it on our own here in Canada. If that can be the case again, it will be money well spent. Here's hoping!

Thanks for your response!

Actually people have found on VJ that lawyers frequently make errors and do the paperwork wrong. But if you have a lawyer you already trust and don't have the time, then certainly you can do that. I do recommend reading the guides here and being up to date on the process so that you can make sure you're getting your money's worth and that your lawyer really is doing what they should be.

However as Ryan stated, it will not make the process any faster. No one cares more about this than you do. Really most of this is filling out paperwork.

[Immigranteducator 0]

I do recommend reading the guides here and being up to date on the process so that you can make sure you're getting your money's worth and that your lawyer really is doing what they should be.

Would I be following the guides for me living in US and my husband living overseas or for us both living overseas?

[NikLR 13,234]

DCF is not available in Canada so the basic guide as if you lived in the USA applies. You'll send the petition to the Chicago Lockbox.

Edited January 12, 2014 by NLR