Hi! Canada wanting to move to US :)

[Gillian+Mike 6]

Am I able to work with the K1?

[Boiler 43,462]

Eventually.

[Krikit 1,163]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I appreciate it! Still confused but learning a lot. I guess I will decide on another route to take- in time haha. for now I guess we will just keep visiting each other. Hopefully I will go down there for a few months and live with him and then we can decide where to go from there. I realize the only way I can go about this is through marriage- which I DO want to marry him I just wanted to go about it a different way, just my preference. Wanted to be as "normal" as possible. lol. But this is not normal thanks everyone.

One thing that you absolutely must change is how you say things. You can come down to visit, but you can't come down to live without the visa. If the CBP Officer heard you say that you'd be turned around faster than you could blink.

Am I able to work with the K1?

Take a look at the Adjustment of Status From Family-Based Visas forum. You'll find all info in there. The best visa to go for is the CR-1... the spousal visa. That gives you the authorization to work and travel as soon as you enter. With the K-1 you need to apply for authorization for that. If you leave the country without it they won't let you back in.

[Gillian+Mike 6]

Thank you! Yes definitely need to adjust the words I use! I hope you all know what I am meaning...still new to all of this! Visit visit visit visit visit. haha.

[Krikit 1,163]

Start here... and keep reading:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/compare

Keep in mind that each country and consulate or embassy is different. For that reason, you will want to ask country-specific questions in the Canada Regional Forum.

Welcome to VJ!

[ricnally 258]

On the other side of the coin, you might want to ask yourself, do you want to go all the effort of moving countries to be with someone that doesn't have to do dot to get you here?

Instead you have to make all the effort and take all the risk.

I could have returned to the US via an H1B (I've held 2 in the past) but when I thought about it I wanted my fiance to step up and declare a commitment to me before I made the amount of (emotional and financial) effort I was going to have to go through to return here. From an emotional point of view I didn't need to get married again either, (second time for both of us) and neither of us liked having the US government dictate the timing of our commitment to each other. But being 'forced' to do so via a K1 meant he was required to invest fully in his commitment to getting me here, making the pull for me to come, and my willingness to move, more 'equal' and fair.

Wow, that's a really good point!

[GandD 5,966]

Thank you! Yes definitely need to adjust the words I use! I hope you all know what I am meaning...still new to all of this! Visit visit visit visit visit. haha.

Yeah look at the compare links KritKrit posted. I know everyone does K-1 in your situation, or at least it seems like they do, but be sure to consider the IR/CR option. It takes longer and you'd have to get married immediately, (the application is done post marriage) BUT its cheaper and you would be able to work and travel as soon as you arrive. Those are both pretty nice advantages IMHO. Just read a few threads of newly arrived K-1's waiting for work authorization. If you guys have been together for a while it may be a good option.

[Teddy B 17,251]

Thank you! Yes definitely need to adjust the words I use! I hope you all know what I am meaning...still new to all of this! Visit visit visit visit visit. haha.

If you are able to get an extended amount of time off from work and can afford to come to the states for an extended vacation, that's a great way to see how you and your s/o get along over a longer period of time. My wife and I did that same thing and it worked out great. Just remember to always maintain ties to Canada (work, property, etc) and have proof of those ties with you when crossing the border. Also if flying, always have a return ticket.

Good Luck!

[NikLR 13,220]

Yeah look at the compare links KritKrit posted. I know everyone does K-1 in your situation, or at least it seems like they do, but be sure to consider the IR/CR option. It takes longer and you'd have to get married immediately, (the application is done post marriage) BUT its cheaper and you would be able to work and travel as soon as you arrive. Those are both pretty nice advantages IMHO. Just read a few threads of newly arrived K-1's waiting for work authorization. If you guys have been together for a while it may be a good option.

We purposely went the CR1 route because of the cost, work, and travel aspects of the K1 vs the CR1. Being here faster wasn't in either of our best interests, not that the time apart was by any means easy. I am always surprised at the number of K1 from Canada, especially those living in the eastern provinces where they are travelling to Montreal anyhow.

[Aur0ra 5]

HI lilg - thought I would add in my two cents

I am a Canadian who was in a similar situation to you several years ago. My then boyfriend and I looked at all possible options. I am also in healthcare, so I looked at the TN option, the F1 option and so on. What I ended up doing was the route of least resistance - I would go down to visit him to do multiple trips lasting days, several weeks and I even did a 4 month visit to the US to see if we were a good "fit". During this dating time we traveled, got to know each other, and I also came down for many professional conferences and we would meet up during that time and explore the US together. We got to know enough of each other to "know" that we were the ones for each other

For short-term professional activities you do not need an F1 visa, as you would enter on the B visa (I entered on the B1 or B2 depending on my activities). You aren't supposed to get paid or work during this time. I never did a 2 week course, only 4-5 days at the most, so I'm not sure about the length of time on that one.

If you didn't want to do the K-1 visa yet, you could always go down and visit him for an extended period of time so you can get to know each other and see if you are a good fit. I found going the employment route much harder, actually, as I found that most companies want you to have a work visa (either a J1 or H1B) before you apply with them. And USCIS will only grant you a J1 or H1B once you have a job - I found this chicken and egg game to be extremely tiresome! There were jobs in my field that would sponsor me to get a J1 but these were often in underserved, remote areas (places where US citizens and perm residents didn'tt want to go!)These postings were so far away from my then boyfriend that I decided against the employment route. The J1 visas are quite restrictive and if you don't like your job or they work you to death or the conditions weren't what you thought they were, then you are really stuck. With the fiancé visa they actually give you 90 days to decide if the relationship is going to be right for you, so that's really nice.

I also spoke with a few canucks who had done the J1 for 1-2 years and it took approx 6-9 months just to get it squared away before they could even plan on going to the USA, so it really put their careers in a big limbo for 1 year as they couldn't commit, but couldn't not commit to jobs while they were in Canada "waiting" for this possible J1 to go through. I went through something similar waiting for my K1, but it didn't seem as disruptive as the J1, seeing as how I could kind of eyeball when my interview would be based on this website (which was so helpful in planning) and worked up until that time.

My thoughts were that in order to move and live in the US I needed to be sponsored in either case, so it's a risk no matter what. When it came down to it, I decided that I would rather be sponsored by my fiancé (at the time) whom I loved and cherished dearly as opposed to being sponsored by a job/company that I knew very little about. While it's a gamble in both cases, it seemed to me at the time to be a much safer and easier gamble on the relationship than on the job. But that is a choice that only you can make, and you'll know which one is right for you, it's so different for everyone. I just thought I would share my experience in case it helps you, as many people on here helped me through the process the same way. If living in CA is your dream, you will get there one way or another

I love this site because while there are bumps in the road and challenges, and sometimes things don't work out for everyone, on the whole this place is full of people who have experienced their dreams come true for immigration, including me

Best of luck!