jay treaty spouse .. no one seems to know the answer!!!

[maliseetchief 0]

Help ... I keep running into dead ends, several lawyers I've spoken to can't agree, can't get two Immigrations officers to agree on the correct procedure, US border is telling us something different, not finding much information on the internet. Very frustrated!!!

My husband who is a Jay Treaty Canadian born first nation and I are moving to the USA. He has applied and received his permeant residence status. (which we know he did not have to get because he can live and work in the states without restrictions, however he needs his permanent residence status in order to sponsor me because I am not native american)

Now that he has his permanent residence card, he is filing the I-130 form to petition my application so that I can move to the states with him.

- after he has filed this form am I allowed to live with him in the states while the paperwork is being processed or do I have to remain in Canada?

- If I have to remain in Canada, am I able to visit my husband in the states during the paper process?

- how long is a typical wait?

Once the I-130 application has been accepted, and we receive a I-797 Notification well file I-485 form. Again

- or is it this point I am allowed to live in the states with him?

- how long of a process is this?

also

- is my husband considered a US citizen? as he has all the rights of a US citizen except he can't vote.

sorry this is all over the place but I'm trying to get some idea of the time frame that we will be spending apart as he will be leaving on May 1st to start our life in the states without me.. so any insight would be greatly appreciated. TIA

[Ontarkie 13,902]

~~Moved to Bringing Family Members of Permanent Residents to America, from Introductions - Since your husband had to file and get US Permanent Residency in order to petition for you, I moved your thread here in hopes others will be able to help you.~~

Edited April 16, 2015 by Ontarkie

[Boiler 43,391]

It will take a few years, in the meantime you can visit, do not forget to bring evidence of your ties to Canada, Job, Housing etc to be shown if asked.

[janetusman 33]

No he is not a US Citizen, if he is a permanent resident then he should have a 10 year green card (unless he was given a conditional GC which is 2 years). He can apply for citizenship after he has lived here for 5 years. There are 3 steps to the immigrations process:

1. USCIS will process your I-130 (takes about 5-6 months)

2. Your case will be forwarded to NVC for processing (processing times vary)

3. You will have an interview at the US embassy in your home country (again processing times vary)

[maliseetchief 0]

Ontarkie ... Thank you for moving my questions to where it maybe more visible ?

Boiler ... Frustrating to know we're going to be doing the long distance this for a few years .. But we're in it for the long haul

We're a small border town, so a lot of the border officers know us from crossing all the time and know our ties to the community we live in .. But thank you for the documentation suggestion ?

janetusman .... He does not have a 2 year or a 10 year permant resident card .. Under the jay treaty he can work and live in the U.S. without anything other than his social security card, which he has. The border does not exist to jay treaty First Nation people. He did not have to do the medical or the interview to receive his permant residence card. This is not a "normal" immigration process because of his jay treaty rights.

He has all the same right as a U.S. Citizen except to vote, If he wanted to vote he could naturalize. The only reason he has had to obtain his perminant resident card is to sponsor me because I am not status First Nation. I will have to do the medical and the interview.

that's where things get confusing, when speaking with lawyers, immigrations, customs etc .. No two people can tell us all the documents that need to be filled out. everyone has a matter of opion but nothing in black and white to back it up.

I know we can't be the first couple to be doing this legally lol

Thank you for a summery of the steps we are to expect along the way ?

[Boiler 43,391]

You are not the first one I have seen but I doubt many on here have seen any.

But it was a long time ago, I presume if he wishes to naturalise he will need to wait 5 years and meet the residency requirements.

What documentation does he use to exert his rights? Presumably there will be members of his tribe who have gone before.

[maliseetchief 0]

All he needed was a letter from his tribe stating he was at least 50% native from the chief of his tribe, his Canadian issued native status card and his Canadian issued passport to receive his social security card.

To obtain his permant status he presented his social security card, the letter, birth certificate, passport and filled out a form at the immigration office, He see our part time residence address in the states. Once the paperwork was processed he had to do his biometrics (picture, fingerprints) then his green card was issued.

He comes from a very small tribe 300-400 members so he is one of the first that has to do this process. (Where one person is native and the other is not already a U.S. Citizen) Guess we're ground breakers lol

[Boiler 43,391]

So just like any other GC holder.

[maliseetchief 0]

Without the medical, interview or expiry date

[maliseetchief 0]

I'm the issue not him .. He does not NEED the gc except if I'm to move with him

[sarahbella 3]

I can't help with your questions, I just wanted to say good for him for going to the US through the Jay Treaty. I tried but my band couldn't produce the letter, I was calling from far away and requesting it. Things worked out anyways for me.

What I did when I was looking into it was make an infopass appt here in Spokane when I was visiting and asked them. They had one person there who knew about it. I know that doesn't help if you're not in the US, but that's what I did.

[Ms Hogan 295]

I'm the issue not him .. He does not NEED the gc except if I'm to move with him

What expiry date did they put on his green card? I'm just curious if they gave him a 10 year card right away. Either way, because his status is LPR and not an actual citizen I think you're stuck waiting a lot longer than if he was a citizen.

[Jawaree 717]

Help ... I keep running into dead ends, several lawyers I've spoken to can't agree, can't get two Immigrations officers to agree on the correct procedure, US border is telling us something different, not finding much information on the internet. Very frustrated!!!

My husband who is a Jay Treaty Canadian born first nation and I are moving to the USA. He has applied and received his permeant residence status. (which we know he did not have to get because he can live and work in the states without restrictions, however he needs his permanent residence status in order to sponsor me because I am not native american)

Now that he has his permanent residence card, he is filing the I-130 form to petition my application so that I can move to the states with him.

- after he has filed this form am I allowed to live with him in the states while the paperwork is being processed or do I have to remain in Canada?

- If I have to remain in Canada, am I able to visit my husband in the states during the paper process?

- how long is a typical wait?

Once the I-130 application has been accepted, and we receive a I-797 Notification well file I-485 form. Again

- or is it this point I am allowed to live in the states with him?

- how long of a process is this?

also

- is my husband considered a US citizen? as he has all the rights of a US citizen except he can't vote.

sorry this is all over the place but I'm trying to get some idea of the time frame that we will be spending apart as he will be leaving on May 1st to start our life in the states without me.. so any insight would be greatly appreciated. TIA

He is like a citizen with that treaty (kind of like PR) however to petition a foreigner

you have to go thru the motions of getting a GC to do a petition due to the 50% reason

so it will just be like a LPR petitioning a wife & visiting may not be a hugh prob while

the case is being processed...I don't think it will take yrs & may go a little faster base

on the natives laws & agreements we don't know, so stay positive...good luck

[Hypnos 6,576]

http://www.uscis.gov/green-card/other-ways-get-green-card/green-card-american-indian-born-canada would seem to be relevant, and states that your husband would be considered a permanent resident for the purposes of bringing non-tribe family members to the US.

You would not be able to file an I-485 until the priority date of your I-130 (under the F2A category) became current. Also, entering the US on a nonimmigrant visa with the preconceived intent to remain and adjust status is considered visa fraud, so you should not do that.

As of now the waiting time for F2A from filing to becoming current is approximately 18 months.

Edited April 16, 2015 by Hypnos

[Dakine10 5,452]

Ontarkie ... Thank you for moving my questions to where it maybe more visible ?

Boiler ... Frustrating to know we're going to be doing the long distance this for a few years .. But we're in it for the long haul

We're a small border town, so a lot of the border officers know us from crossing all the time and know our ties to the community we live in .. But thank you for the documentation suggestion ?

janetusman .... He does not have a 2 year or a 10 year permant resident card .. Under the jay treaty he can work and live in the U.S. without anything other than his social security card, which he has. The border does not exist to jay treaty First Nation people. He did not have to do the medical or the interview to receive his permant residence card. This is not a "normal" immigration process because of his jay treaty rights.

He has all the same right as a U.S. Citizen except to vote, If he wanted to vote he could naturalize. The only reason he has had to obtain his perminant resident card is to sponsor me because I am not status First Nation. I will have to do the medical and the interview.

that's where things get confusing, when speaking with lawyers, immigrations, customs etc .. No two people can tell us all the documents that need to be filled out. everyone has a matter of opion but nothing in black and white to back it up.

I know we can't be the first couple to be doing this legally lol

Thank you for a summery of the steps we are to expect along the way ?

You can follow the guide on the site here (link below). While it's written for US citizens sponsoring foreign spouses, the paperwork and guide is basically the same. Where it lists documents to establish the petitioners US citizenship, you would submit the documents which establish legal residence, but it does give the basic idea. At this point, the fancy part is over. it's just a straight forward filing now as a spouse of a LPR.

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1