5 year ban for Canadian husband

[Kehinde 45]

I am a USC I have been married to my Canadian husband for 10 years.

We are both retired.

Owing to our age & lack of knowledge my husband returned to Canada last week on trying to reenter the USA he was detained & the result was he has been given a 5 year ban.

We now realize that we should have filed correct paperwork years ago when we married but at the time we where told incorrectly we did not need to do anything.

I would appreciate any help or advice as to how to resolve this situation as quickly as possible.

My husband is 68 years old, we have lived together in USA over the 10 years he has often travelled back to Canada often with no problem.

I have no idea where to start or what I need to do?

I think I need to apply for him to come to the USA to live with me? Is it I-130? Do I also need to apply for waiver of his ban?

He is currently in Canada & I am in the USA.

Or can anyone suggest a good immigration lawyer in Northern VA or DC? If you do not think I can file for this myself.

During his 10 year stay. Didn't he have to have 10 year visa? If he has travel back and forth before then there is something you are forgetting to tell us. Or something happened and he didn't tell you. Maybe stayed pass his 10 year visa out os status.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

During his 10 year stay. Didn't he have to have 10 year visa? If he has travel back and forth before then there is something you are forgetting to tell us. Or something happened and he didn't tell you. Maybe stayed pass his 10 year visa out os status.

He is from Canada , they normally don't use visas to enter. They can stay 6 months out of any rolling year with no issue. The problem may be that he stayed more than 6 months at a time and more than six months for a rolling year.

[horselady 3]

Never had a visa we have been married 10 years at that time you did not need a visa or even a passport to travel between USA & Canada.

We got married he never went back to Canada for about 4-5 years in the last few years he has gone back to Canada every 6 months or so for 2-3 weeks as he owns property in Canada that is rented out & has family there.

I have been to Canada once I did not even have a passport I applied for one 3 days ago when this happened.

I think that his overstays are that he was only suppose to stay 6 months at a time in USA.

He is 68 & I am 60 we are older people who just stupidly believed it when we where told he can live here as he is married to me a USC we did not even know we had to apply for anything I am now reading on here how much is actually involved. It has been a shock to both of us.

I can not say enough how much appreciate the help you are giving me at a very stressful time when I am still getting conflicting information as you say most Americans have no idea what is actually involved.

Anything anyone can offer to help us sort this out correctly is so helpful after days of mis information & unknown.

[Kehinde 45]

Ooh you are right Nigeriaobust I forgot abt that

Edited November 24, 2015 by Kehinde

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

One thing you will have to show is the hardship to YOU if you two are not allowed to be together, and that it is impossible for you to live there ( harder for you being Canada is much like the US than someone like me who would be in trouble trying to live in Nigeria ) They do not care if he is having hardships. What has he done for those years as far as working ? How have you been filing taxes ? If they want to be hard on you they will look at other transgressions of the laws.

Fool computer double posted

Edited November 24, 2015 by NigeriaorBust

[Boiler 43,505]

Caada as far as waivers are concerned is not that much different from anywhere else. Obviously some aspects require a different focus.

Weather and Healthcare are usually 2 good starting points.

[Ms Hogan 295]

I'm curious about the tax filing. Did he file U.S. taxes? He has rental property in Canada?

May I ask what border crossing you use? I am shocked that it took this long to come up as a problem if he was traveling back and forth over the years.

[MacUK 983]

Not to be snarky, but OMG, who told you the misinformation? Just a rhetorical question. My point is that most Americans don't have a clue about the legal immigration process. Culturally, movies and t.v. shows get it wrong all the time.

If I were you I'd be contacting at least one attorney since this looks kind of complicated. But don't just hand the case over to them, you have to be involved the whole time to make sure it's done correctly. You can do your part by studying the guides and sample applications, and searching for like cases.

Wishing you success and good luck.

Hollywood does have a lot to answer for when it comes to misleading people about immigration issues.

I've seen dozens of movies and TV shows where people just decide to move to other countries on a whim and just jump on a plane.

[TBoneTX 43,123]

A noncontributory post has been removed.

VJ Moderation

[town&country 9]

OP please talk to a qualified immigration attorney. don't try to figure it out from this thread! There are many details to your story that we don't know. You need some facts, not a bunch of speculations. This is a very serious situation, especially for him, I think, since he is totally displaced, although posters here are correct. Waivers only deal with hardship that you will experience without him here with you.

There are probably some sliding scale attorneys in your area, you should google it. Even a couple of hours with an attorney should give you the proper directions to head from here.

I feel so bad for you this is so unfortunate and heartbreaking.

[TBoneTX 43,123]

OP, this gigantic immigration-law firm (perhaps the largest west of the Mississippi) has extremely reasonable telephone and e-mail consultation rates:

http://www.fosterquan.com/services/individuals-and-families/

As stated above, immigration law is Federal, so any good firm anywhere can help you.

I strongly recommend that you give this firm a look. I have no connection with them except as a highly satisfied former customer.

[IL83 0]

horselady, I'm sorry for your situation, as I am in the same position. I was living in the U.S for 10 years first on F1 status and I had a break of a year after my undergrad and one in the middle of post grad school where I didn't leave for 2 years. I'm married to a U.S citizen and have a 3 yo daughter who is also U.S born and unfortunately my dad passed away in September of 2014 and had to go back to Canada and on my return to the U.S in Buffalo I was stopped and given the same expedited removal and 5 year bar (oh why, oh why did we not AOS while I was living there????) I'm working with a lawyer in Toronto (in my opinion best idea considering the dollar in Canada is not great and its cheaper to pay in U.S funds). We had our lawyer file the I-130 right away (but knowing what I do now, would have done it myself and saved the cash). You should work on getting your husbands RCMP report asap as it will be needed for the I-130 and the I-212 waiver you will need to file (assuming you don't have a misrep charge which I believe would be written in the statement the CBP officer would have given your husband at the time they turned him back. I think its 9c or something like that). A lawyer for the I-212 probably is a good idea but some people here have done it themselves.

I filed the I-212 at Pearson airport in Toronto at the pre-clearance office on the suggestion of my lawyer (I'm not sure this was the best idea considering I filed it Oct 2014 and it's still pending review with the Admissibility Review Office) most people file it with USCIS and if you are certain it was only an expedited removal with no other inadmissibility and no criminal record in either country, I'm pretty sure you can file it before his Consular appointment in Montreal. I have a theory though that regardless of filing before the interview in Montreal, the adjudicators sit on the I-212 applications until the outcome of the consular interview (my lawyer seems to think that, and the consular officer at my appointment kinda hinted at that too.) So here in Canada waiting for the adjudication of the I-212. I was paroled into the U.S twice so that tool the edge off of the waiting but that's another story all together.

I hope you are able to get this all resolved as quickly as possible, i'll light another candle for you too. My intention isn't to give any legal advice but to share my experience and let you know you are not alone.

[Boiler 43,505]

A solo I 212 goes to the POE.

The POE only decide what is in front of them at the time, Consulate look at the bigger picture.

[sharda 8]

99% of the time crossing the border from Canada to US the officer don't ask you any questions at all that would consider you misrepresenting yourself. Honestly if it wasn't for VJ I would not know anything about overstaying, another thing they don't stamp your PP most of the times . Sometimes it's amazing how some of these crossing border officer doesn't know certain things. One time I had ask a question and the officer couldn't respond. My experience is from using Pearson airport in Toront and Buffalo Border in Niagara .

OP sorry to hear about your situation. I hope everything g work out in your favour. I don't have any advice but I would say to contact a lawyer !!!!!

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Once when I went back to NY with the ex ( how had a green card) we walked to the Canadian side only to realize that he had left his green card in the car. ( we had done the walkway under the falls on the US side and put away valuables ) When it got to be time to come home I went first and the immigration agent simply asked what we had been up to. I said I grew up in NY and currently live in California and we were visiting so we wanted the children to see the falls, Simply got waved through. ( This was way before 9-11 )