Move from Canada to US - Spouse has US Citizenship

[howellboyd 0]

Hello,

I am posting to try and obtain information about immigrating to the US from Canada when my spouse is American. I appreciate the advice!

Status:

• I (Husband) am Canadian, My spouse is a US Citizen
• I am an Engineer (Bachelor's), My spouse is a Nurse Practitioner (Master's)
• Spouse has been living in Canada since 2006
• We have been dating since 2003 & married in 2009
• Have 2 children with dual citizenship (born 2011 & 2014)
• We filed an I-130 in April 2016, & received I-797C with April 28, 2016 Priority Date (Nebraska Service Center)

We applied for a green card to have the option to relocate if need be, we ultimately wanted to do this but did not know exact timing.

However, since then my wife has received a job offer in Florida (her home state) and they are asking her to relocate within a few months.

Could you please tell me my options here? We don't want to lose this job offer but we have agreed to not relocate if we cannot do it as a whole family unit. I do not mind being unemployed for a period of time or taking courses at a college there (if it were to in any way help my legal status).

Specific Questions I have are:

• I will file for a K-3 Visa to have it as an option (though I've read here that it usually arrives nullified, & after the I-130 approval), is there another, better, method?
• I see DCF recommended if spouse has been living in the same country for at least 1 year (which is the case), however Canada does not seem to offer this. Is that correct? Is there another way?
• Can I still enter the country as a visitor? (I believe there is a 6 month limitation period for how long I can stay)
• Say I were to receive a job offer in the US, is there another visa I can/should apply for?

Thanks so much for the information. I would really love if we could relocate with my family, ultimately find employment, and raise our children there, just need a little help getting through the red tape

Sincerely,

Boyd H

Edited June 3, 2016 by Ryan H
Reason for edit: To remove full name

[canadian_wife 1,831]

Welcome to the forums

1) the K-3 is rarely issued, won't save you any time. You are on the correct path.

2) You are on the correct path, if there were another way we'd all do it.

3) Yes, you may enter as a visitor but expect to show ties to Canada.

4) Yes the company that you are hired by will ultimately file the visa for you. Or look in to the TN to see if you, as an engineer, qualify

The Montreal consulate where you'l have your interview is very strict on the US citizen establishing domicile in the U.S. prior to the visa being issued. It sounds like with your wife's job offer you are on track for that - it does help to be forewarned however.

Good luckk

[NikLR 13,234]

Hello,

I am posting to try and obtain information about immigrating to the US from Canada when my spouse is American. I appreciate the advice!

Status:

• I (Husband) am Canadian, My spouse is a US Citizen
• I am an Engineer (Bachelor's), My spouse is a Nurse Practitioner (Master's)
• Spouse has been living in Canada since 2006
• We have been dating since 2003 & married in 2009
• Have 2 children with dual citizenship (born 2011 & 2014)
• We filed an I-130 in April 2016, & received I-797C with April 28, 2016 Priority Date (Nebraska Service Center)

We applied for a green card to have the option to relocate if need be, we ultimately wanted to do this but did not know exact timing.

However, since then my wife has received a job offer in Florida (her home state) and they are asking her to relocate within a few months.

Could you please tell me my options here? We don't want to lose this job offer but we have agreed to not relocate if we cannot do it as a whole family unit. I do not mind being unemployed for a period of time or taking courses at a college there (if it were to in any way help my legal status).

Specific Questions I have are:

• I will file for a K-3 Visa to have it as an option (though I've read here that it usually arrives nullified, & after the I-130 approval), is there another, better, method?
• I see DCF recommended if spouse has been living in the same country for at least 1 year (which is the case), however Canada does not seem to offer this. Is that correct? Is there another way?
• Can I still enter the country as a visitor? (I believe there is a 6 month limitation period for how long I can stay)
• Say I were to receive a job offer in the US, is there another visa I can/should apply for?

Thanks so much for the information. I would really love if we could relocate with my family, ultimately find employment, and raise our children there, just need a little help getting through the red tape

...

I think your wife should take the job offer. Have you looked up the affidavit of support requirements? If your wife had a job that could cover the poverty guidelines for your family of 4, that would immensely ease the requirement of having a joint sponsor for you, and also the huge issue of domicile for a US/Canadian couple living in Canada. Moving as a family unit would have likely been almost impossible anyhow because of how strict the US consulate in Montreal is on the issue of domicile.

K3 is obsolete. Montreal has historically closed the I-129F when they learn of the approved I-130.

DCF is not available in Canada.

Yes you can still enter as a visitor but be aware that you may be scrutinized more and shorter visits vs longer are better

You could try for a TN however you have immigrant intent.

You're at the NVC stage now, so really you have a few months left. A month or two of NVC processing (beneficiaries going through Montreal can use electronic processing (email) to send their documents vs snail mail) then a month before the interview. Before the interview you will also need to get a medical done.

After getting the visa you have 6 months from the medical date in which to activate your visa, which immediately becomes a green card upon entry.

[Ryan H 3,925]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.

[howellboyd 0]

Thanks to everyone for the responses.

In the past 2 weeks we have petitioned for an expedited application which was denied...we were expecting that but decided to try anyway.

NLR said that we were in the NVC stage but I don't think that's true. My understanding is:

-File I-130

-Receive NOA1 (I understand this to be the I-797C, correct?)

-...wait...

-Receive NOA2

-NVC processing

-Embassy Interview

-Embassy Processing

From that list I am in the "...wait..." phase which for Nebraska seems to be roughly 100 days according to VJ's user feedback:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/ir1cr1historical

Is that the time from the priority date? (April 28, 2016 + 100 days)

It seems like we're then in for another ~100 day wait on NVC and another 40 days with the embassy.

Does anyone know if these timelines may be different per region? Anything specific about Canadian applications taking longer/shorter? Is the process any faster/slower because we have been married for 7 years and have 2 children? (I don't think would be difficult to consider this a bonafide marriage).

My wife really doesn't want to give up this job offer but it seems like I may be in for up to another 7 months before this is through.

We could maybe be apart for a month or two but I don't think we can do that long, especially for our children.

Where we're at now, I think she may ask the employer to postpone the job offer several months. If that works we try it later when the application goes through, but it likely won't work and we'll be back trying to find employment again when this finally goes through.

I really appreciate any help or advice.

Thank you,

BH

[StoshKrystal 1]

We filed our I-130 at the end of November 2015 - My husband is a USC and I am a Canadian Citizen, we are currently at the NVC stage, they received our documents May 27th..

We have been together since 2006, married 2010 and have 3 children together - another on the way! I don't want to crush your hopes but I don't think your case is going to get done much quicker.

[NikLR 13,234]

Youre correct you are only at the USCIS stage. Can take 4-6 months for NOA2.

Thanks to everyone for the responses.

In the past 2 weeks we have petitioned for an expedited application which was denied...we were expecting that but decided to try anyway.

NLR said that we were in the NVC stage but I don't think that's true. My understanding is:

-File I-130

-Receive NOA1 (I understand this to be the I-797C, correct?)

-...wait...

-Receive NOA2

-NVC processing

-Embassy Interview

-Embassy Processing

From that list I am in the "...wait..." phase which for Nebraska seems to be roughly 100 days according to VJ's user feedback:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/ir1cr1historical

Is that the time from the priority date? (April 28, 2016 + 100 days)

It seems like we're then in for another ~100 day wait on NVC and another 40 days with the embassy.

Does anyone know if these timelines may be different per region? Anything specific about Canadian applications taking longer/shorter? Is the process any faster/slower because we have been married for 7 years and have 2 children? (I don't think would be difficult to consider this a bonafide marriage).

My wife really doesn't want to give up this job offer but it seems like I may be in for up to another 7 months before this is through.

We could maybe be apart for a month or two but I don't think we can do that long, especially for our children.

Where we're at now, I think she may ask the employer to postpone the job offer several months. If that works we try it later when the application goes through, but it likely won't work and we'll be back trying to find employment again when this finally goes through.

I really appreciate any help or advice.

Thank you,

BH

As for processing, it can be a lot faster at the NVC because you can email docs vs snail mail.

[NikLR 13,234]

Kids are surprisingly resilent to separation also.

Without a joint sponsor or job there is no visa. Also without a place to live, job, kids registered in school the chance of an approval is also slim because of domicile.

[GeorgeI 0]

We filed our I-130 at the end of November 2015 - My husband is a USC and I am a Canadian Citizen, we are currently at the NVC stage, they received our documents May 27th..

We have been together since 2006, married 2010 and have 3 children together - another on the way! I don't want to crush your hopes but I don't think your case is going to get done much quicker.

Hi there, any news, I have the same scan date as you?

Cheers.

[StoshKrystal 1]

Hi there, any news, I have the same scan date as you?

Cheers.

Sorry didn't reply sooner - was in the hospital having a baby!

Just got an email from NVC today... No CC Was checklist for long form Birth Certificate

[NikLR 13,234]

Congrats on the new addition!