PR in Canada with spouse and children, June 18 filer, should i move to us alone before cr1 is approved ?

[Brittany & Jamie 8]

Currently i am awaiting NOA2 and likely will not hear anything until February at the very least. With all of this time to wonder and plan, we had the thought,

 

 should i move down before my spouse and kids are approved and start getting work history/income and get things started beforehand ? 

 

I was born and raised in the states where my entire family resides ( which is where we will be moving to )  and have lived in British Columbia with my wife and kids for 2 years. We applied for i130 from within Canada and want to know, would it be wise for me to stay here and wait it out with them or get ahead of the game and go back to get things in order ? 

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

you do need US residency so coming back would be helpful

[Boiler 43,436]

Canada is particularly strong on US Domicile so I would say  yes.

[Brittany & Jamie 8]

If so.. moving back to the states on my own, when would be the best time ? I know these questions are a bit of a long shot. But aJust before their interview ? Before or after a.o.s? A month before their visa arrives or before i claim how much money i make in Canada or USA ? 

 

So many things to consider. I don’t want to leave them if i don’t have to. Obviously. But if it would ease the process or quicken it even, i will do whatever i need. 

[NikLR 13,220]

Depends on a few factors.

A) do you have a joint sponsor? Or are you planning on using assets? Or will your job continue?

B) how difficult is it to find a job where you plan on moving to?

C) where are you planning to live? Rent? Relatives? Purchase?

 

How soon/late you should acquire US domicile depends mainly on those factors. 

 

Also do your children have their US passports? 

[Brittany & Jamie 8]

12 minutes ago, NikLR said:

Depends on a few factors.

A) do you have a joint sponsor? Or are you planning on using assets? Or will your job continue?

B) how difficult is it to find a job where you plan on moving to?

C) where are you planning to live? Rent? Relatives? Purchase?

 

How soon/late you should acquire US domicile depends mainly on those factors. 

 

Also do your children have their US passports? 

 

I have a job waiting for me ( that surpasses the 125% above poverty requirement ) for whenever i am able to get down there. 

 

Our domicile will be my parents place until we buy a home. We will be selling our home in British Columbia so we will have a large amount of money coming from that source. Plus we have savings. 

 

Children are Canadian citizens with Canadian passports / nexus passes 

[Boiler 43,436]

So not your children?

[Brittany & Jamie 8]

Just now, Boiler said:

So not your children?

Step children. Wife and kids are Canadian citizens. 

[Zangief 3]

You're a PR in Canada for 2 years already, and married to a Canadian citizen spouse and just kicked off your I-130 application? Well, unless you expedite magically for a DCF, you're looking at a minimum of 1 more year (i.e. 3 years in Canada) before you can secure your spouse/step-kid's IR1 visas. (If you're married for over 2 years, your wife will get a full IR1 visa instead of a CR1 which is meant for couples where the marriage is under 2 years old).

 

Do you care about Canadian citizenship at all? If yes, you need 3 years' (1095 days) residence, and per Canadian law, you can file for citizenship, and leave and process your entire naturalization application from abroad. You do not need to prove "intent to reside in Canada" to naturalize in Canada and at your interview, you just need bulletproof evidence of your 1095 days' worth physical presence in Canada.

 

In your situation, I would wait for the NOA2 to arrive, and wait for your file to be created at NVC. Compare this against your Canadian naturalization application dates and I would artificially slow things down at NVC (you can trivially slow things by 2 years at the NVC step) so you secure your Canadian citizenship application in the mail and get the receipt from the Canadians, and then resume processing from NVC for your family and go on to move to the US. You will have to fly back to Canada eventually for your naturalization interview, exam, etc. and wrap things up, get a new passport, and fly back to the US. Note that you need a reliable Canadian mailing address for processing your naturalization application since Citizenship & Immigration Canada won't communicate with non-Canadian addresses.

[Brittany & Jamie 8]

5 hours ago, Zangief said:

You're a PR in Canada for 2 years already, and married to a Canadian citizen spouse and just kicked off your I-130 application? Well, unless you expedite magically for a DCF, you're looking at a minimum of 1 more year (i.e. 3 years in Canada) before you can secure your spouse/step-kid's IR1 visas. (If you're married for over 2 years, your wife will get a full IR1 visa instead of a CR1 which is meant for couples where the marriage is under 2 years old).

 

Do you care about Canadian citizenship at all? If yes, you need 3 years' (1095 days) residence, and per Canadian law, you can file for citizenship, and leave and process your entire naturalization application from abroad. You do not need to prove "intent to reside in Canada" to naturalize in Canada and at your interview, you just need bulletproof evidence of your 1095 days' worth physical presence in Canada.

 

In your situation, I would wait for the NOA2 to arrive, and wait for your file to be created at NVC. Compare this against your Canadian naturalization application dates and I would artificially slow things down at NVC (you can trivially slow things by 2 years at the NVC step) so you secure your Canadian citizenship application in the mail and get the receipt from the Canadians, and then resume processing from NVC for your family and go on to move to the US. You will have to fly back to Canada eventually for your naturalization interview, exam, etc. and wrap things up, get a new passport, and fly back to the US. Note that you need a reliable Canadian mailing address for processing your naturalization application since Citizenship & Immigration Canada won't communicate with non-Canadian addresses.

Unfortunately, i became a PR as of December last year. I believe that the 1095 days starts counting as a PR and the days before that don’t count towards it. I wouldn’t be able to apply until December of 2020

[Zangief 3]

6 hours ago, Brittany & Jamie said:

Unfortunately, i became a PR as of December last year. I believe that the 1095 days starts counting as a PR and the days before that don’t count towards it. I wouldn’t be able to apply until December of 2020

 

Couple things:

 

- Upto 2 years on a couple other statuses (worker, student as examples) prior to PR count half-time towards residency clock for naturalization. You may be able to get up to 1 year free on the Canadian citizenship clock.

 

- If everything moves super-normal and "on time" on the US side, you're about 1 year away from GCs for the family. i.e. Dec 2019. You simply need to slow things down by 6 months, and you're good to go ... when NVC receives the application and asks you to pay up $, simply wait 6 months. Then continue processing as usual. Instead of Dec 2019, everyone should get their IR1 visas in June 2020. They're valid for entry into the US upto ~6 months later, i.e. ~Dec 2020. Around late Nov 2020, you'd all drive up from BC to the WA border, land into the US to secure the GCs just before the IR1 visas expire, you would go back to Vancouver to wait for 2 more weeks, toss your Canadian Citizenship application in the mail and move permanently to the US a week later. About an year later, you fly back for fingerprints, exam, interview and secure your shiny new Canadian citizenship and go back to continue your lives as usual on the US side.

 

- On a tangential note, since you're a Canadian PR *and* married to a Canadian Citizen spouse, you will never lose the PR if you can prove you were always married and accompanying your spouse at the same address, etc. Your PR Card will expire every few years, you keep renewing it forever. Your PR status will never expire unless you separate or get divorced. Orthogonally, your Canadian citizenship clock time accrued will be lost, so hypothetically, if you move back to Canada say 20 years later, you will have to redo your 1095 days of residency before you can file (or meet whatever requirements the law states at that time).

 

In short, a couple weeks/months (under 6) for you will make the difference between becoming Canadian and not, and it may simplify a lot of things, esp. when you have spouse + step-kids etc., inheritances/RRSPs etc. on the Canadian side ... anyways, good luck.

[Brittany & Jamie 8]

56 minutes ago, Zangief said:

 

Couple things:

 

- Upto 2 years on a couple other statuses (worker, student as examples) prior to PR count half-time towards residency clock for naturalization. You may be able to get up to 1 year free on the Canadian citizenship clock.

 

- If everything moves super-normal and "on time" on the US side, you're about 1 year away from GCs for the family. i.e. Dec 2019. You simply need to slow things down by 6 months, and you're good to go ... when NVC receives the application and asks you to pay up $, simply wait 6 months. Then continue processing as usual. Instead of Dec 2019, everyone should get their IR1 visas in June 2020. They're valid for entry into the US upto ~6 months later, i.e. ~Dec 2020. Around late Nov 2020, you'd all drive up from BC to the WA border, land into the US to secure the GCs just before the IR1 visas expire, you would go back to Vancouver to wait for 2 more weeks, toss your Canadian Citizenship application in the mail and move permanently to the US a week later. About an year later, you fly back for fingerprints, exam, interview and secure your shiny new Canadian citizenship and go back to continue your lives as usual on the US side.

 

- On a tangential note, since you're a Canadian PR *and* married to a Canadian Citizen spouse, you will never lose the PR if you can prove you were always married and accompanying your spouse at the same address, etc. Your PR Card will expire every few years, you keep renewing it forever. Your PR status will never expire unless you separate or get divorced. Orthogonally, your Canadian citizenship clock time accrued will be lost, so hypothetically, if you move back to Canada say 20 years later, you will have to redo your 1095 days of residency before you can file (or meet whatever requirements the law states at that time).

 

In short, a couple weeks/months (under 6) for you will make the difference between becoming Canadian and not, and it may simplify a lot of things, esp. when you have spouse + step-kids etc., inheritances/RRSPs etc. on the Canadian side ... anyways, good luck.

Now that you put it this way.. i will look into it even further. That makes a lot more sense when you write it all out in your perspective, opposed to it in my head. Thank you thank you thank you !

[NikLR 13,220]

For US immigration unless you have a joint sponsor or cash assets equal to 3x the poverty guidelines I would not wait for NOA2 to move.  You may need current income if you don't have a joint sponsor. 

Since the children are not biologically yours I assume you have filed an I-130 for each? USC Immediate relative categories do not allow for derivatives unfortunately.  How many children?

 

The latest I suggest anyone moving is when you have notification of interview. Thats about 1 month before the interview.  Generally speaking that gives enough time to register kids for school, get a driver's license, look for jobs (as necessary), establish a lease and bills.