Bring my canadian spouse to USA

[Blue_Bottle 0]

Hi Everyone,

 

I am new to this forum. I am a green card holder. Currently, working and living in New York City. My fiancée is a Canadian. I wonder what is the best way to sponsor him to USA after we get married. Option 1, if we apply though US consulate in Montreal, can he still come to visit me while I-130 is in process? and how long the process would be? I checked the priority date is " 7/1/2019 " for F2A category now. Does that mean he won't wait too long to get interviewed after we filed I-130? The other option is he move to US and file I-130 in the USA. As far as I know, if we chose to file it in the US, then he can't leave until his visa got approved. Form your experience, which would be better option for him? Thanks!

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

F2A is actually current now, table A is the relevant one. However (1) it may not remain current (2) processing time can still take a while (like maybe 1-2 years). Yes he should be able to come and visit you during the process, to be on the safe side he should bring proof of ties to return to Canada for each of those short term trips (job letter, apartment rental lease etc). He cannot just move to the US while you file - he cannot enter on a non immigrant status with the intent to stay. Please don’t go by what spouses of US citizens do - they do sometimes do dodgy things like that, overstay etc, but as IR visa categories they get forgiven those transgressions - a spouse of a LPR does NOT get forgiven and he could be denied and even face a ban, especially if he misrepresented his intent at entry. Do it the right, safe, way.

[Blue_Bottle 0]

1 minute ago, SusieQQQ said:

F2A is actually current now, table A is the relevant one. However (1) it may not remain current (2) processing time can still take a while (like maybe 1-2 years). Yes he should be able to come and visit you during the process, to be on the safe side he should bring proof of ties to return to Canada for each of those short term trips (job letter, apartment rental lease etc). He cannot just move to the US while you file - he cannot enter on a non immigrant status with the intent to stay. Please don’t go by what spouses of US citizens do - they do sometimes do dodgy things like that, overstay etc, but as IR visa categories they get forgiven those transgressions - a spouse of a LPR does NOT get forgiven and he could be denied and even face a ban, especially if he misrepresented his intent at entry. Do it the right, safe, way.

Thank you for your reply. Can he move to US and I file I-130 then 1-485 for him? Is this option got to be 1 or 2 years as well? Can he work in the US after I-485 adjust his status??

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

2 minutes ago, Blue_Bottle said:

Thank you for your reply. Can he move to US and I file I-130 then 1-485 for him? Is this option got to be 1 or 2 years as well? Can he work in the US after I-485 adjust his status??

Let me rephrase. How is he going to “move to the US”? On what visa or status will he enter to do so? Is it a visa or status that will require him to lie to the CBP officer on entry about what his purpose of travel is?

[SalishSea 17,920]

9 minutes ago, Blue_Bottle said:

Thank you for your reply. Can he move to US and I file I-130 then 1-485 for him? Is this option got to be 1 or 2 years as well? Can he work in the US after I-485 adjust his status??

That would be immigration fraud.  He needs to have a visa, like everyone else.

[Blue_Bottle 0]

I got it now. We Will apply I-130 through US consulate in Montreal. Thanks. 

[payxibka 10,045]

Just now, Blue_Bottle said:

I got it now. We Will apply I-130 through US consulate in Montreal. Thanks. 

The i130 is sent to the uscis,  not Montreal 

[Cryssiekins 976]

Just for clarity - you must be married for this process.  Fiancé visas are only for USC’s.  

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

7 minutes ago, Blue_Bottle said:

I got it now. We Will apply I-130 through US consulate in Montreal. Thanks. 

As above, I 130 sent to uscis; he will interview in Montreal once they have received the processed and ready case. 

[JFH 12,190]

It’s confusing. The title of the the thread says “spouse” but the post talks about a fiancé. You have to be married. LPRs cannot bring fiancés into the country. 

 

Added to that, if you received LPR status by a previous marriage to someone else then there is a five-year waiting period before you can petition your spouse. 

Edited September 26, 2019 by JFH

[Dashinka 24,589]

46 minutes ago, JFH said:

It’s confusing. The title of the the thread says “spouse” but the post talks about a fiancé. You have to be married. LPRs cannot bring fiancés into the country. 

 

Added to that, if you received LPR status by a previous marriage to someone else then there is a five-year waiting period before you can petition your spouse. 

The OP did ask about bring them here after they get married, so I don't think they looking for a K1.  But the other item you mentioned could definitely be a factor.  More information needed.

 

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by Bill & Katya

[RCable 75]

First, you have to get married. Once you are married you will file the I-130 and send it to the USCIS lockbox. They will send you a receipt with the processing center it was sent to.

 

Then you will wait for that be approved/accepted. This can take a while. Each processing center has different wait times (you can look them up by searching for “USCIS Processing Times”. You don’t get a say in where it goes). The wait can be over a year just for this process depending on where it goes.

 

After this is approved then you start the second part, which is the visa application & affadavit it support. After all of these documents are upload and accepted, you then have to wait for a visa interview at the Montreal embassy. This embassy has a bit of a backlog and could take up to 6 months before you get your interview appointment. He will also need to have an embassy approved physical before his interview. But you can’t do this early as they are only good for a short period of time.

 

He can only move down after he has his visa approved and gets his passport back.

 

Both the I-130 page on the US gov site and forums in here have all of the instructions you need to file the I-130. You have to send quite a few supporting documents as well to prove bona fide marriage. 
 

The whole process will take 1-2 years before he can move down, and it could be longer for an LPR, especially since Montreal is backlogged.

 

Read the full process on the gov site and read about it in the forums here. It’s confusing at first but once you read about it a few times it will all make sense.