Will my spouse be allowed to enter US during pandemic?

[AmeriCanadian91 3]

My spouse and I currently live in Canada, but will be moving to the US next week. We’re requesting DCF, but have not heard back yet, so my spouse will need to enter as a tourist. My question is, will he likely be allowed in? We will be driving across the border with our uhaul. I know the land border is currently closed to non-essential travel, but my understanding is that he should be fine because he is accompanying his US Citizen spouse (me). Also, he’s a UK citizen (not Canadian), but has not been in the UK/Schengen area for a year, so I don’t expect that to be an issue.
 

On the other hand, it will be clear that I’m moving to the US, so I fear that the border agent will assume he’s entering with the intention of living there, when really he’s just helping me move and will be returning to Australia afterward (he’s a permanent resident there), until he gets his green card.

 

Should my spouse be fine when crossing the border? Is there anything I haven’t considered that may help/hurt his chances?

[vanrntocalirn 12]

I’m a Canadian Citizen and I’ve travelled back and forth from Canada/US to visit my husband multiple times while waiting for our I-130. Just bring your marriage certificate, and copy of your spouse’s return flight, work schedule/commitments, or housing lease/mortgage documents to show he still has ties to Australia to show them that he has the intention of returning and not illegally staying in the US. 

[AmeriCanadian91 3]

22 minutes ago, vanrntocalirn said:

I’m a Canadian Citizen and I’ve travelled back and forth from Canada/US to visit my husband multiple times while waiting for our I-130. Just bring your marriage certificate, and copy of your spouse’s return flight, work schedule/commitments, or housing lease/mortgage documents to show he still has ties to Australia to show them that he has the intention of returning and not illegally staying in the US. 

He’s moving in with his parents, since we can’t afford to pay for 2 separate homes and he can’t stay with me in the US beyond 90 days. He doesn’t have a job there yet, but expects he can work at his parents’ workplace. Would a letter from them or their employer be enough?

[canadian_wife 1,823]

As someone who was denied entry for 'immigrant intent' your husband's entry to the US is not a slam dunk.  What ties does he have to Canada?  Because it looks a lot like he is moving with you without proper paperwork. 

 

Good luck 

[AmeriCanadian91 3]

4 minutes ago, canadian_wife said:

As someone who was denied entry for 'immigrant intent' your husband's entry to the US is not a slam dunk.  What ties does he have to Canada?  Because it looks a lot like he is moving with you without proper paperwork. 

 

Good luck 

He has no ties to Canada, like I said, he’s planning to move back home to Australia. We’ve been living together in Canada for a year, but unfortunately, I recently lost my job here and just got a job in California with a start date in 3 weeks. We are currently trying to pursue Direct Consular Filing so we don’t have to separate for too long, but in the meantime, he’s not able to stay in Canada. We would have to pay close to $5k each month just for rent if he were to live and work here and I were to live and work in California. But I have to take this job. 
 

Our solution is for him to stay with his parents and work there, until he has his green card, but I still need help moving. We have 2 huskies, so I definitely can’t imagine me doing that drive on my own while taking care of them, and then having to unpack all our furniture and belongings by myself. Not to mention getting movers would be too expensive for us right now.

 

This is why I’m asking if this is an issue and what we should do?

[Marieke H 2,519]

It does look like he is moving with you and planning to stay, even if that is not your intention. Having a letter from his future employer (his parents) would help, and it might also be good if he could show that he has already purchased his flight to leave the country before his 90 days are up.

[chancecody 125]

4 hours ago, AmeriCanadian91 said:

My spouse and I currently live in Canada, but will be moving to the US next week. We’re requesting DCF, but have not heard back yet, so my spouse will need to enter as a tourist. My question is, will he likely be allowed in? We will be driving across the border with our uhaul. I know the land border is currently closed to non-essential travel, but my understanding is that he should be fine because he is accompanying his US Citizen spouse (me). Also, he’s a UK citizen (not Canadian), but has not been in the UK/Schengen area for a year, so I don’t expect that to be an issue.
 

On the other hand, it will be clear that I’m moving to the US, so I fear that the border agent will assume he’s entering with the intention of living there, when really he’s just helping me move and will be returning to Australia afterward (he’s a permanent resident there), until he gets his green card.

 

Should my spouse be fine when crossing the border? Is there anything I haven’t considered that may help/hurt his chances?

Hi there,

 

You are correct. If you are crossing the border full of stuff with the intention to move back to the US, the border agent will assume your spouse is also entering with the intention of living in the US. Your spouse must show strong ties to his country of citizenship for a B2 visa. We have been in a similar situation in the past that’s why we avoid crossing the land border together as a couple. We always fly.

 

Where are you in Canada? If you are in Toronto, have your spouse fly to Buffalo and meet him there after crossing the land border alone. You may or may not have issues with land crossing together but if you don’t want the headache, you can have him fly to Buffalo.

 

Note: I am Canadian and my spouse is a USC so our situation is not exactly the same but I am just relaying to you our own experience crossing the border together as an American-Canadian couple even with NEXUS on hand as we are low risk. We didn’t have any issue crossing the border together if there is no luggage or personal effects in the car. They gave us trouble when we crossed the land border to go camping in Upstate New York pre-COVID because our car had full of stuff LOL. They thought we were moving in. 

Edited August 20, 2021 by chancecody

[carmel34 3,639]

Be completely honest when you cross into the US and hope for the best.  Worst case scenario, he has to fly from Canada to Australia to wait out the spousal visa process.  Best case, he is let in for a few weeks or months then will have to go to Australia.  DCF takes a while even if approved, so be ready for anything.  Good luck!

[AmeriCanadian91 3]

18 hours ago, chancecody said:

Hi there,

 

You are correct. If you are crossing the border full of stuff with the intention to move back to the US, the border agent will assume your spouse is also entering with the intention of living in the US. Your spouse must show strong ties to his country of citizenship for a B2 visa. We have been in a similar situation in the past that’s why we avoid crossing the land border together as a couple. We always fly.

 

Where are you in Canada? If you are in Toronto, have your spouse fly to Buffalo and meet him there after crossing the land border alone. You may or may not have issues with land crossing together but if you don’t want the headache, you can have him fly to Buffalo.

 

Note: I am Canadian and my spouse is a USC so our situation is not exactly the same but I am just relaying to you our own experience crossing the border together as an American-Canadian couple even with NEXUS on hand as we are low risk. We didn’t have any issue crossing the border together if there is no luggage or personal effects in the car. They gave us trouble when we crossed the land border to go camping in Upstate New York pre-COVID because our car had full of stuff LOL. They thought we were moving in. 

Would you consider strong ties to be: a plane ticket, affidavit from his parents of planned residence, and a job offer from his parents' employer? I live in Toronto, but I just checked and a ticket to Buffalo is like $600. We might have him fly to Chicago, since that's on our route, but that would mean an 8-hr drive alone for me and he'd have to wait 3 hours before and after his flight.

 

2 hours ago, carmel34 said:

Be completely honest when you cross into the US and hope for the best.  Worst case scenario, he has to fly from Canada to Australia to wait out the spousal visa process.  Best case, he is let in for a few weeks or months then will have to go to Australia.  DCF takes a while even if approved, so be ready for anything.  Good luck!

If we're approved for DCF, are we still allowed to go through that process when neither of us are living in Canada?

[chancecody 125]

57 minutes ago, AmeriCanadian91 said:

Would you consider strong ties to be: a plane ticket, affidavit from his parents of planned residence, and a job offer from his parents' employer? I live in Toronto, but I just checked and a ticket to Buffalo is like $600. We might have him fly to Chicago, since that's on our route, but that would mean an 8-hr drive alone for me and he'd have to wait 3 hours before and after his flight.

 

Yes, but it depends on the border agent you get that day and their mood. Every alien is presumed to be an intending immigrant and the burden of proof rests on your UK Citizen spouse to prove non-immigrant intent. Crossing the border for non-US citizen is a privilege not a right. Based on what you told us, your UK Citizen spouse was LIVING with you in Canada. They know how long you both had been living in Canada. You did not say your UK Citizen spouse was a tourist in Canada. You said both of you LIVED in Canada.  Now that you are going to move back and LIVE in the United States, the border agent may assume that your non-citizen spouse will live with you in the US as you both were LIVING together in Canada. You already have this in the back of your head that’s why you asked….it is safe to assume that the border agent will assume the same thing. It is all about risk assessment and how much you are comfortable if your spouse was turned back. I am not discouraging you to drive with your non-citizen spouse to cross the border together. I just want you to consider any slight possibility that your hunch or gut feeling is correct.

 

For me, I have crossed the land border alone hundreds of times using my NEXUS and the US border agents are always friendly and just wave me through to pass no questions asked. However, when I am traveling with my US Citizen spouse by car and crossing the land border, even when both of us have NEXUS cards, we automatically get flagged for additional screening. I had strong ties to Canada (my USC spouse was a Canadian Permanent Resident prior to moving back to the US) so they always let us through after thorough questioning because both of us were confident that the Canadian citizen spouse had no immigrant intent. 

 

 

[AmeriCanadian91 3]

9 hours ago, chancecody said:

Yes, but it depends on the border agent you get that day and their mood. Every alien is presumed to be an intending immigrant and the burden of proof rests on your UK Citizen spouse to prove non-immigrant intent. Crossing the border for non-US citizen is a privilege not a right. Based on what you told us, your UK Citizen spouse was LIVING with you in Canada. They know how long you both had been living in Canada. You did not say your UK Citizen spouse was a tourist in Canada. You said both of you LIVED in Canada.  Now that you are going to move back and LIVE in the United States, the border agent may assume that your non-citizen spouse will live with you in the US as you both were LIVING together in Canada. You already have this in the back of your head that’s why you asked….it is safe to assume that the border agent will assume the same thing. It is all about risk assessment and how much you are comfortable if your spouse was turned back. I am not discouraging you to drive with your non-citizen spouse to cross the border together. I just want you to consider any slight possibility that your hunch or gut feeling is correct.

 

For me, I have crossed the land border alone hundreds of times using my NEXUS and the US border agents are always friendly and just wave me through to pass no questions asked. However, when I am traveling with my US Citizen spouse by car and crossing the land border, even when both of us have NEXUS cards, we automatically get flagged for additional screening. I had strong ties to Canada (my USC spouse was a Canadian Permanent Resident prior to moving back to the US) so they always let us through after thorough questioning because both of us were confident that the Canadian citizen spouse had no immigrant intent. 

 

 

Thanks everyone, we've decided to play it safe and have my spouse fly from Toronto to Chicago, since that's on our route (and flights to Buffalo are more expensive). Is this generally a safe bet, in comparison, or just slightly better chances?

 

On a separate note, as a US Citizen do I have to do anything when importing my personal belongings? I've been looking into it since I had planned on crossing with my partner, but if I'm alone, perhaps I don't have to do anything? I've found that I shouldn't have to pay any duties if I've had everything for more than a year, but I'm not sure if I have to go through the same process as immigrants (e.g. creating inventory and assigning value to items).

Edited August 22, 2021 by AmeriCanadian91