Canada to US, now US to Canada. Help?

[mess 0]

Ok, here is the scoop and I need big help if you have ANY experience in this particular matter. Thanks in advance!

Canadian husband decided to immigrate here via K-1 in 04. We have followed ALL the rules and did everything leading up to AOS timely and correctly.

As of August of this year he received an EAD denial based on the fact our I-485 was denied. We called USCIS that day to figure out what was going as we had never heard anything of a denial going on. (We check periodically to see how our case was moving along - we had always been told "It looks fine, everything is pending".)

The immigration officer we spoke with that day jokingly said it could take forever to be approved and that of course 3 years wasn’t a ridiculous amount of time for NO correspondence. He also mentioned that our case did not show denied but that it was still pending.

Being the pessimist that I am we decided to make an appointment at our local office. The immigration officer that checked us in said that any denial would have gone back to the original address that we put on the I-485. We currently reside at that address and have not received a word.

Of course when we went back to sit down with an immigration officer she had a completely different story to tell. Without even looking at our paperwork she said "There is nothing I can do for you." My husband asked her kindly to at least look at our documentation. She said your case is denied and I don't know why - you will have to ask for that in written format. I said to her no offense but all of your correspondence seems to get lost in the wind, which is the whole reason we are here.

She offered up that we could file a motion to re-open the case but then she stated that we only had 30 days to do it and that clock started ticking on 9/14/07 even though our paper says we were denied in '05??? Then she continued to say that it would cost $400 and there is no guarantee at all that it would make a difference b/c we don’t actually have "the" denial letter.

Our second option is to totally start over and re-apply at a $1000. And she went on to say that because we have a previous "denial" that it brings our case possibility down largely.

At this point, we have trekked the US immigration path for 4 years and are absolutely no closer than we were.

Our idea is to turn around and try for me to immigrate into Canada.

I’m not sure what will involved and if it will be any harder or easier but I would rather take a new path at this point than travel down the same old one.

ANY comments, advice, etc would be IMMENSELY appreciated.

Thank you!

[trailmix 77]

hi,

Well - not good! I don't really have much help to offer, the whole denial thing is hard to work out when you don't even know why you have been denied.

However if you have decided that you are now going to try immigrating to Canada a vj member - djc - posted this in another thread yesterday:

I wanted to jump in here since I know a little bit about Canadian immigration. I have not gone through it yet, but have been researching it.

First, if you get married in Ontario, the license is fairly quick but the certificate takes 90 days to process, then you have to apply to have a copy sent to you (another week). We got married in the courthouse and this time frame *IS* true. Yes, it is ridiculous.

The rest of this is from my readings:

If you cross to Canada with your Marriage Certificate (I feel like something else would work, but I don't know, I think there is some way around the 3 month for a MC thing) (I meant that I think you can cross, get married and stay), the border patrol will give you 6 months temporary residency. You may not work, however during this time you should apply for PR, and after you get your initial approval, you may work. The approval SHOULD take about 3-4 months.

*OR*

You can get married and apply for Canadian PR from the States. This will be a shorter wait time for your intial approval, because unlike the US, Canada wants to reunite families.

Canada is full of red tape too, but it is a lot easier to deal with.

My Husband is a Canadian PR - so we have done the Canadian immigration thing - however it was like 7 years ago and I guess it wasn't too bad as I can't remember much about it at all

Personally I would be seeking a copy of your denial letter, perhaps there is something to be done about it but until you know why you were denied it's impossible to do anything. A consultation with a good immigration attorney at this point might be a good idea.

Good luck !

[Flames9_RN 358]

I have no "bright" ideas, sorrry!! but I have NO confidence in the local infopass offices! back in 2003 my wife (fiance at that time) went to a local office----there was no appts, it was first come, first served!!! She waited in line ALL day, and finally go tin just before closing! Saw an immigration official and he told her it would be next to impossible for me (Cdn) to come to the USA!!! He mad no mention of the different visas, just said it would be next to impossible! She left in tears, like who woulnd't, I'm a super duper guy,lol! I'm just stating that the (some) infopass offices are just as clueless as the phone operators!! Hope it works out for u.

[h_bomb 0]

there are 2 ways to immigrate to canada as a spouse: either from within the country, or outside of the country. i did it from within the country, so i'm not sure what the rules are since both of you are outside of canada. the total process costs about $2,000 CDN and from within canada, takes about a year. however, you only have to file one packet of papers and at the end, you get your interview and permanent residence card. no adjustment of status #######. you will not be able to work for about 7 months using this method, but i was able to cross into the US everyday for work. www.cic.gc.ca feel free to ask me any other questions. the website isn't that great.

[h_bomb 0]

another idea: can a lawyer help you with your denial mess? i know lawyers are evil and all, but in this case, it might not be a bad idea. hell, i'm thinking of hiring my own once we have to do AOS. i see too many horror stories on here and everytime i've called USCIS, they've told me seriously inaccurate information. i kinda regretted hiring a lawyer, but now i'm kinda glad, because i don't think immigration will jerk me around now.

Edited October 10, 2007 by h_bomb

[mess 0]

Thank you so much for all of your input so far.

I think we are going with the idea of Canada mostly because we have been down the US path.

I think I am going to try to apply outside of Canada.

Thanks again!!

[kimmbo 0]

First I wanted to say Im so sorry that you are going through all of this... and wanted to give you a websight that I used 5 1/2 years ago when I Immigrated to Canada...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canadian_immigration/

There are alot of very helpful people there, and is very active.. I havent posted in the group in a couple of years but I was there the other day reading some of the newer posts...The Canadian process was much easier than the US process...and like h_bomb I did my process within Canada... I think the cost has been REDUCED since I did mine in 2002...not sure of the fees now..and yes again like h_bomb said its all done with ONE packet!!! you send it and wait.....when I applied the process was taking about 4 months start to finish, but of course by the time I got my paperwork in we got stuck in a backlog...and mine took 8 months almost to the day.. ( I seem to get stuck in backlogs no matter what process Im doing first VSC, now waiting for Montreal..LOL)

I wish you the best of luck!!

[maya62 7]

Well, I don't want to dissuade you from your path to Canada... heck, I'm seriously considering it myself (even though my husband is from Nepal because we have such a whackjob for a prez and my hopes are fading for the next election)

BUT ANYWAY...

I'm shocked that your husband came on a K-1 FOUR years ago and still does not have a greencard! I'll try to put this mildly and suggest that you contact your favorite congress-person's immigration liaison immediately and ask for help. Or all three (2 Senators & 1 Rep). I'd make a brief timeline of what's happened so far and march right into their offices if you can. That is just outrageous. And I'd do it whether or not I was planning to move to Canada! You have submitted your apps, paid your fees, and deserve an answer... not this ridiculous, protracted run-around!

I hope you do it and let us know what happens...

Maya

[Reba 2]

I must say I agree with maya! After this long to wait, you should get your local reps invovled and fast! There is no reason the local office should tell you they have no information about your AOS, that's absolute bullshit. Call your Senators, the Governor, whomever you can, and get them to find out what the heck is going on.

And in the meantime, start the paperwork to move to Canada. Paperwork's a ######. And make sure to keep copies of Everything, just like USCIS! When my hubby and I tried Candian immgration, they kept losing stuff. We gave up.

[warlord 72]

I must say I agree with maya! After this long to wait, you should get your local reps invovled and fast! There is no reason the local office should tell you they have no information about your AOS, that's absolute bullshit. Call your Senators, the Governor, whomever you can, and get them to find out what the heck is going on.

And in the meantime, start the paperwork to move to Canada. Paperwork's a ######. And make sure to keep copies of Everything, just like USCIS! When my hubby and I tried Candian immgration, they kept losing stuff. We gave up.

Yep I third talking to congress and your state senators on this...

[lynamon 0]

I most definitely would be contacting congress to inquire

[Lyric 0]

Just wanted to give you a link to another board that might give you some insight on immigrating to Canada if you end up having to go that route. Hopefully you can get things worked out for the U.S. side. At any rate here is the link http://www.roadtocanada.com/ Down on the bottom right is a link to a site specifically for people from the United States. It's a very informative site. Reba, from here actually told me about it last year.

I just hope that it all works out for you. No matter what direction you have to end up going.

[mess 0]

Again, thank you all so much for your responses.

Today we actually found out they had the wrong A number on the denial paper, and we also happen to find the same incorrect A number on a previous document.

Hoping it might shed some clarity we frantically called USCIS and were quickly discouraged after making our way thru three "lovely" immigration officers.

Not only did they completely shrug off the errors that were found on the denial letter but said there was nothing they could do.

I pointed out that the I-765 denial letter had a 2005 denial date which NO ONE seems to know where it came from.

I also questioned how could they have possibly denied the I-765 in August because of the AOS denial if they didnt deny AOS until 9/14/07????

They of course had no clue. They just shuffled it all off as errors and typos.

At this point, even if there was a chance in hell we were still pending I would write a letter to stop all action on the application. I have had it w/ US immigration.

I have never felt so screwed over.

Thanks for listening to me ramble..

...and of course, thanks SOOOO much for the advice.

Edited October 11, 2007 by mess

[thermophile 0]

I don't blame you wanting to leave the US. Nothing (not even the 2000 elections) made me want to leave the country more than dealing with immigration. Even though I'm just now in the middle of moving our life from Canada to the US, I'm already wistfully dreaming of the day that we'll move back. But I also agree with the others that you deserve answers, talk to your senators.

Canadian family immigration is sooooooooo much easier than US. The fees have gone down, I think that now it's less than $1000 for the whole process. The paperwork seems a little daunting, but remember that you're doing it all at once-no more forms once you get those filled out. I second what Reba said about copies-CIC lost our file too. but even with that delay it still took less than a year. The process is pretty much the same within or out of country as far as I could tell-I was out of country and it seemed the only difference was we send our packet to Vagerville (sp?). the processing time is shorter if you are out of country. Some people talk about getting work authorization while they are processing but in my case the processing times for the work authorizations was longer than for the landing visa.

I liked britishexpats.com as a forum for info

[mess 0]

I had heard, long before now that Canada Immigration was much much painless than US.

It was sort of ironic on the phone the other day - I was calling US & Canadian Consulates for info and I must admit the ONE Canadian officer I spoke with was 10x more helpful and polite than the 4 US officers.

It just sort of made me giggle.

Thanks for all of the forum links, there is nothing better than experience when it comes to immigration!!!