US Immigration from Canada

Hello! This website has been a very helpful resource for our Visa journey thus far, so I figured I'd make an account to ask some questions:

The status of my Visa application on the CEAC website has been set to "Ready" since October 3rd, it is now November 23rd and I haven't recieved anything in the mail or by email regarding Packet 3. On top of this, the CEAC website hasn't been allowing us to check the status anymore and doesn't load anything following pressing the submit button. Not even a message telling me that anything was filled out wrong or they couldn't find my case. I can confirm it's set to "Immigrant Visa" and I am entering my MTL number correctly. We've tried multiple devices on different internet connections as well.

I do have all the documents for Packet 3 ready, and I've seen that some users on here have successfully received Packet 4 by emailing their documents to the Montreal Embassy before they recieved Packet 3. Some users never even received Packet 3 at all and followed through with this. Is this a good idea? If so, what email should I send my documents to?

It's almost been 2 months and I'm worried that my Packet 3 has been lost in the mail, and not being able to check the status of my Visa case is worrying me. Is there anything I can do?

Hi Everyone,

I am trying to get my ducks in a row for the upcoming 2024 tax season and was hoping someone could point me in the right direction on where to look and any other helpful resources.

Background:

- I'm a Canadian Citizen who recently immigrated into the US on Oct 30, married on Nov 5 and filed for the AOS/Work Permit and SSN on Nov 8.

- I believe I will be considered as a non-resident alien as I don't meet the green card test nor the substantial presence test.

- I received my last paycheque from my Canadian employer on Oct 31

- I still have an RRSP with more than $10k in it (it has mainly Canadian but some US ETFs that occasionally pay out dividends), but I did liquidate my TFSA and Non registered accounts before moving to the USA.

- I didn't have any property or substantial assets that I had to sell before moving.

My Understanding of the process:

- My understanding is that I have to file my Canadian taxes first and let the CRA know that I am no longer a Canadian Tax Payer and have moved to the USA. My first question is does this still apply based on my Visa status. Secondly, how do I go about paying my departure tax/if the departure tax is relevant to me?

- Once I have my Taxes filed in Canada, I then move onto filing them in the USA with my partner. I know there are two options to file, Married jointly or Married but separately. The overall consensus is that it is generally better to file jointly, but depending on circumstances that may not always be the case. My yearly income was <$100,000 CAD, so I am wondering if there is a tool where I can see how to maximize our returns.

- Since I am a non-resident alien, I would not be required to file an FBAR.

Other Questions:

- Has anyone been in my shoes, and if so, was the filing process straight forward or am I better off hiring tax help?

- My fellow Canucks, which tax software did you use when filing and how did you go about navigating the departure tax?

- Would my investments that I liquidated count towards my income when I am filing in the USA? Even if they were in a tax protected account?

I am all ears and would love any help I could get!

Cheers!

On 6/5/2024 at 11:00 AM, muamenulano said:

yeah, i'm honestly shocked at her not being denied. I dont know if this will be helpful but the only options i can think of are:

• it is discretionary and we got lucky
• she was never actually in jail for the shoplifting charge, just detained at the station for 3 days (though that's not how i understand the law to work)
• we have been dating for nearly a decade so there wouldn't really be any question about it being a bona fide relationship
• (i personally think this is shitty if true but the thought did occur) Japan being such a low marriage fraud country, they might be less strict in their approval process
• I'm a recently graduated law student. I don't think that would do it but maybe.
• my joint sponsor is fairly well off. maybe they look at that? (again, shitty if true)

I'm happy to answer any questions if it helps but that's about all i can think of.

I don t know if you ll answer as your post is back in June. We were JUST informed by my senator that my fianc is denied under CIMT and to file I-601. I m at a loss at how your fianc was approved. My fianc stole a pair of shoes from his job in 2009- so almost 16 years ago now- was never in jail, paid for the shoes and fine, and that was that. We ve been approved every step of the way in this process and they ve now held his passport for SEVEN months before dropping this bomb on us. They didn t even ask my fianc about it during his interview!! I just retained a lawyer using emergency $ because I just don t know what to do anymore. Even on the instructions of the 601 is says that you don t need a waiver if it was one CIMT. So now we wait. Pay more. And our family suffers in the meantime. If anyone else wants to chime in too with their experience, I d appreciate it too!

Hi everyone!

My fiance's interview is next week and we are working with the consulate in Montreal. I have been reading that we must submit our paperwork to the consulate online, however, we need an "invoice ID number that the National Visa Center sent you" to continue on the screen. We have reached out to NVC as well as the consulate in Montreal with no response.

I have also seen some nasty threads regarding *NOT* having to do this. I am mainly concerned about Montreal Consulate specifically and if this was something that needs to be done before the interview.

Thank you for your time and help!

Hello,

I am under the EB1 a category and I went for my interview on March 11 2024, I was handed 221 g to submit husband's clearance and our passports. Submitted in July 12 received July 15, all of a sudden our passports was just returned without any other instructions. What do I do. What does this mean. Has this happened to anyone. Our medicals has long expired . Do you think it was returned because of the medicals? They haven't requested it yet. What do I do. Freaking out here. Any help or anyone experienced this