US Immigration from Canada

My husband and I are just starting the process and would greatly appreciate some insight from others based on our unique situation. Here is our story:

I am a USC and my husband is a Canadian citizen. He was born in Canada but moved to the US in the early 80s as a child when his dad got a job here. Through this he became an LPR and lived here until 2004. He went to college here, married a US citizen, worked as a biomedical engineer, and owned houses here. After a bad car accident and his marriage falling apart, he had no supports here so he moved back with his parents who had returned to Canada by that time. Since then he has worked and bought a house in BC. We met in early 2022 and have travelled back and forth to see each other since then. We were married here on 8/12/23. His intention is to move here with me and pursue a career change. Our original plan was that he would stay in Canada for two years while completing a degree program which would allow time for the consular processing route. That planned changed due to unforeseen circumstances and he would like to come here as soon as possible and go to school here. Unfortunately, by the time this change came about, it was too late to postpone the wedding and apply for a K-1 visa, so it seems that we are stuck with the consular processing route. If that is the case, here are our questions:

1. What, if any, impact would his previous LPR status have on the process? He still has an active US SSN. Is the CR-1/IR-1 still our only option?

2. Is he able to travel back and forth during the entire process? If so, up until now as a Canadian he has never had to have a formal visa to come here has a tourist. He simply fills out the brief form online and goes straight through customs at the airport. Does this change once you are in the application process? I apologize if this is a dumb question, but we just don't want to jeopardize anything unknowingly.

3. He has a criminal record from his early 20s here in the US. Not a violent or drug related crime and no other offenses since then. Will this be an issue?

4. Would he be able to apply for a work permit or some other advance permission to stay and work/study here temporarily during the CR-1 process?

Thank you for any advice!!

Okay so need input/ data/ anecdotes/ advice to help deciding a route.

I am a British citizen living and residing in BC Canada on permanent residency, 1 month short of being a citizen of Canada.

Partner is US citizen and lives permanently in MT USA. We live two hours away by car.

We are not yet married. Nor engaged. But we would do both in an instant. Pending visa requirements.

We want to have our lives together and do not know the best option, balancing efficiency, security, ease and time apart.

My understanding is we are 1.5 - 2 years away from any closure on this. And this is hurtful.

Family based options, source:

1- Fianc (e) Visa (K1)

2- Spousal Visa (K3)

3- Spousal Visa (IR1 / CR1)

4- Direct Consular Filing

All seem possible, with 1 & 3 being the obvious choices and the other 2, 4 being side door options that we found recently. Do not know the credibility of choosing these.

We have done a lot of reading and the more I read the less I am sure of the way to proceed. We desperately need advise, falling into a wormhole. We want to start out on the right foot and not choose an option that is going to extend being apart more than it needs to. Or extend the inability to work as is often the case, how does that benefit a new family starting out in a new country? Im not sure being dependent on resources really helps anyone.

I had a lawyer/ consultant from Visa Place tell me to disregard the fianc visa (mostly due to Canadian consulate wait times) and focus on spousal visa or one other side door option, involving being a Canadian citizen. Do the lawyers and consultants tend to have an ulterior motive behind advice? Are they skewed toward revenue generating options?

Processing times: I find every website has different information for processing times making my understanding worse and worse. Does both the fianc K1 and spousal CR1 have to go through the Canadian consulate? Is the wait times here as bad as they say? Are both options the same wait times? Can the Canadian consulate be avoided?

What are realistic expectations of processes - start to finish?

Can I lean on my British citizenship and go home to get a faster consulate time?

Direct Consular Filing: the key word in the descriptions here are 'typically'. Has anyone had any luck short cutting any process by going direct to consulate? Do they serve to help out people for any circumstances.

Consultants or lawyers: can anyone advise or suggest someone that can help? What experience have people had?

Thanks ya'll

Hi everyone

Hope everybody is fine I am from India

Is it fine to apply for Police clearance certificate from India and keep it with us before NVC asks for it and later submit when NVC asks

Will my PCC be still valid?

Or apply for PCC after NVC asks for it?

Which way is better as PCC from India takes 2 months to receive.

Two months ago today (June 25th,2023), USCIS received our Request for Evidence response for I-485. Should I contact USCIS for an update? Any of you had the same situation recently? Thank you for your help.

Has anyone received a Premium Processing email notice where the Petitioner is a person's name (not a company) and it shows the below?

Petitioner is John Doe while Beneficiary is Doe, John. I was hoping to find out if I was the only one or if my name as the petitioner was written backwards. Thanks in advance.

Petitioner: JOHN DOE
Petitioner Mailing Address:
XXX
Classification: XXX
Priority Date: XXX

Beneficiary: DOE, JOHN