William S

1. Since it appears to only be a 2 month overstay then no, if she leaves now she should be fine. If it is too much longer she can face a ban.

2. Since she was admitted on the pretense that she was going to leave, then she needs to leave. If she is in the final stages of NVC it won't be too long now.

good luck

Thanks for the reply.

To add to my original post.

When she was being admitted past weekend, custom officer told her that she needs to stay only for 6 months when she visits and she put a stamp on her passport (B2, expires on August). She was not told she "needs/must" leave for Canada this week. That sound like to me that she was granted full 6 months stay despite the issues that they found with her staying last time (before leaving for mexico)?

She needs to return to Canada to handle some stuff anyway but were wondering staying longer here because she was planning to get back to US in few weeks and stay with me while waiting on her final stage of NVC. Will she have similar problem reentering in few weeks if she returns to Canada this week?

Thanks,

My wife is a canadian and she's been in and out of US while waiting for I-130 and NVC.

We traveled from US to to Mexico last week and when we tried to reenter US past weekend, she was pulled aside at custom in the air port and was told that she over stayed in US. Apparently she's been here for 8 months according to custom agent.

After some intimidation from agents, she told them she was planning to go back to canada this week. She was admitted to US and is with me right now.

Question 1: Will this "over stay" cause any problem with her NVC and interview process? She's in final stage of the NVC at this point.

Question 2. I'm guessing that staying longer and not going back to canada this week will make things worse? As I expect that agent has put comments on her passport past weekend.

Appreciate any insight.

Thanks

Okay, good to know. US universities are off the table until the marriage paperwork is in place.

Presumably we can also just get married in the US right away and file the CR-1 the day after? The wedding ceremony could, in that case, be postponed until a later date, but the marriage would be legitimate and legal as soon as the paperwork is filed?

Can I still enter and leave the US as a visitor if I have a CR-1 application underway?

If you intend to get married in US, you must go thru K1 process. If you come without the K1 visa and get married in US, then you have to go thru the AoS process and not CR-1 process. This will put you back in the grey area....

Yes and yes

It seems that border agents are extra careful when it comes to visitor who are already in CR-1 or in any other immigration processing. Technically you can enter US as a visitor for up to 6 months in a given year but I hear that they stop some who doesn't show strong ties to their home country (Canada in your case).

Some sort of paper that shows that you intent to return to Canada after a visit (mortgage/rent paper, job/employee verification, return ticket if traveling by public transportation, etc) usually help when you go thru the border.

Question on birth certificate:

My wife is currently a Canadian citizen but she was born in South Korea and immigrated to Canada with her family. Due to this, she does not have birth certificate as normal Canadians would have. Does she need to have her family relationship record from South Korea and translated into English? (Its my understanding that South Korea do not issue birth certificate) She left South Korea almost 3 decades ago when she was 5 so I'm not even sure where we can obtain her records from South Korea at this point. Is there other documents (hopefully from Canada) that can be used instead of birth certificate in her case?

Since you are just engaged and not married, you would go thru K1 Visa process in order to marry in US. You can of course get married in Canada and go thru the CR-1 process as well. K1 process can start now but CR-1 will have to wait till you are actually married.

Student Visa is a no intent to immigrate Visa which basically means you are declaring that you have no intention to move/immigrate to US. Obviously, that is not the case for you since you intend to marry your fiance and immigrate to US. This route is illegal but used by many. They claim they came to US, and met someone special and just had to get married. (AoS process) Obviously that would be a lie in your case and if USCIS ever finds out you lied on their petition, it would cause serious problem with your petition(s). Illegal way is faster but It would be up to you to take the risk.

CONGRATS ! !

What day were you transferred to Texas so the rest of us can get an idea of what dates they are processing?

We were transferred to Texas on the 27th of NOV. I would love to see an approval today ! LOL Wishful thinking

Thanks!

I filled the transfer date on Timeline but looks like the transfer date does not show on timeline....

Anyway, it was transferred to Texas on Nov 27. Hopefully you will have your approval soon!

Received a text and email on Dec 27 for Approval of my I-130 for my wife. My PD was April 16 and it was transferred to Texas last month.

I received 2 emails from USCIS couple of days ago and hard copy of the transfer notice in mail today. It went to Texas according to the hard copy. I wonder what the time line is at texas.......

Thanks for the good work. I have contacted both senators and congressman of my district of this issue.

Hi,

I'm filing I-130 for my wife whom I married in 8/27/2011 in Tornoto, ON, Canada.

She's currently in US as a visitor.

I have three questions:

1. Do I file Adjustment of Status since she's in US as a visitor or does it only apply to the Residents?

2. About the sections 22 on the I-130 form.

If I need to do the adjustment of status, then it looks like I have to put Norfolk,VA as I live in central virginia.

Or If we need to do the consulate then do I put the Montrel, Canada there since that is the closest US consulate from Toronto?

3. She's here as a visitor but crossed the peace bridge and didn't get anything stamped on her passpord (I-94?). How do I fill out the section 14 of the relative info.

Thanks

As flames said, do not hire a lawyer. I stupidly also hired one and it cost us $4,000.00 for them to just do the paperwork which, after finding VJ, I could have easily done myself.

I don't plan to hire a lawyer for documentations/filing. I went thru the US naturalization processing without one and I was just fine.

I might consult on the extension of stay while CR-1 is being processed..

You can always apply to extend her stay, however simply wanting to stay together during the CR-1 visa isn't a good enough reason. If it is rejected, she'll have to leave but it shouldn't affect the Cr-1 visa process

If you decide to exten her stay, here is the link

http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/C1en.pdf

Each case is reviewed to determine if the extension is warrented

good luck

Thanks for the info. Based on the linked document. It sounds like at least it's all legal for her to file for an extension. Even if the extension is rejected, while the extension application is being processed, she's legal so it should be fine with CR-1 process.

With current time-line of CR-1 process, we only need maybe a month or two more before she needs to return to Canada anyway so I think going thru the motion would by us that needed time.

Of course, it's still not optimal solution and there are certain risk involved so something that I will definetly have to consult with immigration lawyer.

I'm not the expert on this and I know those who have done CR-1's will give you the 100% correct answer, but a tourist visa and a spousal visa are two very different things.

That's exactly what I was getting at. Can't we file both since they are a separate thing? Would NVC or whoever issue tourist visa frown upon seeing two separate cases? 1 for CR1 and 1 for extension of the visit? Would it impact CR-1 processing? Or is it totally different from my friend's case since Canadian citizens don't actually need tourist visa to visit US?

Hi,

We haven't filed anything yet as we are waiting for a wedding on Aug 27 so that we can file for CR1. While waiting, we are trying to plan things so that we can be together as much as we can while going thru the process.

I understand that since my fiancee is a canadian citizen, she can visit US. I also understand that she may not be allowed as it's really upto the border agents. Let's just say she was allowed to visit after filing CR1. As it stands, she can stay upto 6 months minus 1 day in US. Is there a way to extend that visit? Could we not file for an extension and get a tourist visa or maybe even a student visa while the CR1 is being processed?

Just a thought because a friend of mine from another country with tourist visa visited US and he was able to extend his stay in US by filing for extension.

Thanks.

We have the same case as you do but are further along.

When we got married, the pastor had the marriage license form filled out and this was going to be sent to the registrar (Alberta) for filing, we asked for a copy of it with his signature on it; for our files to send in with the I130 form. We used this as proof of marriage evidence and the I130 was approved, then when we sent all the originals to NVC we had the marriage certificate in hand and that was part of the package we sent in. This may help your situation.

The day after the marriage, FedEx your I130 package in with photocopies of all the documents they request plus the evidence of a relationbship. Joint bank account, credit cards etc.

We have not rec'd any RFE's in our case.

Good Luck!

That's very good to know. I already learned so much from here that will help the journey.

Thanks all for the tips!

RFEs are time sensitive. If you do not respond within the time they request they will close the petition and you will have to start over again new payment new petition everything.

Think about it before you send it right after marriage...

That's exactly what I was afraid of. I guess in theory if the petition takes 5 - 6 months to process, and marriage certificate 2-3 months, we should be safe and be able to produce the marriage certificate when the RFE is issued but it's still a risk....Something that we definetely need to think about.

Thanks.

Just thought I would share our story so far in case it helps. My husband is a USC and I am Canadian. We were married December 2010. We had been waiting for our marriage certificate (it does indeed take at least a couple of months in Ontario, at least) before we sent off paperwork for the CR1. However, we ended up submitting the initial application WITHOUT the marriage certificate, since it was taking so long. We anticipate getting a RFE -- request for evidence, and will submit the marriage certificate at that time. Other VJers told us that having an RFE will only cause us another week or two (provided we respond quickly).

Also, about your fiance/wife visiting -- this is fine, but remember that 1) When she is crossing the border she has to bring ties to Canada (a lease, mortgage, employment letter, etc) and 2) She can only stay for 6 months. I am currently in the US will go back when my 6 months here is up. I didn't really have strong ties when I was crossing, but after detaining me and questioning me closely, they let me through.

Some tips:

Re: Marriage Certificate

It is very important that you the person officiating the wedding send in the paperwork to register the wedding ASAP. MAKE SURE you follow up with them, and also provide them with the means to Fed-Ex/Express Post the paperwork. The longer it takes to register, the longer it takes to get your marriage certificate. Also, have your mayor or MPP look into it if it is taking too long.

Re: Application

If we were to do it again, we would have not waited at all for the marriage certificate and would have had everything Fed-Exed out the day after the wedding.

God bless!

Thanks for the tip on marriage certificate! We are going to get married in Toronto, ON so I guess it will take a while for marriage certificate to be produced. My questions is how long does it take for CR1 paperwork to be processed in US? If we send in the CR1 paper work right after marriage (without waiting for marriage certificate), don't we run into a risk of RFE being issued and we can't respond to it because it's still not produced in Ontario? Or it doesn't matter when you repond to RFE as long as you repond to it when the certificate is produced?

Regarding "living"...yes I meant visit. I understand she can't live/reside here, but can only visit. Thanks all for the correction.

Thanks

I'm a US citizen engaged to a Canadian citizen. We are going to get married on Aug 27, 2011.

I'm hoping this site and many of you can guide me/us in the jorney of bringing her to the US.

This is our situation: We are going to get married in Canada.

With that in mind, I believe I neeed to go to the route of either K3 or IR1/CR1 by initially filing a I-130 form in US after the marriage.

Since my Fiancee is a Canadian citizen, I'm hoping that she can enter US and live with me while the VISA application is being processed. Any advice on which route (K3 vs IR1/CR1) I should take?

Your comments and advices are much appreciated.

Thanks,

William