Wishing-Waiting

Hi again and thanks everyone for their kind and thoughtful advice. It's always great to hear a new perspective. It may or may not work, but we won't try or know if we don't ask the questions and do the work.

As for the "illegal" alien comment, we were in Ohio for a funeral earlier this year. A family member works in the Columbus school district. Apparently they have a VERY large Somalian community there. They are provided free housing, food stamps, clothing, free health care and special assistance in the school system (English as a second language). Funded by the State. Apparently at parent teacher conferences there are many family members sponsored after the original person arrives. I don't think they will become millionaires but they are receiving free stuff. Apparently there are other States that openly recruit certain nationalities and assist with immigration process.

To contrast this to our situation, we hired a lawyer that ended up ripping us off for over $2,500. (She ended up closing up shop and leaving town). We found this site and wound our way thru the immigration process alone. My husband (as many of you know) had to sign and swear that he would pay for me and my daughter and we were not eligible for ANY support AT ALL. I'm assuming, just like you this process was long (over a year) and expensive (THOUSANDS of dollars). But here we are.

I was only venting with my illegal alien comment as these folks are actually being sought out and recruited. But the free stuff still pisses me off.

Sorry if I offended anyone with that comment. I'll keep it strictly "business" next time.

Again, thanks to those that weighed in with useful info concerning my original question about my dad. All the best for the New Year !

Correct, USC's can petition parents.

Thank you.

Wife should be able to naturalise if she came here in 2012. Say that takes 6 months and then another year to petition her father.

Gives you plenty of time to work out the cost factors.

Thank you. You have given me a direction to look into. If I understand your comment correctly, I can NOT petition for him as a PR, but I would be able to bring him in if I was a USC ?

LPRs cannot bring parents, only citizens. also consider the cost of healthcare. they're much better off in Canada

Thank you. We have thought about health care. We thought we would look at immigration and then research health care. We have health care through Aetna and would research if we could add "dependent" parent. Beyond health care though the reason that we would consider moving him is that the care he is receiving from assisted living home is sub standard. The food is poor. Packaged and frozen foods. He fell in his bathroom on a Tuesday. The aides will not pick them up. They called an ambulance. He was hospitalized with bladder infection, pneumonia, and running a temperature. We only found out on Saturday night by phoning a friend in the facility, as we couldn't reach him by phone. We have been there twice this year - once in summer and again in fall. But if you're not there to observe all the time I think the quality of care declines. We feel we could provide better in home care with us.

To be frank, I am tired about hearing about all the "illegal" aliens who float in on a piece of wood and eventually get everything for free. We did it legal and still have many roadblocks to living here, including keeping our families separated. sigh

We completed the Fiance Visa process. Wife immigrated from Canada to USA in 2012. Wife's elderly father (89) in Canada needs more support. We read that family is very important to US immigration. We have found limited info about PR sponsoring unmarried child (under age 21) or spouse. Baby boomers continue to age and require more care but we cannot find any info about sponsoring and bringing her Canadian Father to USA. Can someone suggest some info ?

Hi Sean: So, your wife arrived on November 21, 2012, and you were married on December 4, 2012 (congrats btw) ???

To clarify, you have not applied for AOS yet ?

Let me start with: I am not an expert. Only sharing personal experience.

I also received EI from Canada. I completed my 2013 tax return with Canada (which was also my exit return). In completing the Canadian return first I was able to calculate what Cdn taxes I paid. Then, we used these income and tax figures when completing my husband's (married filing jointly) return here in the USA. We had to include my income from all sources, but also got credit for taxes already paid in Canada. Hope this helps.

As far as "do it yourself" or hire someone ... I had more "stuff" to report ... sale of Cdn real estate, rrsp, resp, bla bla bla. We ended up hiring it out at both ends. In other words we hired "experts" in Canada and USA to report for us. But, keep your eyes on things. No one knows your situation as good as you do. I found my Cdn experts (BDO) made mistakes or were not as knowledgeable as they appeared. I was a guinea pig, and they had to spend a lot of time researching answers. I was prepared to argue the billable hours, but it worked out ok. My USA peeps were honest about lack of knowledge but billed reasonable as well. It is DONE and I was relieved to have a team working with me. Again, hope this helps - and Good Luck !

Please I have a question, did you get your approval on the mail or email or text notification? Or you just login on the site to find out it was approved...

Congratulations you guys..

I was checking online about once a week. Status changed to "card in production" (approx Dec20) . Letter came about three days later saying "approved - card in production". Letter dated Dec22. Text did come "Your case WAC########## is now updated. Check "my case status" at www.uscis.gov. Text dated Dec23. Hope this helps. Good Luck !

Filed Sept 1.

Bio Oct 1.

Approved Dec 22.

Started as Fiance Visa (K1) with teenager daughter (K2) June2011 - 3 1/2 years.

California Service Centre.

We are so happy !

Good Luck.

Agree with Ontarkie. A marriage is a marriage is a marriage. If you want to get married in Canada, apply for CR1. I you apply for I-129F, get married in USA. You haven't applied yet, right? Just gathering papers ? So, it's not too late to sort out and decide what works for you.

Be careful with flying too. The I-129F allows ONE-TIME entry. She comes in with Fiance Visa ONE TIME. Then marry.

Then apply for AOS and EAD/AP. Then Wait.

If she/you both leave, she is not authorized to come back in and it voids the process.

Good Luck !

Kept Cdn account open (TD).

Took initial amount with me US$5000 (money order).

Arrived in USA. Applied for ID (Driver licence, Social Security).

Opened US bank account. Deposited initial US$5000.

Had used Custom House in Canada before for foreign exchange. Called them. They are affiliated with Western Union in USA.

Opened account with Custom House / Western Union.

Transferred various amounts small to large as I wound down my Canadian affairs. Transaction cost $5 each . Took about 3 - 5 days each.

Caution: Watch out for withholding taxes taken by Canadian bank. (RESP / proceeds from house sale was horrific - Long story)

Kept Cdn Visa (TD) open.

My husband approved for truck loan. We INSISTED they add me to build my credit. They declined. We said no ADD, no truck. They did it.

Applied for credit card with my USA bank (First National Bank Alaska) - declined. NO USA credit history. The bank offered secured card application.

I requested my own credit reports to see what (if anything) was reporting and correct any misinformation.

Tried again in 6 months with Chase. Approved.

Told both that I had excellent Cdn credit history, assuming they can pull these as Equifax and TransUnion are in Canada and USA.

I hope I explained clearly for you.

Planning, patience, perseverance.

Good Luck.

My daughter and I (from Canada) just submitted (Sep2014) our I-751 for removing conditions on temporary Green Card and applying to receive permanent 10 year card.

She is in 2nd year of 4 year Univ program. In May 2015 she will be eligible to apply for internships related to her course of study. One company offers internships in Alberta. Apparently it is an 8 months program and she agrees to return to school to finish her schooling after internship.

Does being in Canada for 8 months put her immigration status in jeopardy ?

I hope I've explained this clearly enough. Does anyone have insight ?

thanks,

We hired lawyer for first part. They made mistakes and delayed our case. We got RFE. We paid a ridiculous amount of money cause we didn't know. We fired the lawyer, took over the paperwork ourselves. Read the guides, followed any info on official government sites, asked questions in VJ, and proceeded with no further delays or errors. We reported the lawyer to the State's Bar Association. Good luck on your journey !

Custom House / Western Union was who I used. Check out the website and give them a call. No trouble with my transactions. They have tiered services depending on how fast you want your money to move. That is, the faster the service the higher the fee. I was ok waiting 3 days or so. I think my fee was $5.00. I ordered the Cdn / US transaction. Then I transferred my Cdn money to them via a "bill payment" option. Once they receive they convert and electronic deposit to my US bank account. Good Luck !

Thanks ! Done.

I-751 Part 4.

I am Canadian who married USC and immigrated on K1 / K2 Visa.

I have one son (23) who chose to remain in Canada and one daughter (18) who immigrated to USA with me.

When I started this process my son was not yet 21 years old and we listed him on forms but stated he would NOT be accompanying me.

This section of I-751 does not ask for children immigrating, but rather for ALL children. I am leaning towards listing my son, as I have listed him in the past and state that he does NOT live with me and is NOT applying with me. BUT, as he is over 21 he is still MY child but not considered "a child".

Do I list him or not ?

thanks all !

Hello and congratulations. Her name changes with original marriage certificate. She can apply for her SSN and start to change her name on any other USA accounts and cards (for example: bank accounts, State driver's licence etc plus Canadian accounts as well) Be advised, many institutions require original marriage certificate. Hence, I ordered 3 or 4 and kept cycling them. Institutions will normally return them to you after processing. Canadian passport and changing Canadian SIN, EI, CPP departments. To my surprise many "departments" within Cdn government are completely separate and will not work together so your ID and original marriage certificates will travel MANY miles. Make a list and Good Luck !

Congrats ! Have been watching your journey for the last couple years as we walk our own. Thanks for the sharing and advice.

It's been a while for me, but I emailed Vancouver. They were excellent in their response times and info they provided. You might check out my profile for any details that are useful to your situation.

As far as visiting the USA. I also visited MANY times. I wrote a list of the MAJOR visits (10+ days) Disney, extended motorcycle trip thru various states. I gave them timelines on these, and commented that I had "weekended" many times that I had not listed. Hope this helps and Good Luck !

I sold my townhouse, put my stuff in storage and moved into rental.

I found there was actually quite a lot that needed changing. Gov of Cda (several different departments actually handle name changes differently). I was able to change Revenue Canada over the phone. Then there is Employment Insurance (can't remember if that is separate dept). Canada Pension (Service Canada). One bank (TD) was ok with faxing docs - driver's licence and marriage cert. etc. Other bank (RBC) insisted on original docs. Visa or M/C is separate for whatever bank. Investment / RSP / Mutual Fund accounts separate from banks and some require original. I had property still in Canada so municipal accounts / electric / gas / water / prop tax. I haven't even done my passport yet. I am planning a trip back to Canada in July, so I will stop by the local govt office to check on getting new one in new married name. Good luck and happy trails !

Thank you for your responses. I will try Public Relations route and try having faith in the Universe that it will all work out !

The Topic Title and Description is my question. Can I fly out of Vancouver, Canada, as a "visitor" and have my K1 Visa activated once I reach my USA destination in Anchorage, Alaska ??

Background: I have been told that Vancouver is a "pre-clearance" airport for USA. I am travelling with daughter, lots of luggage and medium sized pet. We fly from Kelowna to Vancouver on one airline. Everything needs to be transferred to another airline. I was told I must see to the transfer of my pet out of the main Vancouver terminal to Air Canada cargo as after June 20th Air Canada does not assist with pet travel. I pay $450 instead of $100 and have to do all the work myself, while leaving my daughter and luggage at airport. Completely reasonable, right ?

I gave myself 4 hours between arrival from Kelowna and departure to Anchorage, and now feel that with extra screening and handling by US Border peeps, I may not have enough time ...

hence, does anyone know if my scenario is possible ?

thanks !

Hello: I am no expert, but here's how I answered. I am also Canadian and have been travelling to USA multiple times for as long as I can remember. I focused on details for the past few years. Specific dates for motorcycle trip in 2010 and states visited. Specific dates for Seattle shopping trip (yeah - shopping ). Specific dates for a trip to Disneyland. etc etc I listed about 8, I think. I then stated that due to my "proximity" to the USA there have been many weekend / shopping trips that I do not have specific dates or receipts for (they may have record of) .... I am hoping for the best, but seriously I don't have every trip recorded. Maybe, more experienced folks can chime in ??? Hope this helps.

Ooops, forgot to mention ... there was not enough lines. I said "see schedule a" and attached a separate sheet of paper.

Nevermind, I found it.

One for me and One for my daughter.