templeton

It all depends on your situation. Since you are already legally in the US, you can technically skip the visa process (assuming you can reasonably demonstrate that you didn't have the intention to marry and stay until AFTER you had crossed the border). You just get married and apply to adjust status, but again, your decision to do so must be impromptu. Though technically legal, this is the "back door" route to a green card, and there are some potential pitfalls. You will likely encounter some additional scrutiny during the green card process. USCIS is under no obligation to grant you residency, so if they don't buy that your marriage wasn't preplanned, or if there are other red flags, they could deny your application and send you back to Canada. This means after all that you'd still have to start back at square one by going the visa route. You also need to keep in mind that you won't be able to leave the US for AT LEAST a couple of months after filing the paperwork.

If you have affairs that you need to get in order back home first, or better yet, just don't want to take the risks previously mentioned, the visa process is the "legit" method. Both types have their pros and cons, and you are allowed to visit while the process is underway (just be prepared to show strong ties to Canada when you cross the border), but in the end, once you have your visa, you know you're good to go. As others have said, read the guides to help decide which is best for you, should you go that route.

While the situation as you describe it does sound unfair, I doubt there's much recourse. First, she knew she was taking on a lesser role when she accepted and stayed at the position, regardless of the position she may have been hired for. That's a company's prerogative (especially in a right to work state like South Carolina), and it's an employee's prerogative to refuse the job if they don't like it. It doesn't matter that she may have received assurances that she would be moved to a better role eventually, there's nothing legally binding to that. They can simply give any number of perfectly valid business reasons for not following through.

By all means consult with a lawyer, but I suspect he or she will tell you that unless you can actually PROVE that she has been treated unfairly specifically BECAUSE OF HER RACE, you're going to come up on the losing side against all those high-priced lawyers this large hotel chain no doubt keeps on retainer.

She may or may not being using you, but if you seriously believe that bad behavior is magically going to stop and everything will be roses just because you get married, you're delusional.

Take a step back and let me paraphrase what you'll probably be saying in 2 years...

"I had a very rocky relationship with the girl I was dating. She made me happy sometimes, but mostly she was selfish, insecure and immature. Totally inconsiderate and lacked common courtesy. It was her way or nothing, and if she didn't get her way, she would get very angry. Knowing all this I decided the best thing I could do was to make the relationship permanent!"

All the signs point to this ending badly for you. I hope you make the right call.

Obviously I would agree that working things out would be for the best, but you don't have full control over that. If I were you, I'd be covering my bases by assembling all the records and history you can showing all that you've done to love and support her (both tangibly and intangibly) as a bona fide husband since you've moved here. That way you at least have a leg to stand on for filing a post-divorce ROC if it comes to that.

It's a bit of a wash. Assuming the normal post-marriage filing process is followed, he'll have the ability to head back to Canada at the SAME TIME he gets the ability to work in the US. Usually takes 2-3 months after the paperwork is sent. Unless he can work remotely for his job in Canada, there's not much he can do until then.

Yes, a previous entry refusal would definitely garner some added scrutiny during the visa process and future border crossings, which you obviously learned.

Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think being put in a waiting room at a border crossing would be considered being detained in the legal/criminal sense.

Can you clarify when you say "detained"? Do you mean you had to wait at the border while CBP decided to refuse you entry? You say "years ago", but unless something has changed since then, a visa isn't a REQUIREMENT (for Canadians), let alone a criminal act, to enter the US to visit a fiance(e). I certainly crossed the border several times while the K-1 process was underway, and I'm sure many others have as well.

If they simply didn't believe you had enough proof of ties to Canada at that time and thought perhaps you were going to stay permanently, then they would have turned you away. However, I don't think that you sitting in a room while they worked that out would count as being legally detained. Obviously if there's more to it than that, then that would need to be taken into account.

There IS an easy answer. It's spelled RBC.

Well, it's not spelled RBC if the OP wants direct deposit, it seems.

Many banks will put a hold on foreign cheques, so you'd want to ask before you do that. I'm pretty sure the eDeposit apps don't let you deposit foreign cheques anyway (at least not with CIBC or Tangerine). BMO has Canadian and American branches and I'm pretty sure you can transfer directly between those accounts, but unless there's a branch near you, it's the same problem you have with RBC.

There's no easy answer here and a lot depends on how much money you intend to transfer. Less than a thousand at a time, maybe get Canadian and US Paypal accounts so you can send yourself money from each? If it is going to be more than that, a service like http://www.usforex.com/our-services/transfer-money/canada might be a good bet. Their fees are much less than a normal bank. I used the Canadian version when I was still back in Canada to send money to my then Fiance, and it worked very well.

According to the USCIS website, my EAD has been approved and is in the document production stage. Yay!

Am I good to start invoicing and taking payments through my newly formed US sole proprietorship? Or do I have to wait until the card is actually IN MY HANDS? Normally, an employer would obviously need to see the card before hiring me, but since in this case I'm technically both the employer and the employee, and I know it's approved, does it matter?

To boil it down further, I guess what I'm really asking is: Is the EAD backdated to the date it showed as approved on the USCIS website, so that if I start generating income now, I won't be running afoul of any immigration laws?

not too bad then. im still kinda panicking about the passport stamp

hey im going to be moving near ames

You don't need ALL of the things on that list. Technically one is all you really need. Since you have more, plus secondary evidence of photos and email logs, you should be fine.

well we have photos of us in htere 6 - 7 all taken in the usa. printed off emails showing our past contact and a written testimony from her father im a standup guy/?

whats the possible things they can do, refuse package, ask for more proof?

They will be looking for concrete evidence of you two having been in the same place at the same time in the past two years. Photos and emails are supplemental; they may help establish a bonafide relationship or corroborate other evidence you provide, but because they can be forged or photoshopped, aren't considered true proof of face to face meetings. While it won't hurt, a letter from her father isn't going to help too much either, for the same reason.

They are looking for official, verifiable evidence. Things like copies of boarding passes that show her name and her flight # going to your city, passport stamps corresponding to her visits...stuff like that. A search on this site will give lots of advice on what is and isn't considered evidence.

They will ask for more proof (RFE) if they deem it necessary.

Having just come from Canada myself and recently filed my I-435, you'll definitely want to file the Employment Authorization and Advanced Parole requests as well. There's no reason not to. There are no extra fees for them as long as they're submitted along with the I-435.

As others have said, the Green Card can take up to a year, and who knows, maybe even longer if there are problems. That means no job and no trips back to Canada (or anywhere else) during that time. On the other hand, with I-765 and I-131, you can be earning some money and traveling within 90 days (give or take) of filing. Obviously you don't have to do any of these things if you don't want to, but wouldn't you rather have the option?

I swear you guys must've gotten the same guy we did.

My husband and I went to the social security office in St. Paul a few weeks ago to change my last name with SSA. We weren't intending to get him a SS number until after he had received his EAD. However after the three hour wait we got this real happy guy. He asked my husband where he was from noticing his accent and said England. And he said "You need social security number?" We explained he was on a K-1 Visa and that we were planning to come back and get him one after getting his EAD in a few months.

And he said "Oh no he can get social security number now!" and practically threw a app and pen at him in a humorous friendly way. He also gave us the impression he could work after getting that SS card. But we knew better. We knew that he CANNOT work until he gets his EAD. We didn't bother arguing though just thankful he was getting a SS card.

When he got the SS card on it it read "For Work only with DHS Authorization" meaning you need your EAD to work.

Also the man who helped us had quite the accent so it was hard to understand a lot of what he said.

Despite staff not knowing how things work, I take comfort knowing that you still got your card/number without issue.

Welcome to American government workers ...

Trust me, government worker ineptitude is not unique to America.

Yeah, sadly if you talk to 10 different people at the SS office it seems you'll probably get 10 different answers.

I went to the St. Paul office yesterday after coming in on a K-1 a little over a month ago, where the gentlemen helping me told me that my K-1 gives automatically gives me authorization to work immediately. When I told him I was under the impression that a K-1 can't work until getting the EAD, he said that the EAD was only so that I could keep working between the time the visa expired (in December) and getting the GC. Obviously this was wrong, as the K-1 expires the minute you use it. He was adamant that he "processes these kind of applications all the time" and knew what he was doing, but I didn't feel it would help the situation to tell him he was full of *&$@*! and had no idea what he was talking about. I only hope he hasn't done anything to screw up the process.

because how would they trace your time in the US?

All flight travel is tracked and reconciled upon your departure , so they do know how many days you been in the country if you flew. I did read that as of June of this year, they were going to start also tracking land crossings of US and Canadian citizens respectively by reconciling your re-entry date to Canada (non-US/Canadian citizens have been tracked for at least a year or so now, I believe). Not sure if that's actually come into play for citizens or not yet. Previously they really had no idea how long you stayed if you drove.

Technically this is true, though not guaranteed. I drove through for a short visit a few weeks before actually immigrating. I simply told the CBP officer that though I had a K-1 Visa, it was not my intention to use the visa for a few more weeks, and was only entering as a visitor (it was my fiancee's birthday). He let me pass without any hassle.

HOWEVER, I would stress that this is totally up to the discretion of the officer you speak to as to whether he wants to let you in or not. They had become somewhat familiar with me over the past couple of years, but I still made sure I had evidence that I planned to return to Canada a few days later.

You really don't have the option to "not provide it to them"...the visa itself is permanently attached to your passport, so they'll probably notice it.