afmy

Hi NLR, what is an AP?

Hi Asia, agree with your point, which was why I thought about doing the CR-1 instead of K-1 at first, since the GC comes with rights to work but the K1 would mean I would need to apply for temporary work permit while waiting for the GC. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this!

Hi Vegasbound, thank you for your insight, I spoke to another friend who provided a similar view point as yours about going through the K1 route. Thanks again for your help!

Hello, I was wondering if I can get some recommendations on the following:

My situation: I am Non-US citizen living and working in Canada and about to get my Canadian PR. My fiance is a US citizen who is living with me in Canada I have a potential job offer in the US but it depends on how fast I can get a US work visa/ green card. I used to work in the US under a H1B for 5 years. I also have a 10 year B2 visa to enter the US as a visitor. My fiance and I planned to get married in September 2014 in the US. Because of this potential job offer, we are open to getting married earlier in Canada if it provides options for me to go down a certain immigration/ non-immigration route to get a legal work status (either a green card or a temporary work visa). Here are some options I was thinking of:

Scenario 1:

I get married to my fiance now (in March 2014) in Canada and go through the CR-1 Spouse Visa Process where my fiance will file I-130 with USCIS while we are still living in Canada. I will wait for NOA1 and NOA2 and go through interview process. How long will this process take from the time my fiance files I-130 to the time I get to the interview and granted entry to US? I have seen varying timelines from 44 days to 400+ days on the visajourney timeline tracker.

Scenario 2:

I get married to my fiance now (in March 2014) in Canada and go through the K3 non-immigrant fiance visa route. Once I am in the US (as a non-immigrant), I will apply under I-765 for a temporary work visa , and at the same time, also file for I-130. My only reason for going through this route is if the K3 + I-765 + I-130 route is if this would get me started on the job sooner than going through CR-1 route.

Scenario 3:

I have my potential future employer apply for a non-immigrant work visa for me, although I am not sure what category I would fall under. Would it be the H1B? I already have five years on my H1B from prior job in US, but I think the clock can be reset since I have been living outside of the US for 2 years now. If my potential employer applied for an H1B for me, do I get the remaining one year of H1B, or do I get a new three year term H1B?

Scenario 4:

I have my potential future employer apply for a EB-3 or EB-2 employment-based green card, although I think this would be the slowest and most cumbersome route as a labor certification would need to performed first.

Given my situation and out of these four scenarios, which would you recommend?

On a completely different scenario, assuming I end up not taking this job offer and I continue with plans to get married in September 2014 in his hometown in the US, and both of us return to Canada to live and work after the wedding- Can I enter US with my current B2 visa for my wedding in September with the intention of returning to Canada, or do I need to apply for a K1 fiance visa given my intention was to get married and not really to "visit" the US (though we may decide to honeymoon in the US)?

Thanks!