noblues

I moved to the US in September on a K1 and got married to my partner in October. He has never lived in Canada and has no Canadian income. I have no US income for 2015. I worked in Canada until I moved.

My understanding is that in terms of my Canadian tax responsibilities, I can file as married, and claim $0 income for my spouse, as long as I don't claim the spousal deduction.

My question is - *how* did you submit your tax information? Turbotax online won't let me opt out of the spousal deduction. Did you use an accountant? Did you just submit on paper? Is there tax software that *will* let you exclude that spousal deduction?



(Bonus question: in the US we will file married filing jointly, and request that I be considered a resident alien for the entire year. I think this means that we will include my Canadian income, but that the Canadian portion won't be taxed again on our US return. Is that correct? Does opting to go that route impact anything with the Canadian taxes, above, that I haven't considered?)

Thanks all. I have never been married before so filing jointly, and filing in two countries, is new me.

I just got an email from Loomis with the tracking number for my visa. This doesn't seem real at all yet. Any other April approvals so far?

In case hearing from others is helpful:

My interview was July 31

Case Complete Aug. 3

AP Aug. 4,

Issued Aug. 5

When I log in using the website above, the info still says "Appointment", rather than showing a tracking number, and I have not got the email from Loomis with the waybill number yet, either. I was overjoyed to see that issued status yesterday, and today I am right back to worrying that there could be some unforeseen delay! I don't think I will be able to relax until I have my passport back!

I'd love to know how long it took for others between seeing that "issued" message & getting their passport.

Okay, I got an email from Loomis and an email from the CSC this evening, about a half hour apart. Both included the tracking number and said that visas tend to take about 2 biz days to reach the selected Loomis office. From there I am going to get them to courier it to me, but I think I will sleep tonight!

I did log in through the link on the CEAC status and it does *still* say appointment, rather than having the waybill number listed. So, I guess there is some lag there. Anyway, I hope that helps & that everyone else is less nervous and more patient than I am!

Here is what the website says

"Your visa is in final processing. If you have not received it after more than five (5) working days, please visit www.usvisa-info.com/en-CA/selfservice/us_courier_information to track your courier waybill, to check your profile at the appointment website, or send an email to Contactus_en_ca@usvisa-info.com to determine the status of your passport."

So they are saying we should get it in at least 5 days.

In case hearing from others is helpful:

My interview was July 31

Case Complete Aug. 3

AP Aug. 4,

Issued Aug. 5

When I log in using the website above, the info still says "Appointment", rather than showing a tracking number, and I have not got the email from Loomis with the waybill number yet, either. I was overjoyed to see that issued status yesterday, and today I am right back to worrying that there could be some unforeseen delay! I don't think I will be able to relax until I have my passport back!

I'd love to know how long it took for others between seeing that "issued" message & getting their passport.

We had our interview on Friday and were approved! Fingers crossed the visa doesn't take too long to arrive. I have heard some drastically differing stories about how long this can take from Montreal. I am optimistic but apprehensive too, if that makes sense.

Who is doing your medical?

At my medical, I was asked to provide my interview date, but not anything specifically from packet 4. If you have something confirming your interview date that might be ok. Tho, I did provide my MTL # so who knows what they can see on their end.

I took a greyhound from Toronto to NY once. I wouldn't recommend that just because that trip is long & not very exciting, especially because I did it solo.

Your bus has to wait in a line at the border (usually a line of other buses) and then you have to get out & present your passport similarly to how you would at the airport. I didn't have to take my luggage in which actually surprised me.

The impression I had was that the time it will take is as long as the person being questioned most, so it really depends on your eligibility, but keeping the trip on schedule is also reliant on the other passengers, which I didn't love. Not sure what would happen if someone was going to be a *really* long time.

If I was interested in scenery I'd take a train instead.

I'm in Canada and I was also sent a copy of our approved I-129F. It's actually listed on the checklist of what to bring to our interview in Montreal.

I feel like I have read about this here but I couldn't find a thread.

There isn't a convenient Loomis location near me, especially since I don't drive. I registered already for the one closest to me, but is there a way for me to have them send my passport to my home or office? I don't mind paying for this - I'd have to take a day off work to go pick it up so a courier fee is cheaper.

I'm K1 and my interview is in MTL if that makes a difference.

I had my medical on Monday. The Dr. basically asked me if I had any health issues, and I said no, and that was it. Did not examine me in any way. His only follow up was "You have a doctor that you go to regularly?" and I said yes and he took my money and that was it. They did do a chest xray and I did have bloodwork done. All three things took an hour altogether. (I'm in Toronto.)

I find it so interesting/frustrating how different people's experiences can be based on the beneficiary's embassy/country! It's wild.

My interview is in a little over three weeks! I can't believe it.

If it helps anyone else - I called PODs and their quote for a fall move is currently $4500 from TO.

They were very friendly on the phone but the person I spoke to got very pushy when I declined to give my cc to hold a reservation. I am sure that was scripted but it was really offputting.

Have you considered a freight service from DHL? Since they're international it's worth a shot.

Just at the research stage now so I will consider absolutely anything! Hoping that folks who have done this before me can say "We moved x amount of stuff with y company for z dollars" because that would be supremely helpful.

It would be much cheaper to just pay for an extra bag at the airport and use another suitcase to fill with these items. IMHO.

I definitely have more than a suitcase's worth of stuff.

When I moved to my current place I used a cube van & I would probably bring about 1/3-1/2 of those items with me.

Search isn't working for me on this topic and the most recent thread I found on this for Canadians is from 2007, so if there is something more current, please direct me!

I'm in Toronto and am looking at costs to ship my personal effects to the west coast.

Not planning to bring any furniture, just a few costly-to-replace kitchen items and my clothes and books. I'd love to hear what others have done/plan to do, so that I can budget for this realistically.

Specifically, I'd love to know how you went about getting quotes, since so many of those are based on weight/volume and I honestly don't know how to calculate how many square feet my stuff takes up!

I looked at the upack website and the quote there was $2250USD or so for their smallest option and I am mostly wondering if anyone moving a similar distance found a significantly cheaper option.

Thanks all & happy Canada day!

We got packet 4 from MTL June 5, which is almost exactly two months from NOA 1. I'm shocked that it is all happening THIS fast (and I feel guilty considering what the TSC folks are going through!)

My medical and interview is booked (July 6 and July 31). I am starting to freak out a little. I have been trying to not get ahead of myself & I know there are many things still that could hold this process up but it's so strange to realize that this is ACTUALLY going to happen. and so soon! Starting to feel sad about the people and places in Canada I will leave behind...

Just found out our case was sent to our embassy yesterday - Montreal. Our NOA 2 was May 7 so 20 days ago.

Hi VJ!

I haven't posted before but wanted to say we got our NOA-2 yesterday (May 7.)

NOA-1 was April 9.

For those who asked, we just got error messages checking case status on the USCIS website the entire time. If I logged in, I could see a "last updated" date that said April 20 right up until we got our NOA-2 notice. I hadn't created an account before the 20th so I don't know what it looked like before that.

It seems like notices are going out around 8pm or 8:30pm PST which is 11pm or 11:30 for me. I was staying up late just to see if there were any changes so I am looking forward to a good sleep tonight!

Now...what the heck do we do next?