Reba

Gosh, I will have a very hard time saying that dang oath. After reading these posts, I can definitely see more incentives for becoming a US citizen, though. I heard also that if you retire in the US and are not America, you cannot collect your social security. Is this true? Gosh I sure hope we live in Canada by then, but you never know!

If you work (legally) in the US up til you retire, you are most definitely entitled to Social Security benefits. And if you worked enough years in Canada before you left, you'd also get CPP benefits.

you file taxes - you don't necessarily have to pay taxes due to the Canada-US tax treaty. I'd rather file taxes than have to pay them on everything we own if my husband dies.

I'm aware of that. I still think they're being greedy nosey buggers.

can always give back ur USA citizenship! And I'm pretty sure you wouldn't get double taxed anyway thanks to treaties!

From a couple of members over at CanuckAbroad who have actually tried to renounce their US citizenship, It Is Not The Least Bit Easy. It is not a simple process, and quite often the application to renounce is denied, even for naturalized citizens. Which is another reason I likely will not ever even apply for naturalization.

I honestly do not care what happens with taxes if my husband were to pre-decease me. I'll be packed up and out of here just as quickly as I can. I didn't marry him for his money, so the government can have it if they want it.

When they "lost" my medical file and sent me an RFE the VERY FIRST thing we did was call the Senator's office! It took the immigration liason a couple of weeks, but they eventually got the Charlotte district office to admit that they had miraculously "found" the lost file and it was their mistake. During that 2 or 3 weeks, I called the panel physician in Toronto and got a duplicate copy of my original medical for $40 (much less than the $400 local civil surgeons want for immigration medicals!) and sent that in reply to their stupid RFE. With of course, a harshly worded letter for them to pay attention to their own freakin rules and regulations

I hate government bureaucracy, and hate it even more when people just roll over and take it, just because it's government. You CAN fight it. You just have to do it in a timely manner, or pay the consequences.

Yes, you still have to notify them that you have moved, even temporarily. You (the immigrant) have to send in the AR-11 within 10 days of moving, and your husband (the sponsor) has to send in the I-865 within 30 days of moving (yes, even tho you have not yet done AOS or the I-864. He HAS however signed the I-134 affidavit of support, so still has to notify USCIS when he moves, or face a possible fine).

As for your AOS, you have to use your current address at time of filing. So I guess that would be your husband's cousins address. Then once you move you have to send in the address change notices again. And Then Follow Up with USCIS to make sure they change it and update your file! They probably still won't, but at least it'll be on record that you tried. Also, have the post office forward your mail to your new address so that you still get your biometrics and interview notices, even if they don't update your address change, which they probably won't.

I don't think it's the POEs that lose them. And I don't even think the USCIS "loses" them, I think they deliberately misplace ###### just to drag out the process because they're evil and have nothing better to do

I got an RFE for the medical, but I honestly think it was just the Charlotte district office dickin' around, and not any fault of the POE. As soon as we got the Senator's office involved, they miraculously "found" the file.

We have argued how many ghosts can dance on the head of pin long enough.

How big is the pin?

Could always find another co-sponsor too, if your father is so leary of it. Doesn't have to be family, just any US citizen living in the US with income of 125% of the poverty guidelines for their family size. And no, they don't have to give the immigrant a weekly stipend, ever. They just have to be prepared for any circumstance where the immigrant may become a public charge, and *then* be able to give them some money, so that they *don't* have to rely on welfare. The US government wants the sponsor to have at least 125% of the current poverty guidelines because they don't want the sponsor and their family to then end up on welfare for going broke for supporting the immigrant. Which is why a sponsor must have the provable, steady income.

You Mike are the primary sponsor, always and forever, whether or not you have a job at the time of her interview. YOU will be primarily responsible, as her husband, to take care of her. YOU also have to sign and submitt an I-864 affidavit of support. The only way your father (or any other co-sponsor) would become responsible for her is if YOU abandon her, or you die. If either of those happened, I would think she'd just head back home to the UK anyhow, it's not like she's leaving some war-torn third world country with no prospects of living a decent life.

Even if at the K1 interview, you have to use your father (or any other) as co-sponsor, by the time the AOS interview rolls around, I should hope that you'd BOTH (you and your fiancee/wife) would have jobs by then, and you can relieve your father of the obligation of the I-864.

By the way. IF for some unfathomable reason, you do divorce before her 2 years green card has expired, she CAN most definitely remove conditions and remain in the country indefinitely. All she has to do at the removing conditions interview is prove that she entered the marriage in good faith, and not just for the green card. Easy peasy, happens all the time. You cannot make her return to the UK.

If neither you or your father are willing to take those risks, then perhaps you need to wait a little while longer before getting started with this process.

Yeah, but then if you do get citizenship and your spouse pre-deceases you and you move back to Canada, you have to file taxes with the IRS until You die.

I don't like that idea. Greedy, nosey buggers.

So move. It's all one country, you know. What reason is there to stay where it's depressed when you know it's better a few hours away?

And sell the house how? We can't buy another house anywhere unless we sell this one. And who will buy a house in a town that is going downhill fast, where there are no jobs, and more and more people on the dole every day, and no prospects at all because the local government has their collective heads stuck up their arses?

And where exactly do you propose we move to? The entire state has one of the highest unemloyment rates in the country (I think we're #3). But for the moment at least I still have a job, so to leave to go "somewhere" there might be a job is just too risky.

We were trying to move last year, but then the bottom fell out and there's no way we'd be able to sell our house. The only "houses" selling in this town over the last year or more are trailers. Anything priced over $40,000 is just sitting and rotting.

The company I work for is hurting bad, to the point they're even ignoring bill collections calls and BBB calls. They just changed our health plan again, and I'm too depressed to read the document to figure out how we've been ###### now.

My husband has been out of work for over 2 years, if we lose healthcare entirely, we're screwed. It recently cost us $600 for a CT scan for him. And that's *with* insurance!

The only reason we're here in this podunk town is because when I first got my visa my husband's parents were both dying of cancer and he wanted to be near them. His father even bought him a house down the road so that he could be close (with the stipulation of course that none of it would be mine, should my husband for some reason die before his parents. feel the love) His parents died, stuff happened, and we've been stuck here since.

So yeah, I would LOVE to get out of this shithole. I never wanted to be here in the first place. If you can find me a well paying job, in an area that isn't so damned depressed, and close enough to my family, and sell our house here, I'd be glad to go.

It's no longer just so easy as "well if you don't like it, leave". If it was, we'd have done it.

Just leave it as is, until you need a new one. And remember any time you fly anywhere make your reservations in your maiden name, because they can't let you on the plane if your passport name doesn't match the name on your ticket.

We fly neither flag, though if we were to put any on the front of our house, it would be more likely the Jolly Roger, or the USMC colours than either national flag. He's not very patriotic, and I just understand the etiquette to the point that I wouldn't be rude enough to fly the Canadian flag without also putting the US flag up and...well...you know...I'm too lazy to get up at dawn to put it up, just to take it down again at dusk.

The neighbour across the street flies the Israeli flag on his house for some reason that we have yet to figure out. They're not Israeli, nor even Jewish.

Anyhoo...for anyone who wonders about flag flying etiquette, it's pretty much the same in both countries, and I too think it is disgraceful to have any flag raised that is in tatters, or out in a storm. And was more than just a bit annoyed when the colour guard had our flag upside down at the World Series.

US Flag Etiquette

Canada Flag etiquette et en francais

Like I said, get on the cancelation list. For both the MRI and the surgery. Not many people know they can do that, so they can usually move you in pretty fast if you let them know you can go any time if someone else cancels. Otherwise they usually leave the appointment time empty.

Always a drag when that happens!

The trick with Canadian healthcare coverage is to not notify them that you're moving until *after* you've left the country! I had surgery before I left, and the surgeon took out my appendix as well, he said "to save you some money"

I thought district offices processed standalone EADs and not the service centres?

There are a couple of recent threads here about renewing passports. It seems to be taking less than 2 weeks currently, but I wouldn't hedge your bets on it. Only because it is the Canadian government you're dealing with, and anything could happen

Plus, they reject probably 80% of photos according to one website I looked at, so don't make travel arrangements until you actually have your passport in your hot little hands!

Every time I ever visited the US I was asked how much cash I have on me and how was I financing my trip (whether it was personal or business). I know plenty of people who've been denied entry to the US because they have no job and no cash. WTFs the problem with Canada doing it?

Yep, we had one do that last year I think. Or maybe critters are eating them while you're not looking.

The one thing I do see that the UI office is people with hope and good attitude about the prospects of the future. I like that about my job. They haven't rolled over and are ready to piss on everyone who suggests that things are all doom and gloom.

Wait til they've been out of work for 2 years or more, benefits have run out, and with no prospects of anything more than buying themselves a used lawnmower and soliciting the neighbours for odd jobs. Which is what I see every day, day in and day out at my job as receptionist in one of the last remaining furniture factories. The economy tanked here long before the rest of the country caught up last year. Jobs moved to the far east, and there's nothing left here. The folks who do have jobs are holding down 3 of them just to make ends meet.

It's nice that things are so rosey where you are. But they sure aren't here.

I used the simplified renwal form as well, and I'm a non-resident. I sent it via courier to Gatineau from the US.

We finally got some plants in last weekend and this weekend.

I've got one box as a herb garden with dill, sage, parsley, cilantro, basil, oregano, mint, and stevia.

Plus we got 3 types of tomatoes, 2 types of cucumber, yellow squash, zucchini, watermelon, straweberries, jalapenos, sweet peppers, blueberries, blackberries, and 2 types of eggplant.

We have 2 more boxes to plant in too, but didn't get those done yet. Will maybe put in some peas and beans.

I beg to differ. Most people aren't 10 minutes and a boardroom decision away from personal financial disaster. That is why unemployment isn't at 75% across the nation.

yeah, some companies don't even have a boardroom. Like the one I work for. I expect any day to get to work and the front doors will be locked, with a Sheriff's notice taped to it. Maybe not 75% across the nation, but it's pretty bad in a lot of places. Around 15%+ in my area. Just because the reported rates are not high, doesn't mean all those millions have now found jobs. Some people have just stopped collecting, so they're no longer easily recorded statistics.

I had my passport back in less than 2 weeks.

Krikit, they didn't even call my references to check up on me. I wonder why it's so random?

Good argument for keeping an eye on your dogs and having them properly contained!

I almost stepped on a baby snake of some sort one day while out mowing the grass. I don't know what kind it was, I just got the heck out of its way, and told hubby he could finish the lawn. He had the riding mower, I was using the push! I don't know if it was a black snake or a rattle snake, so I just left it alone. It wasn't even a foot long, and the babies are hard to tell what they are, especially hidden in the grass.

My brother in law, who lives across the street from us, found a copperhead in his basement last week! And a friend of mine says that there's one that crawled in under the eves of her house, and managed to move the ceiling tile one day and pop down to say hello!

I think I'd have died of a heart attack!

I had to have surgery before I left too, and initially it was scheduled out a couple of months away, but I got them to put me on the cancelation list and I ended up having surgery a week later!

See if you can do that to speed up your move date a little maybe.

Good luck!

Doctor Who didn't happen to be around at the time did he?

Looks like a bunch of wee space ships about to crash into the building