Rob'sLuv

Hello All. I hope this is the proper place for this post. I am a US citizen who married a Canadian in 2006 and immigrated to Canada. After a nightmarish process that included an appeal of the initial refusal of our application because of my non-accompanying adult son's criminal record, my minor daughter and I finally "landed" on Jan 31, 2011. She was 13 when we came to Canada as temporary residents, and we haven't been back to the States since.

She is now 18 and has met and fallen in love with a Canadian. She just delivered their first child, a girl, 6 weeks ago. Although she and her partner are living together, they are not married. As I understand it, that means she does not have to meet the US residency requirements in order to obtain US citizenship for her daughter, and we plan to file a Consular Report of Birth Abroad very soon.

My question concerns her future children. Because she will eventually marry, it's my understanding that, in order for the children of the marriage too obtain US citizenship, my daughter would have to meet a residency requirement of 5 years in the US (not a problem), two years of which were after her 14th birthday (problem). This is an issue because we will be required now, in the Consular Report of Birth for her first child, to detail her US residency . . . which made it seem that, unless she moves back to the US at some point, her future children would not be eligible for citizenship.

Researching this, I came across information about Section 322 of the Immigration code that, it seems, allows her to apply for naturalization of her future children based on me (or her father) having met the US residency requirements. I am just looking for confirmation from someone who is familiar with this before we fill out paperwork for this baby that might preclude citizenship for her future siblings.

Thank you for your input.

Best Regards,

Rob's Luv

I wonder if anyone else feels like I do. I have been married for 4 years to an American citizen and I am Canadian. At times I think about getting my American citizenship but I just can't seem to bring myself to do it. I am a permanent resident and I am not sure why I would become an American citizen. I guess I have a strong attachment to being Canadian and am proud of my country and my heritage. I know I have nothing to lose by becoming a citizen and probably more to gain but I am what I am, no matter what you call me...I am Canadian dammit lol...does anyone else feel this way. Actually, I never really felt that patriotic about my country until I left it.....ok i am done ranting....I just wondered how other Canadians felt. <img src="http://www.visajourney.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/huh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="huh.gif" />

I'm someone looking at the same decision from the other side - a US citizen permanent resident of Canada. For me, the key is that we are allowed to be dual citizens. With that option, I see no reason not to apply for citizenship - whether it's me becoming Canadian, or you becoming American. Giving up what we were born to be is not required. I will always be a very patriotic American - but taking dual citizenship gives me the option to live in either country and that's important to me because I will one day have children and grandchildren on both sides of the border. As long as you're not having to give anything up, I think it's a no-brainer.

Just throwing this out, because I really don't know but at least it will "bump" your topic up, but maybe it isn't that you don't qualify and just that Toronto doesn't do this. Maybe it's Montreal?? Hopefully someone who knows for sure will help you out.

I am a US citizen who applied to immigrate to Canada after marrying my Canadian citizen husband in 2006. Because of all the confusion I encountered about the process, I created a website specifically to help US citizen spousal/common-law applicants who want to immigrate to Canada. You can find it at www.us2canada.com I'm going to be around here at VisaJourney a lot now because we are actually looking into me sponsoring my husband and his son to the States, so if anyone have any specific questions about Canadian immigration, I'm happy to be a resident expert. I've been immersed in this stuff for the past 4 years, so have a pretty good handle on how it all works - especially the complications. Would be happy to help anyone. Just PM me through the site, or you can reach me on the RoadToCanada discussion forum that was linked to earlier. I'm an administrator there. Cheers!

Thanks, guys, for the welcome! I just started reading through some of the guides while I was waiting and it's obvious, now, that K3 is not what I'm looking for. I'll read up more on the DCF and the IR1/CR1 processes, as you suggested, and the Canada Regional Forum, too.

Just to answer your question, Ryan H, I only just recently got permanent status in Canada but I was here with legal temporary status for the entire time we were waiting on the resolution of our case. Will that make a difference? Oh, and yes, I still have family at home in the States - my sons, my siblings and my mother. Thanks.

I haven't been around these forums for quite awhile now - we were focused on a very complicated Canadian immigration process for my daughter's and my spousal permanent residence case to Canada, where we currently live with my Canadian citizen husband. That has now been accomplished but, I have to say, the stress took a real toll on us. Hubby and I are still as strong as ever, but our affections for Canada have been significantly diminished by what we were put through. In addition, I have two adult sons in the States that I haven't seen in almost 5 years - and they will never be able to come to Canada, probably even to visit. We are considering leaving Canada, and so I'm trying to determine what's involved to bring my Canadian citizen husband and his 15 year old son home with me.

Our intention was always to live here - in Canada. When we first got together he had custody of both of his children from his previous marriage and that made it impossible for him to immigrate. So we were married in Sept 2006 (after a 3 yr long distance relationship) in New York State, and my daughter and I crossed into Canada to stay with him while waiting for our permanent status to be approved. It probably would have been a happily ever after, even with the harsh winters, except that complications involving one of my sons (who was never immigrating to Canada in the first place) resulted in our application being refused. We had to wait out a 2 year appeal process and another year of reprocessing - finally having the whole thing resolved with our "landing" on January 31, 2011, after almost 4 years! So, now, because I have been living in Canada exclusively for the past several years, I have no job in the States - and no assets. Unless things have changed recently (and it seems that some things maybe have changed since the last time I was around asking questions), I'm assuming there is still an income/asset requirement for sponsoring family members - is this still applicable to spouse and dependent child sponsorships? If so, then what does someone do when they are living with a spouse in another country? Can family in the States co-sign a sponsorship for someone who lives abroad?

How do I get this process started? How much does it cost, overall? And at what point in the process am I allowed to bring my family home with me? When can my husband work? How long will the whole thing take and then what happens? What does permanent status actually get for my step-son and my husband? What are the conditions for maintaining it once they have it?

I know this is a lot of questions, and I'm sure I'll have more about forms and such (this process seems a lot more complicated than the Canadian one!) but if you guys could just get me started, I'd really appreciate it.

Regards,

RL

If you (sponsor) work in Canada and makes enough money to prove your financial resources, why don't you do DCF in Canada and bring your husband and step-son faster here?

Loto

Sorry, didn't see this til now. I work in Canada but don't make even half of the income requirement. Besides, my Canadian income would not be continuing in the States and I think, from what I've read, that has to be true. I can still DCF in Canada (I'm eligible), and I can establish domicile pretty easily, I think, but the income/asset thing is the real problem. I've started another thread that addresses the specifics. Thanks for your reply and help.

From my limited understanding (so far) of this process, I get that I (US citizen) would file an I-130 on behalf of my Canadian spouse and another I-130 on behalf of his minor son - and we could do that by DCF at the Toronto consulate and expect (almost) immediate approval. I don't anticipate any problems with that part - we have all the proofs of genuine relationship, have been married and living together in Canada for almost 4 years, etc. One question I do have about this part of the process, though, is his proof of "sole custody" of his son. My husband has had full physical custody of his son since his wife left them 9 years ago, when the boy was 5. (This was documented in a marital separation agreement filed in September 2004, but their divorce was not finalized until July 2006.) The boy's mother has visitation - she pays child support. What type of documentation does my husband need for his son to be able to immigrate to the States? The boy is now 14 years old and able, in our Province, to decide with whom and where he wants to live. Is the Court order that shows physical custody with my husband enough for USCIS, or does the mother have to give authorization?

My second question is, assuming all that goes well, what do I do about the income/asset requirements of the I-864? I am currently working part time in Canada and I only make about $11K annually. I haven't lived/worked in the US since we got married. From what I can gather, the income requirement for 4 people (me, my hubby, his son and my US citizen daughter) is $27,562. I wasn't even making that when I last worked in the States, so even if I was willing to leave my family and go back to the States to secure employment (I'm not), I probably wouldn't be able to get a job that would meet the income requirements anyway. I have no assets either - but my mother is in the States and owns her home outright. However she is 85 years old and on a fixed social security income of only $800 something per month, so I have no idea whether she's eligible to co-sponsor. My husband is making in excess of $70K in Canada with an employer he's worked for for 30 years (part of the reason we originally decided to live here). He would have a job offer before immigrating to the States from his former (Canadian) boss, who now owns a business in California but I'm fairly certain he wouldn't be able to be working for him prior to our filing the I-864.

So what do I do? Am I screwed for sponsoring my family unless I leave them behind in Canada and go home in hopes of finding a job, in this economy, that pays $30K per year???

Wow, US immigration is quite a bit different from Canadian Immigration. It's really hard to even find a common point of reference. Seems they do everything differently. The only thing that seems to be the same is that a sponsor living overseas has to prove they intend to come back home and settle in order to get their partner status - and that makes sense. Other than that, it just boggles my mind.

Thanks so much for the input so far - but what I was wondering is whether my husband's former employer can "sponsor" him to work in the States for him, and whether we could meet the income requirements based on the income he would be earning from that job? And, if he can get sponsored for a work permit (I know I'm probably talking "Canadian-ese here because I'm well versed on Canadian Immigration practices/procedures but not on US policies), is there any need/advantage at all to me sponsoring him? I've heard, either way, he has to live in the States six months of each year to maintain his permanent status . . . as a Canadian, he can visit there for that long - and if he was able to work because of his association with someone who has a business in California, would he even need me to sponsor him? Hope this makes sense. I could answer just about any question you have about sponsoring a spouse to Canada, but when it comes to this, I'm clueless!!

I've been around before - but it's been awhile. I'm a US citizen, married to a Canadian citizen. We currently live in Canada. Immigration Canada has been making us jump through hoops for over three years now and I still don't have permanent status. You would not believe what we've been through!

We fell in love 7 years ago and we've been married now for almost 4 years and it's becoming clear to me that this is not the life we planned for ourselves. In every way we are stressed to the max and it doesn't help that two of my children (ages 24 & 22) stayed behind in California and I haven't seen them in 4 years. I have decided that I'll give it six more months - if our quality of life has not improved significantly, and if I haven't gotten permanent status by then, we will move back to the States when school is out in June 2011.

So, here's what I need to know. My husband's former boss has his own business in California, where I'm from. What would be the process for my husband to be able to work for him there? He's already doing some work for him here - for the Canadian contingent, so to speak - but what has to happen for him to earn income in California? Also, I know from before that there's a minimum income/asset requirement to sponsor a spouse (and, I'm assuming, a dependent child). My husband has a 14 year old son who would be coming with us who would be 15 by then, and my daughter (who will be 17) is a US citizen. How much is required? I also think I remember reading that my husband's income can qualify us - is that true and, if so, does that change the amount? When would I be able to start the process to sponsor them? I'm assuming we'd have to wait until we can show a sufficient income - so that probably eliminates doing any of this from Canada?

Yes, we are both living in Canada and he is a Canadian citizen by birth. He sponsored me for Permanent Residency but I was found inadmissible because my 19 yr old son who is living in the States and not coming to Canada was arrested as an 18 yr old. I'm supposed to be able to exclude him from my application when he's inadmissible because I was not bringing him to Canada, I don't have (and haven't had for 4 years) custody of him (but that's inapplicable now as he's a legal adult), and I am not legally empowered to act on his behalf - but the IO ignored the IRPA Regulations and found me inadmissible anyway. We may not even be eligible for an appeal because the refusal was based on criminal inadmissibility. Sucks, huh?

Anyway, thanks for the info - I wouldn't have a joint sponsor in the US. My mother is retired, living on a fixed income - although she does own her home free and clear. My sons are both in school - have no money. So it would fall to my husband to provide the income through a job transfer - which probably wouldn't happen. But his former boss here in Canada has a business in California and would give him a job with an income equal to what he makes here. Would that count? What is the income amount required?

And what about his kids (my step-kids), would I be sponsoring them under the same application or would he sponsor them later? I can't believe we're facing being in love and being married - and NOT being able to be a family.

It looks like this DCF process is what we would use, but what are the requirements for the sponsor? I'm pretty sure my hubby would be eligible to immigrate (no criminal record, no medical issues, etc.), but first - how do I know if I am eligible to sponsor him, and from abroad yet? I am a stay-at-home Mom so I have no income of my own - and no assets, either in Canada or the USA. We've been married now for 16 months. He has two minor children - who would sponsor them and how?

Thanks

I was here a couple of months ago but can't find the thread I posted. I am a US citizen, married to a Canadian. I am currently in Canada awaiting finalization of my Permanent Resident application. My husband has full custody of his two children and is not allowed to move them out of this Province, so that is why we are "stuck" in Canada right now - but in three years the eldest will be 18, and because the mother doesn't "want" the youngest (a boy), chances are good that she would not prevent us from immigrating to the States in 3 years. I have two grown children in the States who do not want to come to Canada and I miss them like crazy - so I want to know what our options are for applying for US immigration.

I know that the spousal visa would be the easiest - however, my understanding is that I would have to have a job or property in the US in order to qualify to sponsor my Canadian family. This would be impossible for me to accomplish. However, my husband could be recruited for employment in the States by his former boss - who apparently has a green card, and owns property and his own business in San Diego.

I'm hoping the good members here could fill me in a bit on how this might work for our family . . . all the different visas, etc., that seem to be available makes it so confusing to navigate the US immigration process. So I thank you in advance for any help/info/advice you can provide. Thanks. Rob'sLuv

I have been completely immersed in the Canadian immigration process for months now - Canada has got to be the least efficient bureaucracy in the world!!

Just wait until you have to deal with USCIS!

You're lucky though since you'll be filing DCF (eventually). Any other visa (K1, K3, CR-I/IR-1 that is not DCF) is pure bureaucratic hell!

Enjoy Canada while you're there. A lot of us Canucks miss it dearly.

Does USCIS do the security/background check stuff? If so, Canada has it's equivalent - CSIS. Nobody knows exactly what they do - only that it takes forever for those who fall under their scrutiny (not everybody does, it seems). I do appreciate that Canada pretty much makes you pull together everything upfront, so that once you submit your application packet you have nothing to do but sit back and wait until you hear from them. The waiting, of course, drives some people bonkers, but at least you're not constantly drawn back into the process to submit the "next step". Sometimes there's additional stuff they request - and the process seems to drag on forever for some, but I think I prefer that to the "one step at a time" scenario it seems US applicants are subjected to.

I can certainly understand your missing Canada - it's a beautiful place. I miss California, too - but there are some things I don't miss one bit, like the cost of housing. I'm glad my family is still there and I can always visit - just wish travel (I'm in Ontario) wasn't so far and so expensive to accomplish.

Thank you both for the valuable information - the biggest issue I can see is that I will not have an income in the States while I am living in Canada - and I have no assets, at least not now. At some point I will inherit property from my mother in California - so either the property or the sale of the property will give me assets, but I was a stay-at-home Mom in California and I am and will continue to be one in Canada, too. So I guess that's where the financial assets factor in?

Obviously it will be years, under the circumstances before we ever do this - and the residency requirement shouldn't be too difficult to keep as we intend to divide our time equally between Canada and the States, that is if any of our children decide to remain in Canada for life. There are definite advantages to being here - my biggest reason for wanting to be "dual" is that my sons don't want to immigrate to Canada. Who'd want to move to a place where it snows all winter and is hot and muggy in the summer when they can be in California??!!

I guess it will be awhile before I need to come back here, and you will all be done with your processes and on with your lives by then. I'm thankful for your help and info and wish you the best life has to offer.

Cheers,

Rob's Luv

Hi, I'm new here. I am a US citizen, "visiting" in Canada with my Canadian citizen husband while awaiting approval of my application for a Permanent Resident visa here. I love America and I still have two adult children living in California with their Dad - but I married a Canadian who has sole custody of his minor children and his divorce agreement requires that they remain in the Province so that their mother has access to them. I have been completely immersed in the Canadian immigration process for months now - Canada has got to be the least efficient bureaucracy in the world!! But in another 7 years we can seriously consider relocating to the States. (My husband's father was a US citizen - how I wish my hubby had claimed his dual citizenship, but that was during the Vietnam war and he did not want to be drafted, so he gave it up.) Anyway, I recommended this forum to someone on the Canadian forums because they had a question about different visas in the US, and I decided I would venture over here to see what we might do one day to facilitate my husband acquiring PR status in the States. I discovered this DCF procedure here, just now, and it sounds like the way to go. What I'm wondering about is the "logistics" - so here are my questions:

A post in this thread alluded to this DCF being the "first step" in the process - that it's quickly approved but then you go on to another type of application? (I forget now, without backing out of this thread, what that was called.) Anyway, it looks as though maybe I could apply with the DCF for my husband as soon as I have my PR visa in Canada, and then we'd move on to this other process. How long does this all take? And assuming all was approved eventually, is there a certain period of time within which he would have to "land" in the States - and what is the residency requirement from then on? In other words, being our situation is that we basically have to remain in Canada until his youngest is 18 (another 7 years) is there any point to doing all of this now? In addition, at what age are his children too old for me to apply for them to immigrate?

One other question: Canada requires reams of paperwork and medical clearances by special doctors and State and FBI criminal clearances for all US citizens immigrating to Canada. Does the US require all this stuff of immigrants from Canada? Is there a link someone can provide to the actual immigration applications?

I'm really glad to have found a US equivalent to the Canadian forums that have been my Bible for the past year. Looking forward to getting to know some of you if we're indeed going to pursue this issue in the near future. Thanks.

Rob'sLuv