jives11

48 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Quite

All I know is that the first two times we called USCIS they wouldn't proceed with an emergency parole appt because I didn't have biometrics. I eventually got my emergency parole without biometrics, but it was only because of contacting our member of congress who got us an emergency Infopass appt. So maybe I just didn't know the right words to say - but if it hadn't been for them directly contacting USCIS I'm sure I would still be in Michigan.

Just as an update - we contacted our member of Congress' office and after a lot of back and forth with them and USCIS we managed to get an emergency Infopass appointment and a 30 day emergency advance parole document, and were able to immediately cross the border.

11 minutes ago, SusnOwen said:

Try calling your Senator and Congressman - all the offices have departments to help with immigration.  Also, I would request an expedite - they should be able to get your biometrics scheduled ASAP - I wouldn't just abandon hope or your petition without exhausting every avenue.

 

I hit send before I finished, lol - I am very sorry for your loss, I can't imagine being so far at a difficult time.

Thank you! We have left a message with our Congresswoman and are waiting for them to get back to us, but I'll also look into an expedite.

30 minutes ago, NancyNguyen said:

I am sorry for your loss, but you are in a dilemma now. You can’t have emergency advance parole without biometrics. You have to pick what is more important to you.

That was what I was afraid of. Thank you.

Hi everyone,

I am in the middle of adjusting my status from B1 from Canada (I was caught on the US side of the border visiting my husband when the whole pandemic went down). We just got our NOA on Aug 10.

One Friday my dad was in a motorcycle accident and died, and I am trying to figure out how to get back to Canada so I can isolate and then help with dealing with all his stuff. He and my mom were separated, and right now she and my younger sisters are dealing with everything.

Unfortunately, I haven't had my biometrics appointment yet, and USCIS says we can't go further in the process without the biometrics - which based on my NOA date I doubt will be soon. Is there anything I can do other that abandon my application or leave my family hanging?

5 hours ago, Canadian Spouse said:

So-- I finally got convinced that I CAN file for AOS.  So, that is what we will do.  We are nervous about it so are looking into hiring a lawyer of just getting someone to look over our forms.  Are you going to AOS?  We CAN- especially since my work (massage therapist) is going to be very spotty in a covid world. 

Yes, we are. We talked to our lawyer who helped put together our original packet and he thinks it's pretty clear I was intending to go back (I have been traveling back and forth every weekend for over a year, had some upcoming in-person work commitments that were later canceled when my office moved to essential services only, and had just renewed my contract).

My office is still in essential services and it's not clear that it will clear up any time soon. I'm talking with my supervisor about taking a leave or other options this week. I don't want to risk going back across the border with no clear place to go right away (can't easily isolate in my apartment with roommates), no immediate job that needs me there, and no timeline for when my husband can visit me or I can return!

Overall very stressful, I'm glad we at least have the financial flexibility to make this change! I hope your situation works out!

On 3/18/2020 at 4:15 PM, Canadian Spouse said:

I am not on any other visa though, just visiting like any other Canadian/ snowbird.  From what i understand, the adjustment of status is if you already have some other legitimate reason to have residency in the USA.   Not saying you would suggest something illegal, just that I don’t think that applies in my circumstance.  Wish it did!  

I am in this same situation and looking into adjusting status now. Did you end up filing for AOS? I am isolating in Michigan with spouse and my employer has moved to essential services only so no one is allowed to be there anyway and I am afraid if I return there will be a lot of confusion around the border and travel and I won't be able to go back to my regular schedule of visiting on weekends!

Meant to come for a long weekend mid-March and ended up being here for 2 months! 😐

EDIT: Just realized we've been both posting on another post about this! disregard, haha!

1 hour ago, Canadian Spouse said:

Pretty please provide a reference to prove this-- if you are in the USA on a student or work visa you can apply for AOS, absolutely.  According to everything I have read you cannot in any way apply for AOS as a visitor, even if you are Canadian.  I am Canadian and my spouse lives in the USA... I have spend hours, weeks, months trying to find any other option we may have besides waiting in Canada for an unknown length of time (it's already been almost a year and a half ... interview would have been in April... now who knows!  So frustrating.)   unfortunately I could find zero evidence that the AOS on a Canadian visitor visa would fly.  Can you provide any references to look at?

I am in the same boat as you, and we are talking to a lawyer later today to see what our options are. I am hoping that, because I very much had no intention of staying when I came in we can use the AOS. I have been living in Canada and visiting almost every weekend for 2.5 years (married 1.5 years ago in Canada), but then my university moved to essential services only and the borders closed, and I started sheltering-in-place in the US. Before, we had decided to use the consular route because I didn't want to give up my job during the period of time when you can't work within the US, but now the situation is changing so much, that I'm thinking it's the lesser hardship to take a break from working to be able to be together through this process.

I hope someone has insight! I've been googling all day.

8 hours ago, GrahamC said:

 

Exact same situation here. Like I could have written this post myself. Currently wondering what we should do. Its frustrating because we are at the NVC stage and feel so close, but maybe AOS is the way to go now and just wait for travel and work permits? Curious to know that you end up doing! 

Me too! Basically identical. We just got our notice that we are 'documentarily approved' at the NVC, but who knows what that means for actually getting to live in the US. Before this I was visiting every weekend - and never thought about AOS, but with the whole world at a standstill it just feels so disheartening to go back to Canada for an unknown length of time. I felt like we were so close to the finale and now it's so far!

13 minutes ago, geowrian said:

No such rule exists.

Each entry is dictated by the I-94. Typically this is up to 6 months, but as you found out it can be much less too. But one could theoretically come for 5 months, leave, and come back for another 5 months. As noted, there are tax implications (and healthcare coverage implications), but there is no per-calendar-year limit.

Interesting... but they did ask me to certify at some point (DS-260 maybe?) whether I'd been in the US more than 180 days during the last calendar year, so that solidified my thinking that it was the limit. I even use a spreadsheet to track my total # of days per year - but it looks like I was a bit off base!

I am in a somewhat similar situation (applying from within Canada, but sheltering-in-place with husband because the borders closed to non-essential travel while I was visiting him), and I on a whim checked my I-94 (https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home) while discussing our next steps with our lawyer. Turns out last time I came across the border guy gave me a 60 day I-94. So even though Canadians can spend 6 months per calendar year (but check the tax implications if you've spent days in previous calendar years), I need to leave next week based on this I-94!

I'm quite sad about having to leave because it's not clear to me when I'll be able to come back, and I was really really hoping to have had our interview by early spring, but this process is nothing if not full of delays, as I've found.

Maybe worth you checking on your I-94 as well? I didn't even realize this was a roadblock to my time in the US until last weekend.