Kai G. Llewellyn

Congrats! It seems the case that given enough time after a visa denial, they will approve an ESTA. Great news and happy travels!

This is incorrect. VWP travelers do not need an ESTA to cross by land. Both my mum and a Swedish friend have successfully entered the US without an ESTA on the VWP. They do have to manually fill out I-94W which is a pain but doable. However, a denied ESTA indicates an ineligibility for the VWP so attempting to cross at a land border after an ESTA denial may be ill advised in case CBP decide to do an expedited removal. It's up to OP whether they want to try for an ESTA first, or just try hitting the land border without. Though OP can certainly try. They'll either be admitted, or probably asked to withdraw their application for admission, and be asked to get a B visa.

It's quite rare for sure, but not unheard of. What seems to happen more often is that USCIS will issue RFE's and if the petition is approved but the Consular Officer has doubts, they can send the petition back to USCIS for revocation. If any of this happens in a USC-Canadian case I'd be surprised, there'd have to be red flags abound rather than a lack of evidence. It has sometimes been the case in the past that the petitioner could accompany the beneficiary to the visa interview, but the Montreal consulate which is the only post in Canada which issues immigrant visas, does not allow this.

The rule is that you need 1095 days as a permanent resident of Canada to be eligible for citizenship. HOWEVER, each day as a temporary resident (incl. visitor status) will count as half a day towards the requirement up to a total of 365 days. To get the maximum temporary resident credit, you'd need 730 days, which would count towards 365 days for the citizenship requirement. You would then need 730 days as a permanent resident to then meet the requirement Given she lived in Canada as temporary resident for 18 months, say 545 days, then the credit she would get towards citizenship would be 272.5 days. She would then require 822.5 days physically in Canada as a permanent resident to then be eligible for citizenship. Please note they count days -physically- in Canada, not days simply holding the status. So a permanent resident who spends 7 total days outside of Canada would need to stay an extra 7 days in Canada to meet the requirement. Any part of a day physically in Canada counts as a full day. They only count the 5 years immediately prior to signing the application. Finally, I also strongly advise applying with extra days in case you make an error in the calculation. I strongly suggest using the Physical Presence Calculator, not only is it required for the application itself, but it is useful for determining eligibility. https://eservices.cic.gc.ca/rescalc/resCalcStartNew.do

Fingerprints are needed to my knowledge for Canadian police certificates to be valid in the eyes of NVC. Interestingly, not needed for the UK one.

I was under the impression that IRCC would only mail to addresses in Canada. That might not be the case. Regardless, it is faster to have it delivered to a Canadian address. It seems that it takes 2.5 weeks for it to show up after the Ceremony. You can certainly ask IRCC if they would mail the certificate to a US address. I didn't stay in Canada waiting for it to arrive, but I had a second home in Canada which I had the certificate sent to. I was able to re-enter Canada using my GC and NEXUS card without issue. I have still yet to apply for a Canadian passport as I'm waiting for the mess at the passport offices to clear up. I don't have the time to queue outside Service Canada for hours. xD I don't believe there is an obligation to report a new citizenship to USCIS, but I did so anyway for the sake of transparency and to basically cover my backside. I just sent them a message in myUSCIS. I did that a few days after the ceremony. As mentioned before, you must attend the Ceremony physically in Canada, even though it's online. If you attend it while in the US, you won't be properly naturalized and it may be subject to revocation.

The denied SB-1 may hurt your case for sure. But I'm doubtful over it, it'd be down to the evidence presented to the IJ. But if you have a 10 year green card, you can be boarded for a flight to the US and you'll see CBP. They may pressure you to sign I-407 but refuse. They may issue you a NTA and the government will have the burden of proof to demonstrate that you abandoned your LPR status. The burden of proof for DHS is extremely high as it requires “clear, unequivocal, and convincing" evidence that you abandoned your status. I'd get on a flight to the US, refuse to sign I-407, then prepare a defense to the immigration judge that you always intended to return during your absence. A strong case should be successful but I would say this is def not DIY. Get into the US, then see a competent attorney. Good luck.

CBP take the view that they'll take the 'meh' approach regarding requirements to permanently import your vehicle for the first few entries. So you'll probably get a couple of entries without hassle, but at some point they will insist that you properly import your vehicle. There has been one instance where someone was activating their visa, but while they were stamped in as a LPR, their vehicle was denied entry, so they had to come back in a UHaul. So your mileage may vary.

EB-2 and CR-1 are treated the same as far as an endorsed visa being good for travel for one year. Your Green Card can be issued while you are outside of the US, but must be mailed to a US address. Your 1 year Visa endorsement is good for travel regardless of whether a green card has been issued.

Heyo! You are a US LPR the moment you are admitted to the US as an immigrant. In layman's terms, that is when you activate your visa and the CBP officer stamps 'ADMITTED' by your immigrant visa. That stamp will have a date and that will be your 'Resident Since' date. Prior to activating your visa, you have no status in the US. You just happen to hold an immigrant visa which allows you to request admission for permanent residence. You can immigrate to the US at any time of your choosing, so long as your IV is valid. Do note that once you do that, the common opinion on VJ is that your provincial residency immediately ceases, so you don't have provincial healthcare anymore. However, your Canadian citizenship application will be unaffected. So long as you maintain your Canadian PR (by being physically present in Canada for 2 years out of a rolling 5 year period), you application can be processed while outside of Canada and you can return for your citizenship ceremony. Good luck!

The issue is carrying out employment duties or performing work-like activities (that aren't covered under B-1/W-B exceptions), not the part of receiving money. Most foreign tourists come to the US on paid vacation where they continue to earn their salaries while visiting the US. This is fine and expected. Passive foreign income is no big deal.

Yes. You can do it. Taxes and payroll is complicated. It may be easier to work for the company under self-employment terms.

I knew OP wasn't in WA. I was merely citing that WA has means that someone who is not a LPR/Citizen can lawfully obtain a firearm and that other jurisdictions might have something similar. Re. Post 9, WA's AFL is in line with Federal Law allowing nonimmigrants to posses firearms for the purposes of hunting or sporting. This is specifically noted in Section 4 RCW 9.41.173. So yes, basically we're in agreement, nonimmigrant aliens CAN buy a firearm for purposes of hunting and sporting. ...though I will say it doesn't reference self-defense in the exceptions for nonimmigrant aliens. Jussayin'

I did, please explain which aspect of my information which I was referring specific to WA is inaccurate. I recognize that other states/counties have their own laws on this.

Unless your state has something like an 'alien firearms license' like WA does, then probably not. And even then I don't think a WA AFL covers handguns tbh. You'd need to wait until your AoS completes.

I can't say it's really hearsay if her loving husband is on here telling us that she admitted to him that she lied on entry. Pretty open and shut to me, but hey...I don't know what the bar is for triggering VJ's ToS. Would be a whole another matter if it was a scorned ex on here telling us that. I have every reason to believe OP's claims, which is why I advised the way I did. As much as I hate the fact I had to provide that advice, given a different situation I'd be more than happy to tell them to AoS otherwise. Personally and as someone who came through Consular Processing, I don't give two damns about the whole 'jumping the queue' thing. It's all artificial rubbish at the end of the day, rules that were in place because they were meant to be cruel by design which is drawn out from a system that had racial quotas and said immigration law that is on the grand scale of things, pretty darn ancient. Those people who AoS aren't making Consular Processing take longer, if anything, it's one less person in the queue for interview at the Consulate. This is why I'd never advocate for AoSing from tourist visas/ESTA to be banned. All it's going to do is clog up the diplomatic missions even further, cause more heartache and separation for couples. I get a lot of people here have the mindset of 'well I suffered through it, so should you'. We should advocate things to be better for the people who follow us in their journeys, not worse, rather than just saying 'rules are rules' and because of that saying that the rules must be made worse. Anyway, before I get reprimanded for going off topic on this thread, I'll leave it at that.

While I don't agree with her saying that people who had changing plans after arrival should avoid AoSing, I think she's going to tell you exactly what we've said. She's already warning people with iffy circumstances of arriving to not AoS, with a case like yours, what do you think she's going to say? "Oh yeah, I know she lied about her entry, but she's fine to AoS." Massive doubt on that one my friend. At this point I think you're burning money on lawyer consults. It's just not worth it. Another poster suggested she can AoS and not lie, and hope that the circumstances surrounding her original entry don't come up. But of course, if you're going down the 100% honest route and basically say to USCIS 'Oh yeah, I lied during my entry'. Expect a lifetime bar, no way to get back. At best she'd probably get an AoS denial and will be asked to leave the US. My suggestion remains, go move to Europe for 10 years. Great place, and many would argue better than the US. You get near a month's PTO by law, universal healthcare, cheap flights to anywhere and worker protections. Given your wife has EU citizenship, she can bring you to any of the EU member states, so you've got like 30 countries in the EU/EEA to choose from. The additional benefit is that you'll know immediately if you're a victim of marriage fraud, because if your wife threatens divorce over it, you can probably be 99.9% certain she was using you for a green card. Though I sincerely hope that isn't the case. Around year 8, file for I-130, get back to the US with an IV by year 10. No worries at all regarding fraud or future immigration problems. Anyway, that's all the advice I have for you. Good luck!

Absolutely spot on right here.

The problem is that we *know* for a fact that she lied on entry by the OP's own words. We cannot advise them to AoS. They of course are free to do so, and maybe their application is approved, maybe it isn't. But the issue is that we know there's fraud here we can't touch this. Had we not been told about the fraud, it would have been an 'easy peasy. Just AoS and be done with it.'. As I've said before, the wilful misrep on entry is the nail in the coffin of this case regarding our ability, or an attorney's ability to help out here. OP has their answers. I don't see immigration lawyers saying much else if OP is telling them the same as us.

I contend that the misrepresentation to the CBP officer is the single biggest problem here, and that's why by terms of VJ's ToS, I cannot advise you to AoS. Everything else, the overstay, the illegal work, can be forgiven when adjusting status on the basis of marriage to a US Citizen. And yes, you can AoS from ESTA/B but ONLY if plans change after arrival. By admitting that she had immigrant intent all along, then she is by letter of the law not eligible to AoS as she should not have been admitted to the country. But as others have mentioned, it's virtually unenforceable unless CBP took a sworn statement from her promising that she would go home. Of course, if she is asked about it during an AoS interview, and tells the truth, her AoS would be denied. If she lies, then the application would probably be approved. If the lie is found out, she'd be removed for wilful misrepresentation and be subject to a lifetime bar. The fatal nail in her case was that she admitted to having preconceived intent to remain. Like I said, it's the matter of telling your lawyer that you are guilty. And this is exactly why lawyers won't help with AoS here, because for her AoS to be successful, she would have to commit wilful misrepresentation which of course goes against the ethics that attorneys are bound to. Further to add to this, if she does try and AoS and that ends up failing, she does not gain a right to see an IJ. The terms of the VWP continue to apply, so she could be deported without delay after a failed AoS. Honestly, if you're really in love with her, you may want to consider moving to her country and waiting out the 10 year bar, and then coming back. It's the only honest path I see.

Yes they can visit, but must show ties to their home country if asked so they can demonstrate that they will go home and have their Immigrant Visa interview at a Consulate abroad.

This does throw up a lot of red flags regarding marriage fraud I'm afraid. It seems like a textbook case of someone entering the US with no intent on going home and then seeking whatever way to obtain lawful status to remain. Now I'm not saying that's what's happening in your case, it just flies up a lot of red flags. The case is messy, and misrepresenting her intent on entry is problematic. She can try to adjust status, most of the time it is a 'CBP admitted her case closed', but of course if she admitted to you that she lied on entry, and then lies again at the AoS interview then that is wilful misrepresentation. Will she be caught for it? Probably unlikely, but yes, we can't advise people to break the law here. So you can do whatever you like, but I'm formally not advising you/her to AoS in line with VJ's ToS. It's kind of that case where if a person facing trial admits to their attorney that they are guilty, their attorney can no longer defend them as innocent because they know it not to be the case. Similar case here, that we know she misrepresented her intent on entry, we can't really help all that much here. She could try and apply for a provisional unlawful presence waiver and then once approved, interview at a consulate abroad. But you have to demonstrate extreme hardship to yourself. That can be hard given that she's from an ESTA country which will likely be well developed and easier for a USC to move to. Do bear in mind, given that she is an ESTA entrant to the US, she has no rights to see an immigration judge. If she's picked up by ICE or Border Patrol, then that's it, she's gone...barring a few exceptions. Of course if AoS is filed, then she'll be safe from that, but while out of status, she is most definitely at risk of being removed from the country swiftly.

Canadians are admitted as B-2s without a visa. Canadians are never required to have a visa for visits, and if they have admissibility issues, they are resolved via CBP's processes, not State's. Not sure about the whole intent to change status while in the US when entering. It's not like you're intentionally dodging visa requirements because there's no visa interview to be had. Your petition can be approved whether you are in the US or not. You can then either use that petition to enter as an 'O' or pay to change status. Personally, I'd re-enter as an 'O', as you don't have to pay USCIS for the change of status, nor go through their lengthy waittimes. Plus also you don't have to worry about 'intent' then, as you'd be entering with the correct status to begin with. If I were in your shoes, I'd wait for the petition to be processed, then re-enter the US with that approved petition, and satisfy whatever other requirements CBP impose for O applicants for admission. Of course, cost of flights might not make that worthwhile. It's entirely up to you.

I don't think OP needs a visa foil from a Consulate to re-enter the US in O status as they're a Canadian citizen. So the Change of Status alone once approved should allow them to re-enter as an 'O' but will be subject to whatever requirements CBP imposes on Canadian applicants for admission under the O category. See: https://ca.usembassy.gov/visas/do-i-need-a-visa/ Canadians only require visas for: Immigration Treaty Traders (E) Nonimmigrant Spouse and dependants (K-3/K-4) Nonimmigrant Spouses of LPRs and dependants(V-1/V-2) Nonimmigrant Fiance(e) of USC's and dependants (K-1/K-2) Foreign Govt Officials (A) Officials of Int Orgs (G) Nato Officials (NATO) Outside of the above categories they may apply for the status they require at the border subject to the requirements of CBP and the INA to be eligible for the status requested. Imo, OP is fine to change status, and once approved they can re-enter with proof of an approved petition.

You're an IR-1, you don't have to worry about filing I-751, your immigration status is yours and yours alone. He can't take it away. Keep all the evidence safe, USCIS does not look kindly upon abusive spouses. Best of luck to you!