Family One

Your police certificate from India never expires. The only reason you would need to update is if you had been in India after the police certificate was issued.

Form NR73 Determination of Residency Status (Leaving Canada)

You do not cease to be a resident of Canada simply because you have an active green card. It is entirely possible to be considered a resident by both countries since they have different rules. From the US viewpoint, all citizens and green card holders are considered residents for tax purposes, regardless of where they live, even if they have never even visited the US. This comes with certain benefits, as well as certain obligations (notably taxes). From a Canadian viewpoint, you are deemed a resident, or not, based on a variety of other factors, including physical presence, family, work, house ownership, etc. A US green card can be a factor which tips the scale toward being a non-resident in Canada, but of itself, it is not conclusive. You remain a dual resident until your residential ties become stronger in US than they are in Canada. I have heard much discussion to the contrary, so I submitted the official paperwork to the Canadian government for them to make a determination on my residency. They determined that in my case, the green card alone was not sufficient to deem me a non-resident in Canada. I would like to hear other official determinations on such matters for similar cases.

Time has passed since you submitted your first documents to CEAC. You might have more current documents for the interviewing officer, especially income tax and financial information for you or your sponsor. If you upload to CEAC, you can be sure the officer will see it. If you simply bring it with you to the interview, you may never get a chance to present it before the officer makes his decision.

Even if there is nothing stamped in the passport during their "visit," the officer may unknowingly trigger the "immigration." (I speak from experience) My green card has a July date (visit), and the stamp in the passport has an August date (when I intended to immigrate). I still haven't figured out how to correct the discrepancy.

Your feeling is correct. The interview date does not change once you are "DQ'ed," regardless of how many updated documents you upload. It would be advisable to upload the new I-864, as well as any other documents you want the officer to see, such as updated income tax transcripts, etc.

#1 Make sure you know that you are documentarily qualified. Did you receive an email confirming that you were DQ?

Use the requirements for US passport photos. 2x2, etc. If you want to pinch pennies, you can even take your own photo and use an online "passport photo" program to tile 6 identical photos on a 4x6 photo. Then get it printed at Staples on high quality photo paper, and voila: 6 identical photos for $1.48 or whatever they charge. Just make sure you follow the guidelines about head size, white background, etc.

Can someone tell me if there is any special procedure to import a cargo trailer from Canada when moving personal goods? Is it the same as importing a vehicle? I can't seem to find any relevant threads here or elsewhere.

When you receive the notice that you are Documentarily Qualified, you join the queue for the interview, and your place does not change until the interview, even if you submit other documents. The interviewing officer will be the next person making decisions on your file. At this point, there is no reason to submit extra documentation until right before the interview. However, you will want to do your homework to prepare a sufficiently strong financial case. An extra year of income taxes filed before the interview would definitely stand in your favor.

You don't want them to "wave you through." Make sure they send you to secondary and stamp your passport with LPR and the date. This will serve as your temporary green card. I have heard that not all airport customs officers are aware of this procedure. I have no experience, though, with airport immigration.

Yes, a child who thankfully had just begun to file US taxes. Not much income, but it tipped the scale in our favour, in addition to our assets.

If the immigrant's assets are on American soil and the income on a US tax return, they can definitely be included on the I-864. If we are talking about Canadian assets or income, the instructions do not seem to be conclusive. In our case, the interviewing officer rejected everything for lack of a I-864A. You can, of course, take a chance; I'm just saying what I would do the next time. Ultimately, we transferred money to a US bank account to meet the asset minimum, and abandoned trying to prove continued employment. However, I would assume that together with the I-864A you would need proof that you had worked for said employer in the past (T4), in addition to proof that they would continue hiring you (contract or letter).

There is no official requirement to update in CEAC, but if you get the right (wrong) interviewing officer, he may have made up his mind before you get a chance to hand over the documents at the interview. If you want him to see the document, upload it ahead of time. You've been waiting long enough; no need to take unnecessary chances.

The immigrating spouse needs to fill out and submit a I-864A if you are depending on his/her continued employment or assets to be used in the calculation of income. (This does not apply if the assets are in the sponsor's name.) This seems backward to require a contract between spouses in such a case, but that's the way it is. We learned the hard way, and they calculated my $60000 income at $0 for lack of a I-864A.

The electronic I-94 is not reliable for all cases. I don't know why, but the FOIA request is more reliable. For me, the I-94 had record of maybe 80 crossings. I was needing to find 700 crossings, so the FOIA was the only way.

Very easy. If you have enough time before the interview (maybe 2 months?), you can get your US entry and exit records under the Freedom of Information Act, also known as FOIA. You can find all the information you need at www.cbp.gov/site-policy-notices/foia/records Find the line for "Information Regarding Entry and Exit" and follow the link to submit the FOIA request directly to CBP. You will need to specify which records you want. In your case that would be entry and exit information for whichever years are in question.

Maybe or maybe not. I believe that the interviewing officer is not obligated to accept the petitioner's income, even if it meets the minimum requirement. Since he has asked for a joint sponsor (I-864A), he may not change his mind on that point, even if the petitioner's income is suddenly high enough. Definitely submit a new I-864. You have a choice to either try it without the I-864A (joint sponsor) and potentially add an additional several month's delay if the officer deems it insufficient, or submit the I-864A right away to make your case fool proof.

The DQ process will pick out the most obvious problems with your file, but you are not home free when you reach the DQ milestone. DQ is basically your ticket to the interview. It does not mean that your case is bulletproof. Your best bet is to make sure the interviewing officer has all the relevant information BEFORE you arrive at the interview. He may have already made his decision about you before he calls you to the window for the interview. Delays after the interview happen frequently, even though all the cases were DQ-ed.

I sincerely hope your travel plans are flexible. I would give it less than 1 chance in 50 that you will have your passport by the weekend. If you got a 221g paper, even the 2-3 weeks is highly unlikely.

Those crossings included the 6000 tonnes of liquid chocolate they needed just across the border. I got to know the border agents well enough that one of them even asked my help to injure his supervisor with the truck as I was leaving. I suspect some of the crossings weren't even registered in the system properly, and there was a difference between the I-94 and the formal request for records.

The I-94 online is perhaps a place to start, but it seems to be not reliable if you want to make sure you don't miss any crossings. When I access the I-94 online, it only goes back a few years, and does not include every crossing.

If you have enough time, there is a request form you can send in to get a copy of all the border crossings the CBP has record of. I had over 700 border crossings, so it was worth it. I assume this is the same information which would be available to the department reviewing your 5535 file.

Add at least 3 weeks onto whatever timeline the Consular Officer gives you. And then cross your fingers that you don't have to wait even longer. When they get the requested document(s), expect the CEAC last updated date to change at least a few times in "administrative processing," eventually followed by "refused," and finally "issued."

What's wrong with living in Canada? I doubt you will find this audience particularly in agreement with you. I might be wrong, but my I guess that most of us just want to live with family, while still retaining a certain fondness for Canada. However, I hope you find your spouse's country more agreeable than you have found your own.