jedinite

Update:

I made it down to visit my wifey for our Anniversary! So was so elated to see me, especially since she wasn't expecting me at all. I completely surprised her that she was crying when she saw me and she wouldn't let go.

So here's what I brought with me to make it down here:

Various letters proving current address, i.e. bank letters, government letters, bills, etc

A current copy of my work contract, shows a commitment date and the client I am working for

My work pass

My incorporated business papers, glad I brought this because on my contract it refers to my business not my name

An invitation to my brother's wedding in a month, which is to be held in Canada

I was asked the following:

When my anniversary is

How long I intended on staying

What step in the visa process I was in? My big problem before was that my wife and I both hadn't decided where we wanted to live, so neither of us filed for a visa. I think actually having made a decision and filing for the visa works in your favor as long as you still intend on staying in your home country or some place outside of the US until you've officially been approved.

If I got my visa tomorrow what would I do? I answered truthfully, and said I would workout the rest of my contract out in Canada. That was probably a trick question so I'd advise against saying you'd just stay down there, it proves that you have no ties to Canada.

He gave me a entry card, which I'm suppose to return to the airline when I leave the US. He actually dated it for Feb 2008. I'm really happy that I was able to come back down to visit. And my wife just got the AOS and DS-3032 forms in the mail the same day I arrived, so thus far this has been a perfect visit.

Thanks again for everyone's input.

I understand the POE officer has to be suspicious of everyone, but look at it this way:

Why would someone put the $ and time into the visa process...and then immigrate illegally?

Personally, that individual would deserve a slap across the head for just throwing money away

like that.

I agree with you there. I haven't got a confirmation letter from the NVC yet so I hope they can look me up in the system and tell that I am in the process of obtaining my CR-1.

I don't have property in Canada so I'm hoping my incorporated business, my work pass with my picture on it and some letters and an invitation to my brother's wedding in a month suffice for proof that I have something to come back to.

If I didn't have to fill out a withdrawal of entry for my TN application last year I wouldn't even sweat it, but I'm sure once they swipe my passport they will see my record of attempted entry come up.

I booked my flight for tomorrow and coming back next week so I hope this surprise for our anniversary works out.

As long as you are prepared, I say go for it. By "prepared" I not only mean being able to prove your ties to Canada, but also prepared to be denied entry.

Good luck!

Not sure if I want the disappointment of being denied. Has anyone been successful at visiting the US while awaiting a visa?

Yup...we're waiting for our K-1 visa and Dennis has visited me in the US twice since we applied. Both times he had tons of evidence of ties to Canada (all the stuff in Flames' list), but they never asked for it. They just talked to him and let him go.

Awesome! I'm totally pumped to visit my Wifey!!!! Cross your fingers for me prz

Yes MANY have been successful. I did it montly from Halifax to DC, never had a problem!! Yes some have been denied for various reasons. Some didnt have any ties to Canada, maybe the POE officer was ajerk, or maybe eventhe Cdn was being a jerk, yes hard to belive,lol My advice:

1) Always tell the TRUTH. never lie to the POE officer

2) Be confident in ur replies

3)keep ur response short and to the point, dont tell ur life story!!

4) look the POE officer in the eye when speaking to them. They are looking for people lieing and have been trained to find them!

5)pack light! No job resumes with you

6) Bring ties to Canada (letter from employer when ur expected back at work, lease, etc etc)

7) Always be polite, being rude isnt going to get ya anywhere, and could make things worse!!

8) have a plan in case u do get denied (be polite) It wont harm ur visa application if ur denied,that is if ur polite and didnt lie! Refer to #1

Best of luck

Thank you much flames9. It's my wife and my 1 year anniversary this weekend and it would be great to see her for that. My sister-in-law works for WestJet so she can get me on a pretty economical flight on standby, so I'm lucky for that. I'm going to see if she can get me a flight. I'm kind of excited now.

As long as you are prepared, I say go for it. By "prepared" I not only mean being able to prove your ties to Canada, but also prepared to be denied entry.

Good luck!

Not sure if I want the disappointment of being denied. Has anyone been successful at visiting the US while awaiting a visa?

chocolate

melts

Just want to know what you guys think of traveling to the US before getting your CR-1. I've posted that it's best just to stick around and wait for the visa rather than chance it. But if you are going to travel to be well prepared with documents proving that you are returning to Canada.

So anyways, I'm considering traveling to the US this weekend to surprise my wife for our Anniversary, which is Saturday. But I don't know what to do.

I am working in Canada, and I have a business and family up here so I'm not exactly a "flight risk." Has anyone attempted to travel to the US to visit their spouses during the visa process? If so how difficult was it and what sort of proof did you bring with you?

Oh, another piece of information I should mention to you all, is that I probably will be flagged since i had to fill out a "withdrawal of entry" form for when I was attempting to get my TN-1 Visa renewed last year, hence why I am in Canada and now waiting for the CR-1 Visa process. So I won't exactly slip-under the radar like a lot of people that haven't traveled to the US yet and went 100% the legal route.

Thanks for the input guys and gals.

I have a 70 Hunter my main, herbing and LW, a 30 something Druid and priest, 20 something warrior. When I played hard, I cleared Naxx with my guild. #1 North American PvE Horde Guild pre-expansion, I believe my guild is still up there but I haven't logged on for months, and haven't raided in over a year.

↑ ↑ What you wrote.

↓ ↓ What I saw:

Έχω έναν κυνηγό 70 κύριός μου, και LW, 30 κάτι Druid και ιερέας, 20 κάτι πολεμιστής. Όταν έπαιξα σκληρά, καθάρισα Naxx με τη συντεχνία μου. #1 βορειοαμερικανική προ-επέκταση συντεχνιών ορδής PvE, πιστεύω η συντεχνία ότι μου είναι ακόμα επάνω εκεί αλλά Ι haven' τ που συνδέονται για τους μήνες, και haven' τ που δέχεται επίθεση κατά τη διάρκεια ενός έτους.

I have no idea what you wrote.

Made

(You reminded me of the computer geeks in Galaxy Quest. Too funny. )

LOL. Fonts must be broken on your system somehow. No idea how you got that funny font on there. Do you see my stuff now?

Windy ->

"Day"

impolite

and no I am perfectly fine from my ricotta Just got carried away with Wow

man

Azeroth

(now we're not even playing the game right, suppose to add one word that would then be followed by a resonse that might complete a sentence or thought. Anyways, WoW rocks but I retired from it.)

Retired from wow!?!?

I'm a priest and an herbalist/tailor Mephys...what are you??

Imagination

I have a 70 Hunter my main, herbing and LW, a 30 something Druid and priest, 20 something warrior. When I played hard, I cleared Naxx with my guild. #1 North American PvE Horde Guild pre-expansion, I believe my guild is still up there but I haven't logged on for months, and haven't raided in over a year.

Azeroth

(now we're not even playing the game right, suppose to add one word that would then be followed by a resonse that might complete a sentence or thought. Anyways, WoW rocks but I retired from it.)

Congrats on the interview. Who does the DS-3032 and AOS Bill get sent to after it's generated? I've been waiting for nearly 2 weeks now and I haven't received anything yet. I want to pay and submit my DS-3032 form ASAP. I'm the beneficiary by the way.

Someone explain the rules - cause I don't get it.

seriously.

Well I was bored at work and didn't know what to write so I said "Marco?" as in the game you play at the pool Marco Polo.

So someone replied, "Polo"

Then someone else took it on a tangent and said "shirt" so I guess this is turning out to be the word game.

Just reply with one word that you think will fit into a sentence and see how funny the story gets. Remember just one word. Otherwise you can just suggest some fun things to do on the computer when you're bored. There's literally NO work for me at work so I'm getting paid to surf or do whatever I like as long as it's safe for work, it gets boring after a week. No, I'm not a slacker, company I work for is going through transition and they are paying consultants to stick around even if there is no work, rather than having to find the skills after the transition.

My last experience with macs was back from OS9 and it was terrible. However in my two months with the new Mac Book Pro I have experienced problems. Nothing is problem free. Leopard had a hard kernel panic when a issue in the logic board appeared after a week. Sometimes the laptop doesnt want to boot up all the way, I think its a problem with display properties as it stops in a "refresh" that it does as its starting up.

Sorry to hear that Jon, you should really take your MacBook Pro into the Applestore to see if you ended up with one with bad hardware. I had to replace one of my fans after a year because it was making a terrible noise, but since I have AppleCare the store took care of it for me. I agree nothing is perfect, but overall my experience has been terrific, I hope yours works out. Snow Leopard should be out June 2009 so they may offer it as a free upgrade to Leopard as it has no added features just improvements.

In any case, when Mary moves next month I'm taking her to the Apple store and hopefully the new MacBooks will be out and she feels comfortable with it. If she doenst get used to OSX in a week or two I'll just load windows on it.

Don't speak such evil words! LOL

I use Adium to talk on MSN ... I just wish the iSight camera was supported for video chat.

I'll have to check that one out myself. I'm using the Microsoft MSN for Mac client and it seems to work fine. If you run MSN Messenger in Fusion 2.0 you should be able to utilize your iSight. Fusion 2 is still in beta but it's a free download and it will be a free upgrade to your existing version when the release version comes out.

Also I wish Fusion would run my virtual machines a little faster. Its a little hard to use my "Virtual" PC to do actual work on.

What Windows OS are you running in Fusion and how much RAM do you have allocated to it. I've noticed that running Vista in Fusion is slow unless you give it at least 1.5GB. 1GB it tends to do a lot of hard drive swapping still. And it's probably best if you turn off any unnecessary Vista features like Aero. If yiou're running Windows XP, it should run smoothly with 1GB of RAM allocated to the VM. If you have an external Firewire drive and you don't always need your VMs running when you're on the go, try putting your VMs on the external drive instead, that should speed things up as well.

As a side project if you really want to boost the performance of your MBP, try installing a new HDD. I followed this guide Upgrading Your MacBook Pro Hard Drive and swapped my factory 100GB 5400 RPM Toshiba drive with a blazing 320GB 7200RPM Seagate Momentus drive. I bench marked my machine before and after using XBench (free btw) and I saw a 40% performance gain. I picked up a ThermalTake BlacX SATA Dock so I could easily use the Mac OS X Migration Tool to move my settings and programs from my old Volume to my new disk after performing the transplant and the reinstall of the OS. Then you have a great external SATA drive dock for any backups or additional storage needs when you're at home.

Sorry to highjack this thread with a bunch of technical stuff, but as you can tell I'm an enthusiast.

All I paid a lawyer was $100 for him to sell me on the remainder of his $5000 service. From what my friend tells me that used him, he didn't fill out any forms or do anything except check that the T's were crossed and the I's were dotted. You need patience, a whole lot of it. My I-130 finally got approved 2 weeks ago, and I filed in Feb. So that's about 6 months. Some people are really lucky and their I-130 gets approved in 2-3 months. Just hang on there. There's also not much a Senator or Congressman can do for you if your petition lies within the date specified on the USCIS website for processing times. Example, if you check out the processing times for your office and it says they are on Feb 2008 cases and you filed yours in May, then they will just tell you that they haven't got to your case yet and until the web page says June 2008 they won't do much for you.

Don't get a lawyer unless you have an unusual case that requires legal council. Just follow Loto's Guide or James' Shortcuts for how to fill out forms and what to expect after your I-130 is approved.

Marco?

Haha you made a PUN! Sorta.

Sorry back to serious discussions.

LOL I didn't realize it until you pointed it out.

First of all, no one who knows anything about computers would purchase a PC from Dell, Gateway or any other "stock" vendor. They'd build the machine themselves or at the very least, purchase their PC from a vendor such as Alienware, VoodooPC, Falcon-Northwest, etc. Anyone who expects to get a magnificent machine at a rock-bottom price is only fooling themselves, although when building one from the ground up, sometimes deals can be made. That requires skill, however.

I know some people enjoy Macs and that's fine. They're free to choose whatever they like. I prefer my freedom of choice over simplicity. Apple gives too few choices for me. The PC, while far more complicated and sometimes frustrating, can offer an ever-widening degree of flexibility and choice for computer users. Of course, some people like everything spelled out for them ahead of time, too.

As for GIMP being able to do everything Photoshop and Illustrator can do, don't make me laugh. I'm a professional graphic designer with over eight years of experience under my belt. GIMP is a fun little tool, but it's not even as useful as Paint Shop Pro (which I found fairly pathetic as well). Ask anyone within the graphics industry and you'll find the same answer (once they've finished laughing or perhaps asking "what's GIMP?") and that's Photoshop is the standard in graphic design that has all others beat. GIMP be good for someone looking to replace Microsoft Paint and hoping to just "mess around a bit," but could never afford a professional raster or vector art image editor.

Well, I hope you weren't personally offended by my quoting your response DeadPoolX. You and I seem both like the technical ones of the bunch. I would agree with you that anyone that needs a professional graphics suite should go with Adobe Creative Suite, but the majority of the home PC owners out there don't really fit into he professional category, and therefore are probably well off with GIMP anyways. If not they may turn to a product like Aperture or Adobe Elements. At least GIMP is free to try or use. Adobe Creative Suite runs in $400 to $1600 range depending on the features you want.

And since we've established that the user is a non-technical person, it's better for him to get a Mac because the ease of use and service. DeadPoolX, you and I are of a different user set, that would be more than comfortable either forking out a ton of cash for a Voodoo or Alienware machine or building it on our own. I used to always build my PC or buy from Voodoo as I am a personal friend of the founder and CTO of Voodoo PC. But ever since Macs supported Intel I will generally recommend Apple computers to anyone that needs a hassle-free user experience. Most people asking which next computer they should go for are typically not hardcore gamers or technical folks.

Like I said I am a systems consultant for Microsoft products, I know them like the back of my hand and I use them everyday, but when I get home I don't want to "work" on my computer, I just want my computer to work. Hence, with an MacBook Pro, I can do what I need to and at the same time my computer is more than powerful and flexible enough to run Windows or Linux VM sessions, run XCode and Unix Terminal for programming or just surf, play some games and plug into my TV and watch my shows via FrontRow.

Macs aren't for everyone, but for those who aren't comfortable figuring computers out for themselves, do us technical people a favor and get an Apple, you're going to like it better and you're going call us techies not because you need help with your computer but because you want to go hang out and grab a drink.

BTW here's a basic comparison of similar computers, both for ~$2100:

1. MacBook Pro 15"
2. 15.4" Widescreen Display
3. 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
4. 200 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
5. 2GB RAM
6. Mac OS X Leopard
7. iLife '08 included (GarageBand, iMovie, iDVD, iPhoto, iWeb)

• AlienWare m15x (Customized)
  
• 15.4" Widescreen Display
  
• 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
  
• 250 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
  
• 2GB RAM
  
• Windows Vista Home Premium (second worst version of Vista, recommend Vista Ultimate for an extra $105CAD)
  
• Software included - ??? A bunch of trial ware?
  

Well that's really comparing Apples to Apples. I don't hate on PCs I just find them to be more difficult to manage than Macs, esp. for non-technical people.

Most Canadian banks require a min balance of $1000 for free transactions. If you dip below the min balance requirement during the month you will probably be facing service charges for the transactions you've used for that particular month.

Most banks also impose a daily limit to your Interac (debit card) usage to protect you in case you get your card stolen. If you want this daily debit card limit removed call or visit your local branch and get the CSR to change it. Also most accounts that are less than 6 months old will likely have a maximum $500 limit to it this is because the bank does not want to allow you to over extend your limit (borrow) until you have established a history with the bank. It's annoying yes, but at least there are safe-guards in place to protect you and them.

Just think, Canada banks are not in trouble like the US Banks are right now because Canada doesn't over extend it's loans and mortgages. That's why there's now a housing and mortgage crisis in the US. Food for thought.

I am a Microsoft Certified consultant but I use a MacBook Pro exclusively for my home use. I bought my wife a G4 MacBook (the predecessor to the MacBook Pro) and I enjoyed the look and layout of the Mac OS X (Tiger) back then but the G4 processors did not thrill me. Now the entire Mac line of computers is exclusively Intel-based making the difference between the Mac and PC world a matter of OS rather than hardware.

There are both good and bad points to the PC and Mac platforms. Neither one is truly "better" than the other, despite what die-hard users might say. I've used both extensively and most of all, it'd really depend on you far more than the machine. By that I mean... What do you wish to do with it?

I will disagree with this comment. I believe Macs are better for personal users both technical and non-technical. Mac OS X is built on the Unix BSD kernel, a very powerful and long running operating system developed by AT&T and the University of Berkley. You may be familiar with Linux which is just "free" derivative of Unix. Macs can do everything a PC can do and most times better, and a lot of times more stable, and quite often for cheaper.

Yes buying a new Mac is more costly than your $700 Dell deal, but when you look at the hardware specs, the Mac is a more powerful machine to begin with. Dell bargain bin deals also don't offer much in terms of software and support. Mac's come with enough included and useful software that you don't have to go out and spend several hundred more to get a useful machine. Since Macs are built on the Unix kernel, you can run a LOT of free applications with little or no extra configuration needed. If you want a good Office program, why spend $200-400 for Office for Mac 2008 when you can download OpenOffice for free, and it runs and looks a lot better than Microsoft Office for Mac, and it's still compatible with your Microsoft Office counterparts.

If you need a graphics application, download GIMP, it's an open source alternative to Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. It will do anything Adobe does for free, and most features a home user needs is covered easily by Apple's included iLife software or buy installing GIMP.

A PC, by its very nature, is far more flexible than a Mac. It has more hardware and software available, but if you're not interested in playing games or perhaps modifying -- or building -- your computer, then a Mac might be for you instead. The user can do less with the Mac (by this I mean, they can't build one from scratch or swap all sorts of parts as is possible in a PC), but most productivity software, ranging from Photoshop to even Microsoft Word is available on the Mac.

Other than the variety of hardware that can frustrate and annoy most users, Mac offers the most stable platform for computing. Apple computers are proprietary because it offers it's users a level of experience that you don't get with PCs. Mac users get a solid platform out of the box, PC users often struggle with updating their computer to the latest drivers and fixing security issues. If anyone tells you differently, ask them when the last time they ran into a driver issue on a Mac, then ask them how many times they have had to update drivers on a PC. Mac updates are painless and seamless, Windows updates is a poorly implemented system that often requires the user to reboot several times during and after updates.

With the new Intel Macs (a lot of PC users don't realize that Mac now use Intel chips now btw), you are able to run both Mac OS and Windows if you really need to. Windows can run on a separate partition on your computer using a program called "BootCamp" which is included on all new Macs. You may also run a virtual machine version of Windows with VMWare Fusion or Parallels (I recommend and prefer Fusion). Virtual machines are like running another operating system within it's own program environment, for example you will see Windows within a program window on your Mac desktop, you can drag and drop files to and from the virtual Windows machine and you can run any program you like in Windows as if you were actually on a physical Windows machine.

Also with BootCamp you can run the majority of the Windows games on your Mac via Windows boot up. EA (Electronic Arts) as well as a few other major game publishers have signed deals with Apple to provide Mac compatible versions of all their games. So the age-old fact about Macs not being able to run games like PCs is quickly becoming a myth. World of Warcraft and other Blizzard games have been supported on the Mac even from G3/G4 days.

These Apple-imposed limitations, however, make the Mac a much simpler machine to operate. Although I hate to compare any computer to a game console, Apple has essentially done that with their machines. While there are several different versions of each Mac type, the varieties won't differ so dramatically as to cause compatibility issues, as is sometimes the case on the PC. That's one of the drawbacks to having literally thousands of hardware vendors producing parts -- the operating system needs to recognize and handle it all.

DeadPoolX hit the nail on the head with this point.

The myth that "Macs never crash" is just that. I have seen far too many of them crash in my lifetime. Macs can also get viruses (just like Linux too), but the main difference here is that there are far fewer viruses written for MacOS (or Linux). That's the real problem and not Windows itself. Since just about everyone uses Microsoft's OS today, anyone who wishes to write a virus, trojan, worm or any other piece of malware, aims their work at Windows since most people use it. They figure that if they want to attack others, they should hit the most commonly used OS to hurt the most people. If MacOS were used as much as Windows, I'm sure we'd see the same thing with it, but it's not, so we don't.

Macs are not impervious to crashes, but the amount of crashes, especially on new Mac machines are few and far between. You must realize that a lot of the impressions that PC Tech People had of Macs was from the early days of OS X or before. Ever since Mac OS X Tiger (10.4) and Leopard (10.5) have been available, Macs have been much more stable and effective at handling program errors. Unless you like to run a lot of non-standard programs you'll likely rarely see a crash on a Mac.

I recommend a virus scan for any computer you purchase, whether that be PC or Mac. Windows machines are more susceptible to viruses because most of the computers out there are Windows based. Hackers like to exploit a lot of the security vulnerabilities on Windows machines as well. Unix/Linux and Mac OS are smaller segments of the market, and are built on much more stable and secure platforms. But they are not immune to attacks.

One thing you might want to remember that is that PC software won't work on a Mac and vice-versa. So if you have a lot of software for a PC, it will be rendered inoperable, unless you get the newer Macs that can boot both MacOS and Windows. If you do that, however, I'd recommend getting a copy of WinXP over Vista. At the moment, Vista is a memory hog and lacks sufficient driver support.

Remember what I said about BootCamp and Virtual Machines, you can run ANY Windows software on a Mac now, no matter what. Anyone that tells you differently, ask them to speak to me about Virtualization or running on a separate partition. Macs and PCs now run on the same hardware platform for the most part. When it comes down to it, how much time does one want to spend learning how to repair a Windows PC vs how much time does one want to enjoy using a Mac? If you have any problems with your Mac, you bring it into an Apple Store or a Apple Certified reseller and they will fix it no questions asked. Same thing doesn't necessarily happen with a Windows PC, and if you have a friend/family member that is a tech wiz, well they will most-likely help but be somewhat annoyed if you are constantly running into issues. I know I am.

Remember, I'm a Windows Consultant, if it weren't for Microsoft I wouldn't have a job, but even I prefer a Mac over a PC. If Window machines were built as well as Macs, myself and a lot of my colleagues would probably be out of jobs.

One final thing to note, ALWAYS get the Apple Care on a Mac Laptop/Notebook. You get 1yr of included maintenance and warranty with a Mac Notebook or Laptop purchase but for a small price you get 3 years of hassle-free warranty. If you carry around a portable computer you're bound to have something happen to it, even if it's as little as your laptop bag tipping over with your laptop in it, it may cause some minor damage which may need repair after your regular warranty runs out. If anything goes wrong you're pretty much covered. If you decide on going with a Windows Laptop I'd buy extended warranty as well but I wouldn't guarantee that everything is covered.

If you have any other questions about what software or products to buy with your computer send me a note.

Thanks for all your replies. My wife won't be doing any actual work on it, just using it for internet access, and storing lots of pictures and music files. Can you use MSN messenger or Skype on a Mac?

Yes and Yes. Once she starts using iChat though, I believe she'll be in love with using that instead (as long as her contacts also have macs that is)

I was approved on Aug 14, I've been calling about everyday to see if they have generated my bill and DS-3032 form yet. I pre-maturely sent them my info for DS-3032 via e-mail and have not heard anything back yet. I hope that doesn't delay my case when my form is actually generated. I am waiting for my invoice number for AOS fee so I can pay it.

If you know anything about owning a Canadian business that you could recommend me checking into that would be terrific too. I have a numbered company in Alberta that I use for corp-to-corp consulting. Will I have to close my business in Canada or open a US business to keep out of trouble?

My financial consultant knows a lot about that. Halton Financial Group if you're interested. He's licensed in Canada and the US.

Thanks Krikit, I'll give him a call.

Spouses of American citizens can apply for citizenship 2 years and 9 months after initial receipt of the green card, provided enough days are spent here. If I were you I would keep a log and a running tally of days you are in the US versus Canada. It will make figuring out where you stand easier later on.

Ok I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the advice.

Yu&Dan's comments are correct.

Also, just because you don't renew the Canuck passport DOES NOT mean that you lose your Canuck citizenship--to do so, you have to explicitly file CIT-0302-E form with Canadian Embassy/Consulate.

Thanks for that info, I was wondering myself if I can retain my dual-citizenship after I become a US citizen.

And by the way, awesome that you're a Flames fan. Go Flames Go!

Hi there, I posted this in the NVC forum but I thought I'd post it here as well seeing as there maybe someone from Canada that is in the same boat as I am or at least has a similar experience. I want to know if anyone has any information or experience of working outside of the US after you have received your visa CR-1.

I am working in Canada now pending my CR-1 Visa, but I may continue to work in Canada until my contract expires or until I get an equal or better opportunity in the US. I will most likely just travel back and forth every few weeks or once a month back to my wife in the US. Will this create an issue for me in terms of taxes, immigration etc? I know I will have to report all World Income earned and may be taxed on the difference of what is owing to the IRS if I don't get taxed enough in the foreign country.

I am not quite at the interview process yet but it shouldn't be long and I want to know what your experiences are so I can plan accordingly. Ideally, I would like to find employment in the US that is equivalent to my current position / salary.

Thanks for all your input in advance.

I just noticed that you are on contract. Are you self employed? If so, that could potentially be an advantage.

Sly

Yes Sly, I'm self-employed. I'm an IT Consultant. I don't have difficulties finding positions in the States but it's the time of year when my Visa will be approved that causes concerns. I am approximating that I'll get my interview in either Oct or Nov. If it's November it's close to American holidays and thus is hard to find new work at that time. My current contract is in Calgary and since I'm currently working there, the "holiday" season will no effect me in terms of earning income, hope that made sense. I am going to apply to whatever positions I can find once I know when my interview is scheduled for, that way I can give any potential US employers or clients an approximate start-date, but I can't do that now because I have no idea what the interview times are like for the Embassy in Montreal.

Well it cut this short, I was hoping that I could commute for a few weeks at a time on "business" to Canada and return on long weekends, my client gives it's employees and contractors the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month off, so that would be a good time to go back to the US to spend time with my wife. I know I'll have to file taxes in both countries, which is not an issue. I only hope that by commuting several weeks at a time does not put me into a bad position seeing as I'll be on a Conditional Greencard for the first 2 years.

If you know anything about owning a Canadian business that you could recommend me checking into that would be terrific too. I have a numbered company in Alberta that I use for corp-to-corp consulting. Will I have to close my business in Canada or open a US business to keep out of trouble?

You will not have problems, but you might have complexities as it relates to taxes.... In addition, short and even frequent visits outside the US are not problems and might only be complexities when and if you decide to become a citizen

Ok thanks for the info. I'm not intending on working outside of the US indefinitely, but if I cannot find an equivalent job south of the border (in the US of course) I'll continue to work in Canada for up to a year. Since there's no way I can move to the US and be unemployed and taking a job for a lot less doesn't make sense.

If you are planning to apply for US citizenship you will have some difficulties, as they require total count and exact dates outside the US to be on the application. Also there is a total days residence requirement. I do not remember anymore, but you should look into this.

Will this be an issue if I am only going to be working outside of the US for the first several months, up to possibly a year? I would of course be traveling to and from the US during this time. Not on a daily basis but I would expect to travel several times a month.

You should look for and read the N-400 instructions and "Naturalization Guide", I do not remember exact requirements. Working outside the US by itself is not a problem, but he total days outside US is what they will be looking for. I think you can not be out of the country for over 6 months while on green card, but also there is a cumulative days out requirement. When you will be filing N-400 citizenship, you will have to list ALL dates out of the country for the last 3 or 5 years.. So they do add them up, and ask again right before the oath to provide them with dates out if any additional travel took place. Just look into the N-400 guides.

Ok thanks for the info and the reference. I'll look to see what I can find. It takes 10 years of permanent residency to get citizenship though right? So since this will be the first 2 year process before I switch to the actual permanent resident status is there any other "gotchas" you can recall seeing. I don't foresee myself being out of the US for 6 month long stretches, it will most likely be 2-3 week stretches, I just don't want them to all add up to bite me in the butt in the end. And it will be a temporary condition until I can get a job or contract in the US, but if I get the visa in Nov-Jan timeframe it's going to be hard to find a new job around the holiday season. And I just can't afford to be without work.