muchogrande

Yeah, Im sure you people are right. The reason I was hoping to get an IR-1 is that our work has us moving around a lot, so I was concerned about the limitations that would be on her with a CR-1 (in terms of being able to leave the US for extended periods / multiple trips).

I read somewhere that she was allowed 1 year outside of the US in the 2 year wait before removal of conditions. Does anyone know where I can find solid information on that?

thanks

Asked the question to Montreal and they said this:

Your case will be issued as an IR1 if the legal marriage date is over 2

years. Also we have just mailed your information packet this week.

Regards Op1

Still think I'll ask a lawyer.

Anyone think emailing the Montreal consulate with this question is a good idea?

Hi, my wife and I are recently OFFICALLY married (Oct 21), but have been common law married in Canada for about 9 years. I assumed that we would need to do the CR-1 thing, but after reading this on the Dept of state website:

What is a “Spouse”?

A spouse is a legally wedded husband or wife. Merely living together does not qualify a marriage for immigration. Common-law spouses may qualify as spouses for immigration, but only if the laws of the country where the common-law marriage occurs recognizes common-law marriages and grants them all the same rights and obligations as a traditional marriage. In cases of polygamy, only the first spouse may qualify as a spouse for immigration.

I am wondering if there is any way we can qualify for an IR1. Anyone have experience with this/know where I might be able to find out more?

thanks

-m

Trailmix, you are on it. Thanks again.

Hi, just wondering if anyone can recommend a US Immigration lawyer in Montreal. I need to talk to someone about how to fix a problem my spouse had at the US border.

Thanks

From reading everyone else's story on here, it looks like we were very, very fortunate that I got into the country at all. I just got back from visiting my husband in the US for 6 months, and although I got pulled in for 2ndry screening, the agent wasn't a jerk about it at all. (I flew from Edmonton and went thru US customs there.) He was actually only intensely interested in whether we really had filed an I-130 or not, and confirmed it in the system by looking up the case# from the correspondence I brought along. I don't remember exactly the questions I was asked, as it was back in May, but they seemed fair, and I tried to answer them as accurately as I could. Seeing other people's story here, makes me wonder that my visit wasn't drastically shortened, let alone approved.

Wow. Ok, well I am really starting to think the customs officer actually doesnt even know the law. She told us that the embassy should have informed us that the law stated my wife was NOT allowed to come into the US while the visa was in process, PERIOD. Man, that is really upsetting to find out. I thought she was wrong, but had no evidence to back it up. I wish we'd flown from Edmonton, or anywhere else for that matter. YVR definitely has a reputation for problems with US immigration, and personally, that reputation has been set in concrete for me. I recommend anyone considering passing through there to avoid it.

Wow, at which border were you crossing? Anyone been successful at YVR? I've always heard that that airport in particular is one of the worst places to go through customs, for some reason they are the extremely harsh. From the sounds of what you're saying soonenough we may have had a guard who didn't even know the law. (In fact, she didnt know how to spell British Columbia -- she was very annoyed that my wife corrected her mis-spelling of "Colombia" on the document she made my wife sign. Agh, and still no news on our I-130. I'm starting to think it got lost.

Does anyone know who it would be best to contact in terms of trying to fix this border issue with my wife? An attorney, or the border/immigrations office?

thanks

-m

Sorry to hear about this unfortunate situation... My wife and I have been married almost a year now and have had the our VISA in work for about 10 months and she had been thru the boarder literally thousands of times. We have also been asked the question Are we filing a visa? And of course the answer is yes, and they have never had a problem letting us thru. their major concerns were making sure she wasnt trying to move. and all we say is she is still paying rent on her apartment. No physical proof was required.

other than the usually full car inspection and even one time they pulled us thru and returned an item that was lost and returned to the boarder over a year ago. on one of her trips. She lost basically her whole wallet at a hotel and it was returned to the boarder (no money in it of course) but either way i was really surprised. But also in fear for the fact that they never asked for her to actually go in the building. while i had to wait in the car while they asked 1 million question.

As far as having a visa pending and crossing we have never had a problem. So either its in the law and they dont know that.. OR its just up to that particular officer on if they want to be pricks about the situation. Oh and by the way her passport has never ever been stamped. So technically she could stay as long as she wanted with no date of return on there. I asked one time when they did a full "random" car search why they didnt stamp her passport. their answer was CANADIANS DONT NEED STAMPS!!!!! I said ok then left with a smirk on my face because that was just an open invitation for her to stay as long as she wanted:)

And just a quick note, from what i was told by the CANADIAN boarder officers if you have a stamp in your passport, after they randomly pull you in and check your past history and all. they usually dont check you again for at least anotther 4 or 5 months. If thats a problem at your boarder crossing as far as always getting searched and what not. So get that stamp and be free for some time

Yeah, in theory... but am I right in thinking things are going slower than usual? Should I not have received some sort of confirmation by mail? Or does that only come when they ask us to submit the second set of documents?

Ahh, didn't realize you are DCF, so in theory this should even be faster - you bypass NVC altogether.

You can drag your feet a bit - when is your second anniversary?

I believe so Kayla, she was planning to stay 179 days.

I've always thought it was 180 days, not 6 months. Sure, when you think about 180 days it sounds like 6 months but technically it isn't.

I'm sorry this happened to you!

As always, thanks Trailmix -- so is the NOA1 just the small receipt slip I got from the canadian embassy when I filed the I-130? (DCF)

The IO at the border looked for our application in the computer and found nothing, she said that they must not have even started processing it (that was almost 4 weeks after submitting the I-130 paperwork at the embassy in vancouver) -- from what she said I assumed I would be receiving something more. If this is unusual, is there any way I can find out what is going on? We've not received a single thing in the mail since filing the I-130.

We've got all our docs in a row for the NOA2, but again, since we are DCF Im not sure we're going to move that fast (from what I read here Montreal is swamped and moving slow)

My work is highly mobile, so thats no issue, and I can set things up here in the US for domicile.

Anyhow, this is changing the topic -- but I am actually wondering at this point if we can cancel/postpone things and do this later when we would qualify for an IR-1. My work situation no longer calls for me to be in the US till I chose to be, and I'd love to be able to end this process when she crosses the border, instead of the 2 year renewal process.

I'm planning to talk to an attorney but wondering if anyone (trailmix?) might have advice on this?

So all you have so far is your NOA1 - received in early November - basically a receipt.

So now you wait for your NOA2. The key at this point is to have your DS-230 ready and your I-864, all the documents collected, both forms filled out and ready to be couriered to NVC.

Once you get that NOA2 and get your case number from NVC and pay your bills, it's time to send that stuff in, if you are ready to go you could potentially fly through NVC in a couple of weeks. Once that is done all you have left to do is wait for an interview date.

If you did decide to move up to Canada in the interim, there will be the issue of support (can you telecommute?) also the issue of domicile. Now that personally wouldn't stop me - but hey, that's me!

I guess all i'm really saying is that this wait between NOAs is your opportunity to be incredibly on top of everything and ready when that NOA2 shows up.

Yeah we're just going to stick it out. Thing is, we have yet to even get anything back after sending in the I-130, and that is getting close to 2 months ago. From what I read on the forum that is longer than average, so I doubt much will happen in jan/feb if things move at this rate. In fact, I'm starting to think it might be better for us to stop/delay the application, move back to canada, and then go for an IR-1 instead. Probably impossible at this point...ugh.

It's true -- the best bet is that you guys just stick it out, having a brief visit or two while your wife keeps working.

I'm pretty sure her name will be flagged in the computer system at the border -- I'm pretty sure mine is, at least, based solely on immigration status -- which means they will likely ask more questions.

I had strongly considered a lengthy trip to visit my wife, but ultimately decided on a ten-day trip instead...and even THAT got me a rather intense grilling from a POE officer and a request to see my return flight itinerary.

When you're so close -- and I would also venture to guess that a January or February date is almost certain for you -- the risk for her crossing is too great. Not that it would have any effect on the immigration process...but the potential for disappointment, plus the lack of job for her to return to etc. could be severely dejecting.

Thanks Ill try that -- also thinking to get some legal advice as well. But, Im not that hopeful -- I think I might just move back to canada until this is done.

They made her sign a document stating she would not try to enter the states until the CR-1 visa was completed.

OMG that is just retarded. Literally preventing two married people from seeing each other. I know I may be over reacting a bit but isnt that a little too much?

Perhaps your wife can try to visit for shorter periods of time and explain the situation. Or write or call the CBP office.

Im sorry to hear this I hope you can at least be reunited with your wife in Canada.

Yeah, we've definitely learned from our mistakes now! This happened at YVR immigration.

Hi, trying to find information about the 2 years between entering on a CR1 and the application for permanent status. Is it possible to leave the US? If so, are there restrictions on duration of time away?

thanks

So, I filed an I-130 (CR-1) for my wife via DCF in Vancouver a month ago. We then planned to visit the states while we did the visa work. She was stopped at the border. Major bummer. We had as much proof of ties to Canada as possible, but we messed up/were unlucky somewhere. I'm hoping to pass on my experience so others can learn from it:

We told the first IO our plans > I was moving to the U.S. (I'm dual) and she was coming to visit me for 6 months while we processed the CR-1

He flagged us to Stage 2. There, the woman said outright: as we had applied for the visa, she was not allowed to enter the states until it was completed. Period. She asked for ties to Canada so we told her we had a letter from her employer stating that he was hiring her back as soon as she returned. The IO didn't seem to care about that, she wanted CURRENT ties. The IO was quite friendly tho (and funny) and said that coming to visit, especially for 6 months, was WAY out of the question. She asked to see evidence of filing the I-130, which we provided. She did go and ask her supervisor if we could file an I-94 for a shorter period. The supervisor said no. They made her sign a document stating she would not try to enter the states until the CR-1 visa was completed.

I have read stories of people who were able to do what we were planning, just wanted to share one where things didn't work out. I believe we are stuck now until the visa is processed (the IO could not even find record of the I-130 in the system, so Im sure it will be a while).

Hi, I'm filing my I-130 soon in Vancouver -- the website says we go in and file in person, so I'm thinking we don't need a cover letter. Anyone have any experience with this? I'm sure it wont hurt to write one, but just wondering if it's necessary.

Hi, Im a USC/CDNC filing DCF (I-130) in Vancouver, and I'm a little confused about what addresses to use on the I-130 form.

It asks for our current addresses (eg, top of B & C sections), the address that my relative intends to live at in the US as well as her address abroad.

Currently we live together in Vancouver, but in 1 month I will be signing a lease on a flat in Brooklyn, and she will be moving in with some friends in Vancouver. We are hoping she won't be in Canada long though, as we are planning that she will visit me for most of time while we wait for her visa to process. (We realize that she might get shut down at the border).

My question: Should we put our current address as our current addresses, my soon to be leased flat an the US addy where she intends to live, and the place where she will be living with friends in Vancouver as her address abroad? It's the honest answer, but I'm worried itll cause confusion for the processor the form.

I read an I-130 line by line help guide (not on VJ) that said my address (top of B) should match the address where she intends to live in the states. But for DCF, this doesnt make sense right?

thanks VJers, this site seriously rocks!

Thanks Sean! Great to hear it all worked out smooth for ya. Could you tell me more about how things went at the border? (What you said, what they said, what documents you had with you/they asked for?)

Hi, filing our I-130 soon & I'm wondering about 1 thing :

I'll be bringing in copies and originals of all the docs required. The only thing I don't have an orig of is our Certificate of Land Title -- which has both of our names on it (this is part of our proof of bonafide marriage). I do have originals of 3 years of property tax for that property with both our names on it.

Anyone have experience with this?

thanks.

Doh! Thanks Trailmix, had the wrong time stuck in my head.

yeah it appears you don't, could be a line up though. Anyone here have a recent experience at the consulate in Vancouver during the 3-4 period on friday?

Perfect, thank you much canadian wife -- that's what I thought but just wanted to hear some confirmation.

Hi, doing the same here in BC -- but am confused about which document they want. I'm assuming Long Form = certified true copy of Birth Registration? Can anyone verify that for me?

http://vancouver.usconsulate.gov/content/t...=business_hours

thanks google.

Hi, can someone direct me to the instructions on how and when to file an I-130 in vancouver? I swear I read on the consulate site the other day that between 3-4pm on fridays they accepted them, but now I can't find that information!

thanks.