sallydom

I already had a B2 visa , and apparently legally you can visit USA as long as you can prove you are only visiting and as you have a house and Job in Canada that should be easy for you . your American girlfriend can definatley visit you.
Hopefully someone can advise you re where the best place to file
GOOD LUCK
it will be worth it in the end

Noorah101

It's OK to have the intent to marry. It's not OK to have the intent to remain and become a PR. It's perfectly legal to come to the USA, marry, and then leave the USA to pursue an Immigrant Visa. It's not OK to come to the USA with the intent to marry and remain in the USA after marriage and file AOS. It's all about what you intended to do at the POE. Or rather, it's all about what the adjudicating officer believes was your intent at the POE.

Yes, when you enter the USA on the VWP, you waive your rights to an appeal in this case.

It does not matter where in the world you get married. The Immigrant Visa process is the same regardless.

Yes, you are allowed.

Yes, she can.

Interesting that Canada permits one to seek PR status in another country while retaining PR status in Canada.

My advice is to marry in the USA, return to Canada, and pursue an Immigrant Visa. You should get your Immigrant Visa to the USA just after you become a Canadia citizen, so that would be a plus, I would think. Plus, that way you don't have to give up your job so suddenly, or your home. You can make solid plans for both while the immigrant visa processes.

Rene

Noorah101

You guys had a long distance relationship going before you got engaged....just figure it's another 8 to 10 months of long distance relationship after marriage. There's no urgent rush to live together, if you've already been having a long distance relationship for a while anyway. It will feel the same. Plus, you guys can still visit each other as you've been doing.

Rene

Noorah101

If you qualify for VWP travel, which is seems you do, it will be very difficult to get a B-2 visa. I wouldn't bother. Just keep visiting on the VWP as you've been doing.

Rene

sallydom

Why do you think difficult to get B2 visa that was the easiest thing so far , I was using VWP before that

Noorah101

The lawyer was incorrect. You CAN visit the USA while the visa process is going on. It has nothing to do with marrying in Canada.

It is true.

It does not.

No, it wouldn't cause any problems, it would be the correct method of immigrating to the USA. As I mentioned, it's perfectly OK to marry in the USA, and have the intent to marry at the POE. What's not OK is having the intent to remain in the USA after marriage and file AOS. Perhaps you had that intent, perhaps not, it will be up to the AOS officer to decide.

But it's perfectly legal to marry in the USA and then return outside the USA to pursue an Immigrant Visa. The I-130, by the way, is filed in the USA and can be filed right after you get married. What you'll be doing in Canada is applying for an Immigrant Visa to the USA.

Rene

Noorah101

Because if you qualify for VWP travel, you're less likely to get a B-2 approved. If you managed to get a B-2, while qualified to use the VWP, you were lucky.

If the B-2 visa application gets denied, then one has to re-do ESTA and check the box saying a visa has been denied. That, in turn, makes the ESTA get denied. Which makes it then impossible to visit the USA until 6 - 12 months later, when you can try ESTA again and hope for an approval.

Rene

S Folinsky

The reference to two months -- I am unclear as to whether this is to projected processing time or to the notional window for a VWP entrant to file for adjustment of status according to the some of the strange interpretations put on the law from some of the more twisted minions of the Dark Forces.

In any case, YMMV.

"The trouble is all inside your head she said to me. The answer is easy if you take it logically. I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free." Paul Simon

sallydom

Luck didn't come into its, just being truthful helps and a Good attorney ( that was lucky part as family friend of my hubby is very well respected and experienced )

Noorah101

I see. But for others, we suggest not trying to go for a B-2 visa when they are OK to travel by VWP, because we've seen too many of the B-2's get denied, which in turn makes the ESTA get denied, which in turn then means they are stuck, unable to visit the USA at all.

Perhaps you had an attorney helping you get a B-2, most people would not hire an attorney for that, they would just apply and wing it.

Rene

sallydom

The only help from an attorney I had was to recommend I applied for B2, I managed that all by myself ! . I appreciate this may not be right for everyone but the embassy in London were brilliant , maybe it is to do with attitude as it took my father in law a lot longer to get his B2 , purely for visiting my husband and brother in law .

Noorah101

I don't understand why you needed to get a B-2, though...you and your father in law. Why couldn't you continue visiting on the VWP. The only reason for needing a B-2 would be to stay longer than 90 days, and usually the ConOff denies someone who wants a B-2 simply to spend more time as a visitor in the USA. I still think you got lucky, I wouldn't recommend others to try it.

Rene

sir_eccles

Just wanted to note that lawyers love aggressive risky approaches because they get more fees when it goes wrong besides it isn't their future they are playing with.

katiekat

After reading through the replies it sounds to me like you should seek a consultation with another lawyer.

As Noorah and Sir Eccles have pointed out the "aggressive approach" comes with a great number of risks, the greatest of which is lack of appeal should you be denied.

But what concerns me even more than the suggestion that you take the "aggressive approach" rather than the CR-1 approach is telling you that you can't visit while the I-130 is being processed. You can certainly visit and on the VWP too... It seems to me like your lawyer is pushing you into the riskier route because you're more likely to retain them and they'll make money. And as Sir Eccles pointed out, they don't lose anything if you're denied.

With the CR-1 the process is similar to the K-1 and can be found in the Wiki... but it basically goes like this:

You get married here in the US and then return to Canada
Your wife files the I-130 and supporting documentation
You wait for approval and visit (as you normally would) with the VWP
Your I-130 is decided upon and then moves on to the next stage... Which I can't help you with as my husband and I went the K-1 route but I'm pretty sure it involves embassy interviews and a medical.

It does take 8-10 months, but as someone pointed out it just means the long-distance part of your relationship goes on a little bit longer. It's FAR FAR FAR less risky than adjusting status from the VWP and you'll get to come into the US when it's all over with a Greencard and the right to work from day one (which removes a whole OTHER bucket of worries).

Hope this helps!

Katie

materialcontroller

I've never understood why lots of people on BE look down their noses at AOS from VWP and don't consider it a "proper" way to immigrate even though it's perfectly legal and above board. There are greater risks attached to it, as have been outlined, but if you are fully aware of those risks you are at least able to make an informed choice about what is the best way to proceed for you.