halls2004

I(US Citizen) will be marrying a Canadian citizen in September.

1. Does she need any visa to enter the US with me.

2. Do I need to file for her paperwork(immigration paper) for her to
stay in US. I understand that as long as Canadian do not extend their
visit past 180 days they can stay with any visa etc. I would prefer not
to spend the money for GC app.

Thanks.

ian-mstm

Canadian citizens do not need a visa to enter the US and they can stay in the US up to 6 months. To stay in the US on a more permanent basis however, she will need to apply for permanent residency (GC) based, I suppose, on her marriage to you. Note, that if she enters the US with the intention to stay and adjust status, she is committing fraud... and that's not good. If she lies at the border... well, that'll be even worse! If she tells the truth at the border - that she intends to marry a US citizen and remain to adjust status, she may not even be allowed entry! If you don't want to live for the next few years looking over your shoulder, do the right thing... spend a few bucks to get her a fiancee (K-1) visa and postpone your wedding until she can legally enter the US and stay to adjust status.

Ian

Just Jenney

You're getting married next month and you're only now thinking about immigration?? Yikes.

Although you don't come right out and say so, I'm going to assume from the way you've phrased your post that 1) you are planning to marry in Canada; and 2) after marriage you plan to live in the US together.

If this is correct, then...

Q: Does she need any visa to enter the US with me.
A: Yes, she'll need a K3 spousal visa. However, that won't be approved for several months, so she really won't be able to enter the US *with* you, unless you are going to go back to Canada once she gets her visa and is able to move to the US, and you accompany her.

Q: Do I need to file for her paperwork(immigration paper) for her to stay in US.
A: Yes. Please read "How Do I Bring My Spouse to Live in the US?" on USCIS's website to learn what and how.

Q: I understand that as long as Canadian do not extend their visit past 180 days they can stay with any visa etc.
A: Umm, yes -- but your wife wouldn't be "visiting," she would be "living" here, and she'll need a visa, and subsequently a green card, to do that.

Q: I would prefer not to spend the money for GC app.
A: If you don't want to spend the money for a green card application, then you might as well plan on living in Canada, because she'll need a green card in order to live in the US permanently. Of course, I'm sure Canada charges for immigration services, too, so I don't think this is avoidable.

~ Jenney

meauxna

Well, how *do* you imagine this going down? If your wife doesn't get a Green Card, where do you plan to live? You want to keep her hopscotching between countries.. not resident anywhere?
Do her a favor, dude.

jeffreyhy

halls,

Are you thinking that if your wife crosses the border into Canada for a few hours once every 180 days she's not living in the USA? Wrong.

And if she's going to be living in the USA, she's going to need a 'Green Card' to do so legally.

Regards, JEff

meauxna

QUOTE=halls2004 "I(US Citizen) will be marrying a Canadian citizen in September.

1. Does she need any visa to enter the US with me.

2. Do I need to file for her paperwork(immigration paper) for her to
stay in US. I understand that as long as Canadian do not extend their
visit past 180 days they can stay with any visa etc. I would prefer not
to spend the money for GC app.

Thanks." /QUOTE

Maybe this will make it more clear:
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/visasnafu29.htm

Visa snafu might delay wedding in Falmouth
By JOE HEITZ
STAFF WRITER
The wedding invitations have been sent. The RSVPs are rolling in.

Chris Roderick just needs his fiancee.

She's stuck in Toronto after U.S. border officials denied her re-entry to the United States almost two weeks ago.

And now it's not clear if Suzannah Mae Bajurny - a Canadian citizen - will be allowed back in time for her Sept. 9 wedding in Falmouth.

''I'm heartbroken,'' said Roderick, a Falmouth resident and U.S. citizen. ''Our only mistake was being honest.''

Because of their engagement, the couple unwittingly altered Bajurny's immigration status and got caught in the cogs of a system that federal officials maintain protects the immigration process.

Roderick and Bajurny's trouble started after a brief trip to Canada to celebrate the 65th wedding anniversary of

Bajurny's grandparents.

On July 17, Roderick and Bajurny had planned to cross the border at the Thousand Islands Bridge between New York and Ontario on their way back to the Cape.

U.S. border officials asked how long Bajurny planned to stay in the United States, Roderick recalled.

''She said, 'I hope to stay indefinitely - we're getting married in September,' '' Roderick explained.

Officials then photographed and fingerprinted her, Roderick said.

And they denied Bajurny entry to the country.

''They treated us like criminals,'' she said in a phone interview from Toronto. ''They didn't tell us much of anything.''

Immigration and border-protection officials declined to discuss specifics of Bajurny's situation in depth, citing privacy issues.

''People do need to legally enter the United States,'' said Shawn Saucier, a spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. ''It all goes back to the integrity of our immigration system.''

Growing up, Bajurny spent considerable time on the Cape. She even graduated from Falmouth High School in 1992 after spending a year here on a student visa.

And now as a Canadian who wasn't employed here, the 32-year-old simply held a passport for her routine trips back home.

Bajurny and Roderick met more than three years ago and quickly became close. They've crossed the border several times before without hassle, said Roderick, 36.

But this was the first time, however, they've tried do so since their Feb. 14 engagement.

And that Valentine's Day proposal changed Bajurny's status, officials said.

Essentially, she was no longer Roderick's girlfriend simply spending time in the United States. As his fiancée, she also became an intended immigrant, officials reasoned.

''She would no longer be a temporary visitor,'' said Janet Rapaport, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman. ''That puts her in a position of intending to immigrate.''

So, Bajurny must have a K-1 visa, Rapaport said.

Any American planning to marry a foreigner must file paperwork with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for the visa, Saucier said. After it's issued, the couple has 90 days to be married and continue on the path toward American citizenship.

The K-1 visa application process could take about a month, Saucier said.

And that would crowd their planned wedding date of

Sept. 9.

''We're not criminals; we're not terrorists,'' Bajurny said. ''We just want to get married.''

These days, Bajurny is staying with her family in Toronto - waiting and wondering if she and Roderick will get to have their upcoming wedding
They talk every day, but haven't seen each other since their hassle at the Thousand Islands crossing.

''I've waited my whole life to meet someone I want to spend my life with,'' Roderick said. ''Now it seems to be up in the air.''

Joe Heitz can be reached at [email protected].

Noorah101

Only a month? Since when? LOL

Where have we all heard that before?

It's not up in the air, they now know what to do about it. I wonder if they started the K-1 paperwork yet?


Rene

meauxna

heheh.. well, as I pointed out on vj, the K *visa* part probably only does take one month.
Now the petition....

Or, since it was a USCIS employee speaking, he could've meant that the Vermont I-129f processing would take a month....