Kricket

Alright this is kinda complicated , but please have a little patience with me as I try to explain it as best I can .

Alright , my name is Jenn . I was born and raised in the states . I met my fiancee , Kevin who is a Canadian citizen in May of 2002 . We began flying back and forth to see each other starting in May 2002 and continued to do so up until Feb. 2003 when I moved to Canada . . . . kinda . What I mean by kinda is this . I'm in Canada more than I'm in the states . When I fly to Canada to see Kevin I stay anywhere from a month to 2 months before returning to the states . When I return to the states I only stay there for 1 to 2 weeks brfore returning to Canada . Each time I leave Canada I always say I'm going home and when I return to Canada I always say I'm just visiting .

When I enter Canada the Immigration officer always asks me the purpose of my visit and I answer , to visit my fiancee . They want to know how long I'll be staying and where will I be staying and so on . In the 2+ years that I've been flying back and forth I've been sent into the Immigration office to be questioned 3 or 4 times now .

I now have to carry my divorce papers showing that I'm legally divorced from my ex-husband . I also have to carry my children's birth certificates to prove that I have ties to the States and that I'm not trying to come to Canada to stay . I'm always told that I cannot work or go to school here either.I have to carry my monthly bank statements with me showing how much money that I have access to and I have to have my flight itinerary showing proof that I am leaving and when .

Now , what I want to know is this . Can my fiancee and I legally get married in Canada or the states before any papers are filed for him to immigrate to the states ? He plans to move there instead of me moving here to Canada.

No paperwork has been filed yet and we're not really sure which way is the best to go about it .I have the form I-129F,Petition for Alien Fiancee and the form G-325A Biographic Information .I'm not sure if we have the right forms or not or if we have all the forms that we should have .

Also , if it is legal for us to get married before any of these forms have been filed and approved in either the States or in Canada , and we do get married, does that change which forms we have to file ?

In other words , can someone please tell us exactly what we need to do to get my fiancee to the states and able to work and to become a permanent US resident ?

*Please let us know about the legal aspects of us getting married in either country before the process is started or finished*

I hope that everyone can understand what I'm trying to say .

Oh and I also need to know about the sponsorship part of it all as well . I'm on disability , which is a very fixed income as you might imagine . Will I need someone else to sponsor him and if so , what does that entail ?

I was also told that because I'm on disability that we may not have to pay the filing fees on all the forms that have to be filed . Is this true , does anyone know ?

I want to thank everyone in advance for any and all help that you can give us .

Thank You ,
Jenn aka... Kricket

HunterGreen

Hi Jenn,

I don't know about Canada, but in the US yes you can - as long as there are no other reasons for you to not be eligible for marriage (such as a previous unresolved marriage etc.). Immigration-wise, your fiancé is allowed to enter with the intent to get married as long as he returns to Canada after the wedding.

If you go to the root post of this forum (the 'sticky' posts on top of the first page) you'll find a lot of info and links there.

Well, obviously when you're married you're not eligible for a fiancé(e) visa (K1) anymore. You'd have to file a I-130 for a CR1 visa, and are allowed to also file a form I-129 for a K3 visa - an approved K3 will allow for your then husband to wait out the processing of the CR1 visa in the US with you. This was instated because processing of CR1 visas takes such a long time.

See the root post.

See my previous reply to this, however what do you mean before the process is finished? You have to pick one and stick with it... say if you file a K1 (fiancé(e)) and you get married before the process is completed it becomes invalid and you have to start again with a CR1/K3.

I don't know about everyone, but your questions are pretty normal for this forum.

I don't know how much you get on disability, but for a household of two you'd need to make a bit less than $16,000 (before tax) a year. Do a search for poverty guidelines for the exact amounts.
If you don't make the amount, you can use assets to make up for the difference. If you are, say, $1000 short, you'd need $5000 in assets to make up for this. Assets can be savings, life-insurancy policy, real estate, etc.
If there are no or not enough assets you are allowed to use a joint sponsor. They'd have the same obligations as you (the sponsor), with the only difference that if your then husband gets a means tested benefit they'll come to you first to reclaim this.

I don't, but I'm sure somebody else here knows!

Good luck Jenn!

Elaine

Kricket

(Elaine said )
"See my previous reply to this, however what do you mean before the process is finished? You have to pick one and stick with it... say if you file a K1 (fiancé(e)) and you get married before the process is completed it becomes invalid and you have to start again with a CR1/K3. "

(Jenn said)
We were just trying to figure out what we can and can't so and what is the best way to go about this . We would rather get married now and then start the process . Which would mean we would need to file for a K-3 Visa and file form I-130 , right ?





(Elaine said)
"I don't know how much you get on disability, but for a household of two you'd need to make a bit less than $16,000 (before tax) a year. Do a search for poverty guidelines for the exact amounts.
If you don't make the amount, you can use assets to make up for the difference. If you are, say, $1000 short, you'd need $5000 in assets to make up for this. Assets can be savings, life-insurancy policy, real estate, etc.
If there are no or not enough assets you are allowed to use a joint sponsor. They'd have the same obligations as you (the sponsor), with the only difference that if your then husband gets a means tested benefit they'll come to you first to reclaim this."

(Jenn Said)
I only get around $8,600 a year in disability and another $1,900.00 a year in child support and I have no asets to make up the difference . So does this mean that the joint sponsor would only have to make up the difference in what I'm lacking or how does that work ?

Thanks for your help Elaine ,

Jenn

HunterGreen

Hi Jenn,

You're welcome.

Right. Sort of. With the form I-130 you file for a CR1 visa, but since they take so long to process you can file for a K3 visa which allows your husband to wait out the processing of the I-130 in the US with you. For this you file a form I-129.

The joint sponsor needs to make the amount appropriate for his/her household size plus the immigrant. So if, say, your sister is your joint sponsor, and she is married and has 3 kids, she'd need to make the amount required for a household of 6 people total.

Elaine

ian-mstm

I don't really have answers for you, but I just wanted to say hi. I lived in Ontario most of my life and now live in Kentucky!

Ian

souls canuck

hiya also.. another canuck living in the States with my husband now. .also lived in Ontario my whole life ..Toronto actually..

I would suggest the op do a lot of searching on this forum for forms and how to fill em out properly.. I am surprised that you have been yanked into customs and immigration so many times and yet you still keep on trucking.. I would be a basket case! Once was enough..no wait.. it was twice.. anyway, that can be nerve wracking.

I am not sure if K1 or K3 is faster... used to be K1.

I would look into what service center you would be using and what their time lines are.. you still have options.. look at all of them. Obviously you are looking to make this all legal and good. I wish you a speedy journey. personally I would get the ball rolling on that.. once the process starts though it might be tricky to travel.. then again, you have been calling your partner you fiance already so maybe not

hope this helps..

MightBe

Or of course if he came to visit you with no intent to marry you.. but the excitement and passion got to you and on the spur of the moment you just got married. He can stay and file with no great problem.. Of course I cannot tell you or advise you to take this course because ummm!!!!!!!!!

Eric S.

Check visajourney.com for an overview of the K-1 (fiance) and K-3 (spouse)
application processes: http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k1faq.htm.

Make sure to check out the "Comparison of Marriage Based Immigration
Choices" link at the top of the page for the pros and cons of each method.

Note that for the K-3, it doesn't matter which country you get married in.

- Eric S.


"Kricket" <member32438@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected] m...
    > No paperwork has been filed yet and we're not really sure which way
    > is the best to go about it .I have the form I-129F,Petition for Alien
    > Fiancee and the form G-325A Biographic Information .I'm not sure if
    > we have the right forms or not or if we have all the forms that we
    > should have .
    > Also , if it is legal for us to get married before any of these forms
    > have been filed and approved in either the States or in Canada , and we
    > do get married, does that change which forms we have to file ?
    > In other words , can someone please tell us exactly what we need to do
    > to get my fiancee to the states and able to work and to become a
    > permanent US resident ?
    > *Please let us know about the legal aspects of us getting married in
    > either country before the process is started or finished*

Kricket

Hi Ian ,

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply , but I've been very busy . So , what part of Ontario are you originally from and where in Kentucky did you move to ? Was it very hard for you to be able to move there and to be able to work there ?

It's nice to meet you .

Jenn

Kricket

I want to thank everyone for all of your help , you've been very nice and helpful to me and I really appreciate it .

Alright I have another question for you all . . . . .

What in your opinions is the BEST way for us to go about this ?

Is it better if we WAIT and get married after my fiancee starts the process and is legally allowed to move there ? Or are there advantages to us already being married ? Or does it really not make much difference at all either way ?

What I REALLY want to know is what is the best way to get my fiancee to Kentucky and able to work the FASTEST ???

I read some of things that a couple of you suggested and from what I read ,there may be advantages if we are already married once we start the process , but I don't know a lot about this , so I could be wrong .

I really do appreciate any and all help that you all can and are willing to give to me .

Thanks again ,

Jenn

ian-mstm

I grew up in Toronto, but lived for 10 years in Windsor, and another 13 in Kingston. I currently live in Ashland.

I was one of the very lucky ones - I received my EAD card at the border when I crossed in 1998, and had my SS card a week later because, at the time, Kentucky required a SSN to get a driver's license. The hardest part was dealing with the healthcare system in the US - quite a change coming from Canada. I still struggle with the concept of co-pay and "What? I have to pay up front?". Very distressing at times.

Ian

ian-mstm

I think it all boils down to the fact that there is going to be some period of separation during the visa process - would you rather be married and apart, or not yet married and apart? If the former, border crossings become that much more problematic because of the immigrant intent unless you can show significant ties back to Canada - and it's up to the border officer whether or not to believe you! I'm sure others will chime in with their list of pros and cons.

Ian

meauxna

Unless your (future) spouse enters the US with an Immigrant Visa (CR-1), there *will* be a delay before he is allowed to work. If this is an issue for you two, you may want to spend some time studying the differences from the work angle (including the local processing times for your US home).

A K1 visa may get him *into* the US fastest (not saying that is so) but if he has a longer break before work authorization, a delay of a couple more months may become more palatable.

Other things to consider:
-where you want to marry and when
-if he needs to be able to travel outside of the US in the first, say, 9 months of living here
--local issues such as driving licence, local AOS timelines etc
-what Ian says about 'how' you want to be separated, as married or not (or if it matters)

You mention children in the plural, so obviously finances are going to be a big deal for you, with your own limited income. It is a shock to find out that there will be a period of unemployment, so I recommend you face that now, so there are no uglier surprises later on.
Best Luck!

Rete

No one other than you have touched on this Mexie, but I wonder if the OP has custody of these "children" since she is free to visit Canada (practically living in Canada as she describes it). Unless the OP is taking them with her to Canada, then someone in the US is their principal caretaker. Thus, if she is not the custodial parent then the issue of the children being counted as household occupants changes in her favor as there is 1, 2, 3, or 4 less heads to be counted.

Rete