Urgent Immigration Help Needed!! Please!!

[Meeyatch1]

Hello fellow NSX owners and enthusiasts. I come to this group hoping for a bit of a miracle. I am engaged to a beautiful Canadian citizen who is the highlight of my life, and delays and oversights in processing her fiance visa paperwork have left us at a point of desperation. I am hoping that someone here may be able to assist us and make a sweet dream happen out of a potential nightmare.

Overview:

At the end of December 2003 my fiance and I decided we wanted to be married, and at the beginning of January 2004 we filed for the proper fiance visa paperwork in preparation for our June 26th, 2004 wedding. We were told by our immigration attorney that we would not have a problem with getting the proper fiance visa paperwork processed and ready in time for our wedding. Repeated calls to the attorney where he assured us that we would still be okay have yet to yield the proper visa. Now, tonight, I spoke with the attorney again who said that it is probably unlikely that the visa paperwork will be done in time for the wedding, and that unforseen delays in the State Departments processing pretty much have us stuck. In short, the odds are that I may be getting married in a week, but not be able to legally bring back my bride to the United States for who knows how long.

This is where I need your help. Is ANYONE familiar with the process involved in getting the proper paperwork done for her so that she can live and work here in the Unites States? We have already filed all of the fiance visa paperwork, but after we are married what good will that be? Obviously we are petrified at the turn this is taking, and it is not the way our wedding was envisioned. Any help whatsoever is appreciated. Thank you.

[NetViper]

Hmm... Are you are getting married in canada? (sounds like it) That could be a problem.

If you get married in the United States, she could say here, but could not work. She would have to file to be able to work (which takes 3 months to get) and then file travel papers so you can leave the country. Once you are married though in the US you I am 99%sure she can stay in the country.

Once you get married in the US, you can file for everything at once (I-485, I-864, I-765, I-131, I-130, I693).

It is a pain in the ass. We are doing it without a lawyer.

There are "kits" you can get online that walk you through it also.

Maybe you could fly to vegas and get married again there and she could stay in the country.

[ajnsx]

Cannot help you there, but congrats on the upcoming wedding, whether its now or later. Look on the bright side at least you have found the love of your life, many spend their lifetime searching without luck! Can the embassy give you any help?

[Meeyatch1]

Originally posted by NetViper
Hmm... Are you are getting married in canada? (sounds like it) That could be a problem.

If you get married in the United States, she could say here, but could not work. She would have to file to be able to work (which takes 3 months to get) and then file travel papers so you can leave the country. Once you are married though in the US you I am 99%sure she can stay in the country.

Once you get married in the US, you can file for everything at once (I-485, I-864, I-765, I-131, I-130, I693).

It is a pain in the ass. We are doing it without a lawyer.

There are "kits" you can get online that walk you through it also.

Maybe you could fly to vegas and get married again there and she could stay in the country.

Hey there. Thanks for the reply. We were doing some investigating and only found that there was an I-130 form and a 129F K3 visa that we would have to file for AFTER we are married. What are the other ones you listed in reference to? With our wedding being in Canada it is becoming clear that without a miracle happening, and the Consulate General of the United States, Visa Unit in Montreal getting us our fiance visa within the next week, that we may still have to live apart after our wedding. Does anyone know anyone in the Canadaian goverment that could help us out??

Thanks for your help Net Viper....it sounds like you are going through this as well.

[NetViper]

Your forms are probably different from mine because your spose lives outside the country so you do the fiancee visa.

I already was inside the US, so I have to do things a little more different.

Best of luck to you. Dealing the INS is a vert long and difficult process.

[Spinner]

First of all, congrats on your wedding.

Regarding the paperwork, I don't know how it goes in Canada, but I know in the U.S. some countries are exempt from a visitor's VISA, depending on what Passport one carries. They allow these exempt individuals to stay for 30 days in the U.S. as tourists.

Is there a similar rule in Canada? If she has a U.S. passport, is there a way she can just "visit" Canada as a tourist without a VISA?

[Arshad]

If she's a canadian citizen with a canadian passport, she can certainly come and stay as a "visitor" for an extended period of time in the US -- ie she obviously does not need a visa to visit. She won't be able to work until the visa work is completed though.

[Meeyatch1]

Thank you for the replies, guys. With her being a Canadian citizen she can visit without a passport, but I am not sure for how long each period of visitation may last. The big thing is we are trying to figure out how to get this done in the most efficient time table. We tried planning ahead by half a year and that has seemingly not helped us get done in time. Getting married and then having to immediately go back to living 8 hours apart was not part of the plan.

[Spinner]

Usualy she'll be able to stay for 30 days....and what you guys can do is: She stays for 30 days....go to Canada for a weekend of fun, and she can come back for another 30 days and so on until the paperwork gets done!

[RP-Motorsports]

I hope everything works out Mitch.

[nsx1164]

Originally posted by Meeyatch1
Thank you for the replies, guys. With her being a Canadian citizen she can visit without a passport, but I am not sure for how long each period of visitation may last.

Mitch -- hope everything works out soon. Congratulations on the coming wedding, man !!!

I went through the immigration/visa/green card route about 10 years ago, and its not without its challenges. While I'm all set now, my younger brother faces similar challenges with his new wife, and being unable to bring her here (unfortunately she does require a visitor visa ).

The bigger challenge is getting her to legally work here, which can be a PITA until the spouse visa stuff clears...

############

Maybe in the meantime you can just plan a bunch of cool roadtrips in/out of Canada to get her the minimum entry/exit requirements... on the upside, Toronto is IMO a wonderful city to visit (reminds me of a cleaner version of Chicago), and a spirited NSX drive through the Canadian rockies would be tough to beat

Where else can you break 200 on your NSX (km/h)?

- Manuel

[Soichiro]

>>Is ANYONE familiar with the process involved in getting the proper paperwork

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I've been waiting 10 years for my application to be adjudicated. This is what you get for following the system.

[Soichiro]

Spinner wrote:
>>Usualy she'll be able to stay for 30 days

Spinner, where did you find this information? My lawyer told me Canadians are allowed 6 months duration on each visit into the USA. Employment is forbidden during that time.

Are you saying all the Canadians who vacation in Florida, Arizona and California for several months each winter are illegally in the country?

[jlindy]

I am not sure of the specific procudures and paperwork, but I work for a legal publishing company and have complete access to all of the information that you would need. I would just need somebody to tell me specifically what is needed. I deal with immigration attorneys, but I am not one.

[Dtrigg]

My wife and I were married in the UK and started all of the paperwork in London. She is a British subject. After we were married, it took 18 months for her to get her green card and residency card before she could live here. Be very careful about "visiting" every 30 days. My wife would fly into the US and stay for less than the 90 days allowed, return to the UK for a period of time and then repeat the process. A friend at the embasy told me she could be refused entry on the grounds she was abusing the privilege. (It happened to her boyfriend.)

She recently received her perminate residency card, and that took four years.

We've been lucky because of some contacts with a senstor as well as a congresswoman.

Good luck.

[Spinner]

Originally posted by Soichiro
Spinner wrote:
>>Usualy she'll be able to stay for 30 days

Spinner, where did you find this information? My lawyer told me Canadians are allowed 6 months duration on each visit into the USA. Employment is forbidden during that time.

Are you saying all the Canadians who vacation in Florida, Arizona and California for several months each winter are illegally in the country?

I'm not sure about Canada, but alot of the countries that get the VISA exemption are allowed around 30 days.

[mohaji]

As a Canadian, I am pretty sure that every Canadian is allowed to stay in the US withOUT any visa for up to 6 month duration.
I may want to stress "UP TO" part.
I have visited US only twice for last 3 years, earlier visit being a Korean, so I'm not quite sure.

But they sure gave me nasty eye at the airport, though..


Meeyatch1, I'm sure everything will go alright, since you are already working with an attorney, but I will wish you the best of luck anyway, and Congratulation on finding your sig. other.

Take care.

[nsx1164]

Originally posted by Soichiro
Spinner wrote:
>>Usualy she'll be able to stay for 30 days

Spinner, where did you find this information? My lawyer told me Canadians are allowed 6 months duration on each visit into the USA. Employment is forbidden during that time.

For many visa-exempt (and non-exempt), this "6 month" stay has been reduced to "90 days" post 9/11, due to perceived security risk mitigation. Unclear if this applies to Canadians.

Are you saying all the Canadians who vacation in Florida, Arizona and California for several months each winter are illegally in the country?
I've been driving with a number of these snowbirds up-and-down I-75 every year. Am sure they're for the most part legal, unless they're doing more than "vacationing"

[W]

I'm sure your attorney(s) can tell you the answer as this is what they do for a living, right?

Anyways, me thinks your future wife can apply for a B-2 visa right at the border and get it immediately. This will allow her to enter the US for the sole purpose of getting married.

[scottjua]

Write and call your congressman's office. When we needed some expedition on some immigration paperwork for my wife, we only got real results after calling and writing the congressman. His office lit a fire under the process for us and we are very happy... he's got our vote now. Which is precisely why they try to help you out so fast.

[Eric5273]

My friend is going through the same problem, however his problem is even worse since he is not even a US citizen. He is originally from Jamaica but has lived here for 20 years (most of his life), yet he never got his citizenship.

His fiance is a Canadian citizen and lives in Ontario, and he lives in New York. He was told he needs to apply for citizenship and this could take up to a year. So in the meantime, she has no problem staying here, yet she cannot work. I'm sure there are rules for how long you can stay, but they do not enforce such laws, and getting over the border is not a problem if she says she is going to visit her boyfriend.

They are getting married in August, so he is currently trying to find her a job to work off the books so she can come here when they get married.

[vintagecarman]

Congratulations!

It’s great to hear of the exciting development in your life. Sounds like you getting sound advice from knowledgeable prime members. I’m sure you will have a handle on the situation soon and all will work out fine.

Try not to let the hassle of paper work damper such an exceptional event in your life.

Enjoy every minute!