I wanna marry a Texan....advice from former Canucks

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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I’ve met HIM. I want to marry HIM. he surprisingly wants to marry ME and my crazy ass. He lives in Texas, I in Toronto. I want to live in the sunshine and near the designer factory outlet malls, so I’m going to go down there.

Are there any former Canucks out there who’ve married and gone south to join them?

How did y’all (haha…check the lingo) go about it? What the easiest immigrations wise? I’ve done some research and it looks like getting married and then going down there would be ideal, but I’d just to see if there’s a “screw the gub’mint” way of doing it…

:smiley:

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Paging Venoma, Ginger of the North, and Elenfair…

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Okay first thing: WAIT before you act! DO NOT GET MARRIED UP IN CANADA if he is from Texas! Otherwise, you’re looking at a far longer wait before you can immigrate, and not only that but you cannot go see him (visit) while you are waiting for your spouse visa.

Go here:

The British Expats Forum and READ READ READ. Get all the info before you begin. Look at the top of the page for the links that are really useful at explaining the whole process. It’s NOT easy, but it’s doable by the common mortal without the help of an attorney :slight_smile:

You will need to MEET before you can marry or do anything like that. The BCIS (legacy INS) will REFUSE YOUR VISA unless you have met, or unless there is a religious reason you couldn’t have met beforehand.

First step is to meet and DOCUMENT THAT. Take pictures. You will need to prove you have a valid relationship. Second, get engaged. Have proof of that. Get friends to send congrats cards. You will need, in your applications, to explain how you met, and where, and why and so forth and so on.

Then - you will want to file for a K-1 Visa, a fiancee visa. It’s faster than for a spouse, so don’t make that mistake (so many people have…)

Since he’s in Texas, be prepared for a long wait regardless of the way you choose to proceed.

The first thing you will do is file for your K1 by sending in a petition called the I-129F (along with some biographical information forms). This will allow you, if approved, to make an application for your visa in Canada (it will be Montreal consulate for you). This petition, in Texas right now, takes 220-240 days to process. Once you have that, it will go to a center called NVC (National Visa Center) for security checks. After that, it will go to your consulate (Montreal), which will forward you a packet.

From there (or while you wait) you will need to get your police certificate from the RCMP. Once you have the packet from montreal, you will need to go for a medical (350.00 US), and do an interview at the consulate and pay for your visa. Then, if all is well, they will grant you the K1 visa.

From there, you get to enter the US to marry and must marry within 90 days.

email me at: sitstaydogs at rogers dot com if you need help - I’d be GLAD to help you out filling the forms and all that. It’s complicated, but if it’s well filled out, you will avoid getting problems and delays…

Good luck!

Elly

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Doh! Just realised you said you’d already met :slight_smile: Good! Do it again! <g>

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vivian, you are wise beyond your ears.

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Elenfair…YOU ROCK! can I still say that when I get down there???

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Elly does indeed rock. She’s got the whole thing down better than I do, being as lno waited so damned long to propose to her. Dave and I went through the K-1 process just over a year ago, and since then everything has changed. I am currently in governmental limbo - “Adjustment of Status” from that of a fiancee to that of a permanent legal alien resident. It’s still a mess.

Unfortunately, marrying a Texan means dealing with the Texas BCIS Service Centre. Godspeed, vivian. Venoma had to deal with that Centre - her now-husband lives in Georgia - and it was nothing but a clusterfuck; Sorry, it’s the most polite term I can think of for what has happened and is still happening to her.

Good luck, and congratulations!

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Thanks!

Are you living down there right now? For some reason, I’m sort of weary of moving down there and not being able to work until I get a visa. I’ve been working since I was 14 and am now 25 and besides my parents, I have never depended on anyone but myself. I realize this leaves me vunerable…what’s your advice?

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Good God, I’m so glad I fell in love with a man in a neighboring state! Who knew that marriage could be so complicated? Hell, my sister married a Nigerian guy, and it doesn’t seem like they had to go through all of this (well, OK, he did live in the States, but did not have citizenship or anything)! They did have to do the INS interviews to prove that they were legit (my sister felt that her obvious pregnancy should have done the trick, but I’m guessing they’re a little more stringent than that), but as far as I know, it wasn’t too complicated.

Anyway, vivian, congratulations to you! Where in Texas will you live? Austin’s nice . . . .

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Hey vivian.
Yes indeedy, I did have to go thru the TSC - however most of our problems were due to the out of date forms that they sent us (grumble grumble growl) so #1 piece of advice. Always get the forms off immigration.gov.

Also - read www.k1faq.com. There is lots of information there on how to do it.

Thanks to a border official, my k1 visa got royally screwed (basically it doesn’t count that I have it anymore. Go figure), so basically, from the BCIS point of view, we ‘got married then went down there’. It is not the proper way to do things. K1 visa is far better in the long run. (We got help from the district office in atlanta because we had TRIED to do things the proper way and the bureaucracy had frigged it up.)

Do lots and lots of research, you may want to hire an immigration lawyer if you have the funds for it, and most of all, GOOD LUCK. And when it’s all over - you’re almost guaranteed to have good drinking stories.

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Congrats on the marriage plans, vivian! :slight_smile:
While I’d personally prefer Canada as a place to live, Texas is a nice place as well :slight_smile:

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<sniff> Thanks to all you! <sniff> The Dallas/Fort Worth area is the plan…

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Vivian: You can visit while you’re waiting but you cannot work. Just answer the POE (port of entry) people truthfully if they ask. BE PREPARED. Take a letter from your employer with you, stating you’re due to return. Bring a copy of your lease. Be sure you have proof you are going to return to Canada. POE folks can deny you entry into the US if they believe you have immigrant intent. Venoma went through that, and it sucks!

You cannot WORK while you’re waiting - not until you have your K1 visa.

Once you have your K1 visa, you can work for the 90 days. The EAD (Employement authorization document) is included in the K1 now. The minute you are there, get an SSN (Social Security Number) which you can get because you have a K1. DO NOT WAIT ON THIS - people have made that mistake and ended up married, in AOS (like Gingy) unable to work because they don’t have an SSN or an EAD. They EAD you have with the k1 is good for 90 days. Apply for another almost immediately for when the 90 days is up. It can take up to 6 months in some jurisdictions, 1 year in others, or 1 day in some… it just sucks.

Better safe than sorry :slight_smile: Your best bet is to stay here, in Canada, and continue working. Take trips down, or better yet have him come up and visit you. If you cross the border, be sure you have proof of your ties back home.

Good luck with everything!

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Vivian: You can visit while you’re waiting but you cannot work. Just answer the POE (port of entry) people truthfully if they ask. BE PREPARED. Take a letter from your employer with you, stating you’re due to return. Bring a copy of your lease. Be sure you have proof you are going to return to Canada. POE folks can deny you entry into the US if they believe you have immigrant intent. Venoma went through that, and it sucks!

You cannot WORK while you’re waiting - not until you have your K1 visa.

Once you have your K1 visa, you can work for the 90 days. The EAD (Employement authorization document) is included in the K1 now. The minute you are there, get an SSN (Social Security Number) which you can get because you have a K1. DO NOT WAIT ON THIS - people have made that mistake and ended up married, in AOS (like Gingy) unable to work because they don’t have an SSN or an EAD. They EAD you have with the k1 is good for 90 days. Apply for another almost immediately for when the 90 days is up. It can take up to 6 months in some jurisdictions, 1 year in others, or 1 day in some… it just sucks.

Better safe than sorry :slight_smile: Your best bet is to stay here, in Canada, and continue working. Take trips down, or better yet have him come up and visit you. If you cross the border, be sure you have proof of your ties back home.

Good luck with everything!

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W00t! I’m going to be facing this soon with my sweetie who lives in Vancouver and will be moving down here.

We have a great bunch here, I hope you and your honey can make it to a local dopefest eventually!