American Married to Canadian and Moving to Canada

[jbmacfie]

Hello there, first I want to thank anyone who can provide me information on this confusing time in my life.

I am American, My husband is Canadian ( with American Permanent Residency obtained after our marriage ) and we have a daughter who was born in America. He is taking a job that was offered to him in the Detroit Michigan area and wants to move back to Windsor Ontario to live ( since they are so close in distance to one another ). My questions,

1. Is it easier for me to file for a family based visa once I am in Canada or should I do it from the states before hand? ( I want to be in Canada by January 2016 )
2. I have heard that once his sponsorship is approved I will be able to work in Canada while I await my residency, is this true?
3. Should I tell the border, as I am crossing into the country with all of my belongings , that I plan on immigrating to Canada or is this a no no? ( I ask b/c this was an issue with my husband, they would not let him enter America b/c he had intent to immigrate which I find so strange )
4. Will I have to pay taxes on both of our vehicles?

Just a little bit more information just incase it is relevant to the situation. My husband will be going up next week and moving in with a family member in Canada while he is working in Michigan. Myself and our daughter will be going up at the end of December.

Any Help would be appreciated greatly.

 

[Aquakitty]

1) Makes no difference, but if you are already in Canada you won't have to prove you intend to return there.

2) Only if you apply inland. Most Americans should apply outland though, as the wait is much shorter for the full PR status (4-10 months vs. 2+ years). You can live in Canada as a visitor and still apply outland.

3) Unfortunately you'll end up in exactly the same situation as your husband did trying to move the US, do not bring all your stuff. Since your husband is moving back, maybe he can bring the goods and you come as a visitor later.

4) I think when you land you can only get the exemptions on one vehicle, but not totally sure on that one.

 

[KelseyTVS]

Hello! You have two options on how you can apply.

Inland: you must be in Canada and you cannot leave during the application processing time. This application will take 2-3 years (probably) but you may be able to get an open work permit when you apply, so you can work while it processes.

Outland: you can be in or out of Canada and are free to travel during the application time. It takes 8-10 months on average for Americans, though I have seen some go as fast as 4-6 months before. You cannot get a work permit automatically with your application like in Inland, but you must maintain legal status if you are in Canada. As an American you'll have 6 months of visitor status, and if your PR application takes longer than 6 months you need to extend your visitor status or exit and enter the country to refresh your status for another 6 months.

Whichever way you choose will affect when you should apply. The answer to your second question is above, it is true only for Inland applications. Do not tell the border you are immigrating, you may be denied entry if you bring everything you own and are obviously moving to Canada when you don't have a PR in process yet.

 

[Ponga]

Good advice, however...

1. OP is the applicant.

2. The OP cannot live in Canada as a visitor. It's critical that she/they never say that she is planning to live in Canada while she waits for her PR. She will be visiting Canada.

The OP should read about `Dual Intent':
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/temp/visa/dual.asp

 

[kangamoose]

You should be careful with this plan, as you won't be living in the US your husband may loose his PR status. He could be deemed to have abandoned it for moving for moving to Canada. I'm unsure if the US has a similar rule to Canada where living with a citizen of that country allows you to meet residency obligations but it's definitely something you should look into if you haven't already.

 

[Ponga]

You should be careful with this plan, as you won't be living in the US your husband may loose his PR status. He could be deemed to have abandoned it for moving for moving to Canada. I'm unsure if the US has a similar rule to Canada where living with a citizen of that country allows you to meet residency obligations but it's definitely something you should look into if you haven't already.

Good point!

Since the residency requirements are vastly different for a Green Card holder, it will be tough (but doable) to calculate the math to maintain his GC and her PR.

 

[kangamoose]

Good point!

Since the residency requirements are vastly different for a Green Card holder, it will be tough (but doable) to calculate the math to maintain his GC and her PR.

Do you know what the residency requirement is? I couldn't find a definitive answer on the US immigration site, it all seems so ambiguous...

 

[Ponga]

Do you know what the residency requirement is? I couldn't find a definitive answer on the US immigration site, it all seems so ambiguous...

At least 180 days every year, unlike Canada's very generous 730 days out of every [rolling] 5 year period.

I don't know what, if anything, changes if the GC holder is living abroad with their American sponsor/spouse.

 

[jbmacfie]

So you guys just brought up a whole different issue now, so if he moves back to Canada and works in the US his PR status can be revoked? Which would essentially prevent him from being able to work an American job?

 

[Ponga]

So you guys just brought up a whole different issue now, so if he moves back to Canada and works in the US his PR status can be revoked? Which would essentially prevent him from being able to work an American job?

Not knowing if the U.S. has a similar clause in place, allowing him to `live' in Canada with his American spouse while maintaining his GC, I can't answer your question, but...it's definitely something that you need to investigate.

 

[Aquakitty]

I think the US is a lot more strict.

Abandoning Permanent Resident Status

You may also lose your permanent resident status by intentionally abandoning it. You may be found to have abandoned your status if you:

Move to another country, intending to live there permanently.
Remain outside of the United States for an extended period of time, unless you intended this to be a temporary absence, as shown by:
The reason for your trip;
How long you intended to be absent from the United States;
Any other circumstances of your absence; and
Any events that may have prolonged your absence.
Note: Obtaining a re-entry permit from USCIS before you leave, or a returning resident visa (SB-1) from a U.S. consulate while abroad, may assist you in showing that you intended only a temporary absence.
Fail to file income tax returns while living outside of the United States for any period.
Declare yourself a “nonimmigrant” on your U.S. tax returns.

 

[carsonb]

Hello! You have two options on how you can apply.

Inland: you must be in Canada and you cannot leave during the application processing time. This application will take 2-3 years (probably) but you may be able to get an open work permit when you apply, so you can work while it processes.

Outland: you can be in or out of Canada and are free to travel during the application time. It takes 8-10 months on average for Americans, though I have seen some go as fast as 4-6 months before. You cannot get a work permit automatically with your application like in Inland, but you must maintain legal status if you are in Canada. As an American you'll have 6 months of visitor status, and if your PR application takes longer than 6 months you need to extend your visitor status or exit and enter the country to refresh your status for another 6 months.

Whichever way you choose will affect when you should apply. The answer to your second question is above, it is true only for Inland applications. Do not tell the border you are immigrating, you may be denied entry if you bring everything you own and are obviously moving to Canada when you don't have a PR in process yet.

I'm confused by this. The CIC states it will take 55 days to approve my husband as my sponsor, but the part two will take either 27 months (Los Angeles) or 39 months (New York). Where are you getting that it will take no longer than 10 months? We are currently going to apply as inland so I can get the open work visa, but if what you're saying is true we should switch to outbound. I'd just like to verify your information on a government site.

Thanks!

 

[Ineffable]

I'm confused by this. The CIC states it will take 55 days to approve my husband as my sponsor, but the part two will take either 27 months (Los Angeles) or 39 months (New York). Where are you getting that it will take no longer than 10 months? We are currently going to apply as inland so I can get the open work visa, but if what you're saying is true we should switch to outbound. I'd just like to verify your information on a government site.

Thanks!

US Applicants have their applications sent to the Ottawa VO versus to NYC or LA. They've stopped sending them to those locations due to processing times, level of complication, etc. If your application were to head to LA, it'd have to be for a unique reason.

VO office processing times on the CIC site show a number larger than what many of us say is a more accurate time—in this case, 10 months for the Ottawa VO.

There's an explanation behind it that one of these lovely posters will likely have handy to paste on here about 80% of applications taking less time, etc. If someone doesn't post it, I'll dig it up from another forum for you.

In a nutshell: the times posted on the CIC site are not indicative of what times we actually see—not for the majority of us.

 

[keesio]

I'm confused by this. The CIC states it will take 55 days to approve my husband as my sponsor, but the part two will take either 27 months (Los Angeles) or 39 months (New York). Where are you getting that it will take no longer than 10 months? We are currently going to apply as inland so I can get the open work visa, but if what you're saying is true we should switch to outbound. I'd just like to verify your information on a government site.

Thanks!

This is a very common misconception for applicants from the US. I wish I bookmarked the post where I explain in detail. Well here goes again:

OUTLAND applications from US applicants are sent to OTTAWA. This is the main CIC office that handles applications from the US. If you have a good solid application, then everything will be handled in OTTAWA. If there are MAJOR issues with your application (like a criminal record or you have a history of deportations or they suspect a fraud marriage, etc) then they will transfer your application to LA. That's why timelines for LA are so long - they have all the "problem" applications. I don't think NY is used too much from sponsorship applications anymore, they almost always go to LA.

Now back to Ottawa. The timelines say 16 months (or maybe more, its been awhile since I checked). That is also misleading. That 16 months is not an average but the time for majority of applications. Some applications take longer than others for various reasons (missing documentation, etc) and that drags the average out. Another thing to consider is that Ottawa has multiple streams since it handles applications from not just the USA. The USA stream is the fastest. And of that stream, US citizens are prioritized on top of that. Hence, US citizens have some of the fastest timelines out there. Anywhere from 3-10 months for a solid application. 3 is as fast as I've seen and seems to happen in the summer months when the overall US citizen average has been very fast (3-6 months). In cools off in the fall and winter it seems where 7-10 seems to be the norm. Hence the 3-10 range.