Hello all, I have been searching the site for a while now trying to get some answers to a situation I am in, but cannot find anything matching the unique nature of the predicament I am in. I will try and keep it short.
I am from NY and I am currently still in Canada with my Fiancee. She is not a Canadian citizen, she works here on a work visa. We are currently in the process of getting a fiancee visa for her to come to the US and live with me. We are on the last step in fact and are gathering info for our final interview. The problem and questions I have involve the fact that I am not here completely legally...as far as I can tell. I came up to be with her in Dec of 2011. At that time I thought I was only going to be here for a few weeks but clearly I have been here longer. I do not have a passport, rather I have an enhanced license. She was with me when I crossed the border with my enhanced license in 2011. The border officer just let us through, barely any questions...I don't have a passport...so no stamp or anything like that. They didn't give me a visitor visa either. We were just waved through. Anyways I assume that even with an enhanced license I could only be here for 6 month...But I have been here for many more. What we want to know is a few things. We have a trip that is planned around the US here in November. We fear that our final interview for the fiancee visa will not be until sometime in Dec or even Jan. If we leave Canada together will we run into any issues. I have heard that she may be flagged as high risk since they know we want to get married....we are not getting married on the trip or anything like that, and I assume having the info showing we are going through the process and have been accepted for all of the steps we have done would prove to the American Border that we are not moving her down there yet. The next issue we would run into would be, would I have an issue getting back into Canada. It would only be for a month or 2 max this time...as we will be moving to the US the instant she gets the visa. Again. I would think the visa paperwork would prove I have intent to go back to the States.
I guess what I am asking is, does the US or Canadian border track enhanced Licenses, like they do passports? We have been afraid to go to the States for a long while now just because we don't know if I would be allowed back in, especially since I would have a hard time proving to the Canadian officers I am not living here...I have very weak ties to the US in my opinion. I technically live with my parents, I have no land, or job. The fiancee visa would be our strongest defense. I don't want to get denied entry into Canada after the trip and before we make our big move for it would bring a lot of issues. We share my car atm, so transportation for her would be a pain and I would like to help her move. Also...I have a lot of my possessions here in Canada...I wouldn't want to bring them on the trip and back up (I would think that would look suspicious). I, at the same time, don't want to be without my things if I do get denied.
I know the simplest solution would be to forget the trip and just wait for the fiancee visa...but I am curious if we could still do it.
Sorry for writing so much, I just want to make sure I explained everything the best I could. Thank you for any help.
P.S. This may be not the right topic for this forum...but my car has its registration up, do you think that may cause an issue when we go to the States? I assume the border doesn't care about things like that, but if I get pulled over on my way home I would be in trouble.
I am from NY and I am currently still in Canada with my Fiancee. She is not a Canadian citizen, she works here on a work visa. We are currently in the process of getting a fiancee visa for her to come to the US and live with me. We are on the last step in fact and are gathering info for our final interview. The problem and questions I have involve the fact that I am not here completely legally...as far as I can tell. I came up to be with her in Dec of 2011. At that time I thought I was only going to be here for a few weeks but clearly I have been here longer. I do not have a passport, rather I have an enhanced license. She was with me when I crossed the border with my enhanced license in 2011. The border officer just let us through, barely any questions...I don't have a passport...so no stamp or anything like that. They didn't give me a visitor visa either. We were just waved through. Anyways I assume that even with an enhanced license I could only be here for 6 month...But I have been here for many more. What we want to know is a few things. We have a trip that is planned around the US here in November. We fear that our final interview for the fiancee visa will not be until sometime in Dec or even Jan. If we leave Canada together will we run into any issues. I have heard that she may be flagged as high risk since they know we want to get married....we are not getting married on the trip or anything like that, and I assume having the info showing we are going through the process and have been accepted for all of the steps we have done would prove to the American Border that we are not moving her down there yet. The next issue we would run into would be, would I have an issue getting back into Canada. It would only be for a month or 2 max this time...as we will be moving to the US the instant she gets the visa. Again. I would think the visa paperwork would prove I have intent to go back to the States.
I guess what I am asking is, does the US or Canadian border track enhanced Licenses, like they do passports? We have been afraid to go to the States for a long while now just because we don't know if I would be allowed back in, especially since I would have a hard time proving to the Canadian officers I am not living here...I have very weak ties to the US in my opinion. I technically live with my parents, I have no land, or job. The fiancee visa would be our strongest defense. I don't want to get denied entry into Canada after the trip and before we make our big move for it would bring a lot of issues. We share my car atm, so transportation for her would be a pain and I would like to help her move. Also...I have a lot of my possessions here in Canada...I wouldn't want to bring them on the trip and back up (I would think that would look suspicious). I, at the same time, don't want to be without my things if I do get denied.
I know the simplest solution would be to forget the trip and just wait for the fiancee visa...but I am curious if we could still do it.
Sorry for writing so much, I just want to make sure I explained everything the best I could. Thank you for any help.
P.S. This may be not the right topic for this forum...but my car has its registration up, do you think that may cause an issue when we go to the States? I assume the border doesn't care about things like that, but if I get pulled over on my way home I would be in trouble.