US citizen trying to marry Canadian after border inspection issues

[cyntravia]

Hey everyone. After reading several of the very helpful posts in this forum, I've realized that my boyfriend and I messed up. Hopefully you can help us salvage the situation and get us back on track.

I'm a US citizen who's been dating a Canadian for the past eight years. He recently moved out on his own in a place big enough for both of us, and we were planning to move in together. Unfortunately, we put the cart in front of the horse and I drove up with a bunch of stuff, saying that I was on an extended vacation of two months (with the intention of getting a work visa while I was here). The custom's agent asked a lot of questions and gave me a Case Type 10 form, stating that I would have to leave by the end of March.

I now know that I should have secured a job before leaving the US and that I should leave before the end of March so that I don't get on the wrong side of the law. Given all of this, I have a lot of questions on how best to proceed. I talked with my boyfriend and we're willing to get married, but we want to make sure that's the right thing to do. From everything we've read here, marriage is probably the fastest and safest route to making me a permanent resident.

1. Given that I have the Case Type 10 Visitor Visa, should I try to extend the visa or should I return home?
2. Should we get married while I'm here or wait until a later date?
3. Would it look better if we had a wedding ceremony, or would it be okay to get married at city hall? We don't want it to look suspicious that we marry and then apply for the residency, but we want to move as fast as possible.
4. It looks like it's faster to apply outland as opposed to inland, and that I can still visit Canada while the outland application is processing. Is it better to wait it out in the US (given the suspicion I'm already under with the Case Type 10) or would it be ok to visit during that time?

I'm sorry for how scattered these questions are, I'm just realizing how little we know and we really don't want to make the situation worse. Thank you for any advice you can give.

 

[Leon]

Case type 10 is a visitor visa as far as I know.

If you are ready to drop everything in the US and stay in Canada for the next several months or longer as long as you can be with him, you could get married, apply for inland sponsorship and apply to extend your visit visa based on that. If all goes well, you could get first stage approval after around 8 months at which time you can apply for an open work permit. Another 8-10 months and you might see your PR. You'd have to stay in Canada during the processing time as inland requires that you live in Canada.

If you are not ready to do that, you could still marry him and he can sponsor you outland. You could apply to extend or go back to the US as you wish. Outland, your whole processing time to get PR might be no longer than around 10 months.

I see no reason to delay the marriage and sponsorship. You have to do it eventually if you want your PR. That is unless you can get a work permit for a skilled position and immigrate on your own without his help. This is not necessarily easy as employers are reluctant to hire foreigners because they have to take steps to prove that they could not find a Canadian for the job so they are not willing to bother unless they really can't find a Canadian for the job.

People who are applying inland tend to be approved for visitor visa extensions as it is a requirement of their application that they stay in Canada. People applying outland are usually approved for extensions too. When you apply for an extension, get a statement from your boyfriend saying that you are getting married (or proof that you already did) and that he is applying for sponsorship and a bank letter showing his wages and his letter stating that he will support you financially while you are in Canada. It would not be bad to show you have some kind of accident and emergency insurance as well.

If you do leave Canada and want to come back to visit, it is not forbidden to do so but the immigration officers don't have to let you in either if they are not convinced you are just visiting.

 

[Zarilenth]

Hey everyone. After reading several of the very helpful posts in this forum, I've realized that my boyfriend and I messed up. Hopefully you can help us salvage the situation and get us back on track.

I'm a US citizen who's been dating a Canadian for the past eight years. He recently moved out on his own in a place big enough for both of us, and we were planning to move in together. Unfortunately, we put the cart in front of the horse and I drove up with a bunch of stuff, saying that I was on an extended vacation of two months (with the intention of getting a work visa while I was here). The custom's agent asked a lot of questions and gave me a Case Type 10 form, stating that I would have to leave by the end of March.

I now know that I should have secured a job before leaving the US and that I should leave before the end of March so that I don't get on the wrong side of the law. Given all of this, I have a lot of questions on how best to proceed. I talked with my boyfriend and we're willing to get married, but we want to make sure that's the right thing to do. From everything we've read here, marriage is probably the fastest and safest route to making me a permanent resident.

1. Given that I have the Case Type 10 Visitor Visa, should I try to extend the visa or should I return home?
2. Should we get married while I'm here or wait until a later date?
3. Would it look better if we had a wedding ceremony, or would it be okay to get married at city hall? We don't want it to look suspicious that we marry and then apply for the residency, but we want to move as fast as possible.
4. It looks like it's faster to apply outland as opposed to inland, and that I can still visit Canada while the outland application is processing. Is it better to wait it out in the US (given the suspicion I'm already under with the Case Type 10) or would it be ok to visit during that time?

I'm sorry for how scattered these questions are, I'm just realizing how little we know and we really don't want to make the situation worse. Thank you for any advice you can give.

I don't have answers for most of your questions (and Leon knows much more than me!) but, if you're worried about a city hall wedding, there is at least one alternative in Toronto, if that's where you are. I got married to my US boyfriend at the Toronto Wedding Chapel.. it's similar to City Hall, you don't have to book a year in advance (we booked 2 months in advance) and it's super cheap but very beautiful! Just an option for you if you're in Toronto.

 

[sariss]

Marriage is the fastest, yes.
You can try to extend your stay. Do it ASAP. You will be under implied status until you receive word on whether they've accepted you or not - just know you may have to leave relatively quickly if they deny it.
I would get married any time.
I think personally city hall is ok. You guys have been dating for a long time and as long as you have proof of all that, it should be ok. They aren't too worried about marriage fraud in Canada/US, and there is a very low denial rate - it's usually due to inadmissability on things like criminal grounds.
Outland is the fastest, yes. You cannot work during this process. My husband stayed with me in Canada during the whole process and we applied outland. You can come and go as you please, really - just as long as they let you in!

 

[J.M.]

3. Would it look better if we had a wedding ceremony, or would it be okay to get married at city hall? We don't want it to look suspicious that we marry and then apply for the residency, but we want to move as fast as possible.

An actual ceremony never hurts your chances; especially if family is involved, but I will leave it up to the senior members to weigh in about a city hall-type ceremony. So far, you guys haven't violated any laws to my knowledge, so you haven't made any mistakes yet. It is good that you are requesting this information before your visa runs out. Over-staying WOULD complicate things so you are still in the clear.

 

[cyntravia]

Thank you all so much for your responses! They were all very helpful and allowed us both to breath more easily.

We spent the past two weeks looking into the steps we'll have to take and letting people know about our plans. I think we have most things figured out, but we'd love some further clarification if possible.

We're planning to get married before I go back at the end of March, and given what the application documents say it looks like we should have at least a small celebration. Would it be weird if we get married in Canada and then I submit our application shortly afterwards? Should there be a bit of time in between the two events?

After looking through the forms, I noticed that I'll need to get a police check. This sentence confused me: "Police certificates or clearances from each country in which you and every one in your family aged 18 years or over..." It seems to say that I'll need everyone in my family to get a police check, but I'm assuming they more mean that I should just be getting a police check for myself since I'm the only one being sponsored. Am I correct in that assumption?

When I came here I brought a bunch of stuff in a car, but I'm looking to go back on a plane and leave most of it in Canada. I'll be surrendering my Case 10 form at that time. Will it be okay to leave my things behind, or have I already been flagged somewhere and I should leave with everything I brought in?

If you are ready to drop everything in the US and stay in Canada for the next several months or longer as long as you can be with him, you could get married, apply for inland sponsorship and apply to extend your visit visa based on that. If all goes well, you could get first stage approval after around 8 months at which time you can apply for an open work permit. Another 8-10 months and you might see your PR. You'd have to stay in Canada during the processing time as inland requires that you live in Canada.

When we looked for processing times online (www .cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp) we saw the 8 month wait times you mentioned for inland applications. At the top of the page it lists the outland application times and they're also broken into two stages. Does this mean that after step 1 is completed, that I can apply for an open work permit? Or is that something I can only do if I'm inland?

The two columns for processing times also left us confused. We're fairly certain that we're only supposed to complete one application package that includes everything for the sponsor and person being sponsored, but the way the website splits it up makes it sound like there are two parts. Are we supposed to submit our documents together or should we split them according to the stages?

Again, we really, really appreciate everyone's help with all of this! We look forward to any responses!

 

[QuebecOkie]

A small wedding is fine (we only had 6 people, including the minister, at our ceremony at the chapel adjacent to the courthouse in the US city where we were living). Take some photos. You can explain why the ceremony was small/why relatives and friends may not have been present in a "relationship narrative" where you basically give a timeline of your relationship, how you met, when you first started dating, when you met each other's family, any travel or major life experiences you had together, etc. That's also where I submitted my photos. I placed 8 digital photos into a word document. Each was from some "life moment" I wanted to show to CIC. Our first vacation, our wedding ceremony, the trip where I first met his parents, his first American Thanksgiving with me, etc. I typed up a description of each photo, a paragraph or so.

Examples:

"This photo is from our first vacation to Mexico. It was the first time to go parasailing for each of us. We were in Mexico from (date) to (date). Itinerary is attached." Then, "This photo is from a military ball we attended in Montreal with his family - mother, father, and brother. It was held at the Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth on (date). I first met his parents in San Antonio, when they were in town for a conference for his father's work. (dates) I first met his brother when I traveled to Canada the first time (dates) to look for a house to purchase, as my husband was being posted back to a Canadian base." And etc. I used the photos and narrative to speak to all of the questions asked in form IMM 5285 (I think it's a different form for outland apps, but wherever they ask about when you met, were you previously married, details of relationship, etc.) and placed my document behind that form with a header with the form number on it.

You can apply right after the wedding. You two have a lengthy relationship history. Document that to show the agent working your file that you have a genuine and ongoing relationship (with photos, documentation of any joint accounts/being beneficiary on life insurance policies, perhaps some selected text/messenger/skype activity over the years), and you should be golden.

Yes, you are the only one who needs the police check. You'll need to have fingerprints done and sent off to the FBI. That process takes perhaps 6-8 weeks. NOTE: CIC must receive that letter within three months of when the FBI issues it. So you want to time your request so that you'll get the response not too long before you're ready to send the packet in. Also, you'll need a medical exam from a CIC panel physician. Can be done in the US or in Canada, but note that prices vary a lot between doctor's offices, so you may want to shop around. The exam results are only good for one year, so you'll want to schedule the exam for around the time that you expect to have your application ready. (I have a bunch of this crap bookmarked; let me know if you have trouble finding it, and I can post some links.)

Shouldn't be any problem leaving your stuff in Canada.

Work permits are only for inland applicants. HOWEVER, since you're a US citizen, and the outland process is a lot faster than the inland process, you will likely end up with the full outland PR process taking about the same amount of time (perhaps less) as the stage one inland process (work permit is available after stage one approval of inland app). Both outland and inland have two stages, but they're handled a bit differently.

You're basically doing two applications. The application to sponsor (him), and the application for the principal applicant (you). However, you need to do both at the same time and include them together when you send everything to CIC.

 

[steerpike]

Would it be weird if we get married in Canada and then I submit our application shortly afterwards? Should there be a bit of time in between the two events?

It actually looks suspicious if you wait a long time after marriage to sponsor your spouse. I mean, doesnt your husband want to live with you? How does a "married couple" who are in no hurry to live together look?

 

[Avadava]

It actually looks suspicious if you wait a long time after marriage to sponsor your spouse. I mean, doesnt your husband want to live with you? How does a "married couple" who are in no hurry to live together look?

I don't see anything suspicious in waiting a long time before applying, unless the couple doesn't live together. You don't have to live in Canada to be a couple. My husband and I have been married for 5 years and we just applied for my PR. We've been living in Europe (never been apart for more than a week) and we just decided to move to Canada.

On the other hand, I believe it would look very suspicious to apply right after the marriage. A couple doesn't need to be living in Canada to be a couple, like I said before. I am sure the OP has all the right intentions and loves her fiance very much, but reading her first post, the marriage is happening so she can stay legally in Canada. Now, from an objective point of view, if you were the visa officer, which marriage would you suspect? Mine or the OP's?

Again, I don't want to offend anyone, and cyntravia please forgive me if I said something out of place, I'm just trying to explain why I disagree with this sentence:"It actually looks suspicious if you wait a long time after marriage to sponsor your spouse."