K Visa Canadian citizen wanting to marry US citizen and live in the US

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SweetAuburn

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My jurisdiction is: Saskatchewan, Canada

I am a Canadian citizen living in Saskatchewan and am engaged to marry a US citizen living in South Carolina. We met online December '06 and first met in person in June of '07. We are looking for the least complicated and least expensive way for us to marry and me to relocate to South Carolina. The options we are aware of at the moment are:
(a) Marry in Canada next time he comes to visit and return to the States together immediately after marriage and begin the Green Card process.
(b) I go to the States for a visit and marry there and begin the process or
(c) he applies for a Fiance Visa to get me there and go through the process that way.

Which of these three options is the least complicated and expensive and the least time consuming?

Any advice would be very much appreciated! Thank-you!
 
First off, I am a Canadian as well who married an American. My jurisdiction was Manitoba. My husband came to Canada married me and then he came back to America and filed my paper work. I could not return to the USA with him after our marriage. We had to wait until the National Visa Center approved us. I was not allowed in the USA until that happened. Once we got our approval notice we then went to Montreal for the interview. This process took approx 9 months to a year, and the cost without a lawyer would be in the neighbourhood of 600.00. We had an Immigration lawyer who handled it all for us. The other option is for you to come to the USA and marry your fiance and stay here and have him file the paperwork while you remain here. However this method takes longer. My suggestion? Get an Immigration Lawyer. They are worth the money and will tell you everything you need to know.

Good luck!
 
Couple more questions if I may..

Canadian_1... thank you for your reply. May I ask aprox how much we're going to have to spend if we get an immigration lawyer? I realize that's a pretty personal question but if we had a guesstimate it would really help. I will definitely forget the idea of marrying here in Canada because that would totally defeat the purpose if we can't be together after marriage. I don't care if I have to wait a little longer. Perhaps, though, the fiance visa might be the way to go. Also, is there any law firm or lawyer you would recommend for this? Should he hire one down there or one up here? Sorry for bombarding with questions but after reading all the info I've found I'm just feeling more lost than I was in the first place. I do have the phone number for INS but I don't want to open my mouth and say something I shouldn't and delay the process even further.
 
I would guess my Lawyer was around 1500.00. She was well worth it, I had no surprises at all when it came to the interview, she walked me through the entire process over the phone. As for suggesting one to you, I can't since mine came from Michigan. You would need one from the USA though, if you plan on moving here. Fiance visa does take longer and you would have to marry withn 90 days of your arrival here after been approved. I am not sure how visits would work, since you or fiance would be asked at the border crossings what your business is. I have heard by alot of people say once border patrols know that your intentions are to be married they sometimes deny you entry. It is a long process no matter what way you choose to go, getting married first and applying with paper work after worked better for us.

Feel free to ask more questions, I hope I am some what helpful.

Good Luck!
 
Thank you again for your reply. Seems the more we research this immigration thing the more confused we get.. lol. We are starting to think the fiance visa would be the better way to go but now I'm not sure. I never thought of the chance that we would not be able to still visit while that's in process. That would suck. I did come across a website for a law firm in the states that does strictly immigration law and sent email to them asking what the best option is so I'll see what they have to say I guess. I just want to go home now (we already refer to the south carolina as "home" for me). I know these things can take a while so I'm ready to get the ball rolling and get this done. Thanks for your help. It was very much appreciated. We have a better sense of direction now.
 
I took Path B

I'm American. He came to US, we got married. We used an immigration lawyer. From the start of the process, it took 2-3 months for my Canadian husband to get a work permit; until then he could not work and I had to support him. Also, after arriving in the U.S. and starting the process, there was several months in which, if he had left the U.S., he would have been considered "self-deported" and the whole process would have crashed. So, he couldn't leave.

I don't remember the cost of the lawyer but $1500 sounds about right. Afterwards we did feel as if we had been ripped off. Later on, when I sponsored his son, we did it ourselves. It took a bit longer but it was MUCH cheaper.

More to the story: I married in haste, repented at leisure after I learned he had a number of serious legal problems in Canada including a lot of debt, unpaid child support, and later on an outstanding warrant.
 
Thank you for the info you've passed on to me. I've had a lot of people advise me to get a lawyer and that it's well worth it if you get a good one. I would love to save the money but he and I are so lost in the whole process we're thinking it would be worth the extra expense to have someone do it that knows what they're doing. I'm definitely happy to hear that it didn't take years to get a green card! I'm expecting up to a year in all honesty.

I'm sorry to hear that it didn't work out the best for you in terms of finding out things you weren't aware of with your husband. Thankfully I have no major issues going in to the states. I think the biggest issue is that I haven't filed taxes yet for 2008 but I still have time yet. No intention of trying to run from that. We both have debts as most of us do these days but we're both aware of all of it. We have been seeing each other since early 2007.. it's two years since we first met now.. so I don't feel i'm rushing into anything really. In a sense I suppose I do because we live so far apart that we haven't been able to spend a lot of time together... but I don't feel that it's a bad decision. Hopefully I'm right!

Thanks again for the info... it's very much appreciated!
 
Just to be clear: he got the work permit BEFORE the green card was issued. The work permit was temporary, but it was the most important thing we needed. To tell you the truth, I can't remember how much later it was that the green card finally came in. It might have been a full year. But with the work permit, we were okay.
 
I'm in the same sort of situation. I'm wanting to marry an American and live in the US. He can support me for a few months but I'm wondering if anyone has any reason I wouldn't get my work permit within the first 2-4 months of marriage.
 
I am starting on this arduous journey to marry my Canadian fiance. After reading these many comments, I think I will chance marrying in my country, the US- Florida specifically and then starting the paperwork. Endless divorce stated she filed all the necessary paperwork for sponsoring her stepson. Please- where can I start trying to do that as well after I marry? I would want to file for a temporary work permit, then a green card and to change his status in this country to permanent? And when my husband returns to Canada, as he will often to see his 4 grown children, are we risking him not being able to return into the US until all these three thing are accomplished? Thank you all.
 
I am from Canadian and married a US citizen 25 years ago. We have two children and have maintained a US residence for the entire 25 years. We are now divorcing. Am I considered to a a US citizen or is there a possibility of being deported?
 
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