I am a American graduate student in Pennsylvania, married to a Canadian citizen who is pursuing doctoral studies in Canada. Because of our studies, neither of is presently able to seek permanent residency in the others' home country. Obviously, it is nonetheless our desire to spend as much time as possible together. While I spent much of the summer in Canada, for the next nine months it will be easier for my wife to visit me here since she has fewer classroom obligations. Moreover, we are expecting a child in early March and hope to be able to do so in the US (because I must be here to teach and attend classes, while she gets maternity leave).
The problem is that it is becoming increasingly difficult for my wife to cross the border. This summer she accompanied me to the States for 5 days to help me move my things into storage, and we, stupidly, brought a few boxes of her winter things, since we knew she would be spending quite a bit of time here this year. The border guard told us that, though he believed our story, it did not LOOK like we were only going to be staying for 5 days (and we couldn't disagree!). He turned us away, with the provision that my wife return with further documentation of her ties to Canada (a lease, work contract, phone bill in her name, etc), and advised us to seek legal counsel (which we did). We took the boxes back to Canada and returned to the US for the 5 days with no problems.
Today I received a call from my wife. She had just crossed the border at Niagara on her way to visit me in Philadelphia, and was extremely distressed that she was, after much scrutiny, only allowed entry upon the provision that she return to Canada on September 22. And this, she was told by the border guard, was only being allowed because she had provided evidence that she had to be back in Canada on that date to teach. Apparently, when they checked her passport, the previous incident came up, and indicated that she had tried to illegally enter the US to live for seven months and been turned away. When she explained what our immigration lawyer had told us (that neither of us needed to apply for permanent residency in the others' country and that visitation should be fine as long as she could show sufficient ties to Canada), she was told that "lawyers don't know anything." They claimed that her paperwork (work contracts, phone bills, etc) did not sufficiently show that she did not intend to illegally stay in the US.
Absurdly, it appears that they now suspect her of attempting to illegally enter the US, despite the fact that I am a US citizen and thus, if she genuinely wished to do so, she could easily apply for permanent residency! After the difficulty she faced today, it seems increasingly unlikely that she will be able to visit me in the future, as one of the risks she faces if she does so is a 2-5 year ban on entry to the US altogether. Not to mention the simple stress of not knowing whether or not she will be allowed to enter each time. Needless to say, the prospect of her being granted entry in the weeks before our child is due is likewise dim.
I am eager to hear from anyone who might have had, and hopefully solved, a similar problem. Thanks for the help.
The problem is that it is becoming increasingly difficult for my wife to cross the border. This summer she accompanied me to the States for 5 days to help me move my things into storage, and we, stupidly, brought a few boxes of her winter things, since we knew she would be spending quite a bit of time here this year. The border guard told us that, though he believed our story, it did not LOOK like we were only going to be staying for 5 days (and we couldn't disagree!). He turned us away, with the provision that my wife return with further documentation of her ties to Canada (a lease, work contract, phone bill in her name, etc), and advised us to seek legal counsel (which we did). We took the boxes back to Canada and returned to the US for the 5 days with no problems.
Today I received a call from my wife. She had just crossed the border at Niagara on her way to visit me in Philadelphia, and was extremely distressed that she was, after much scrutiny, only allowed entry upon the provision that she return to Canada on September 22. And this, she was told by the border guard, was only being allowed because she had provided evidence that she had to be back in Canada on that date to teach. Apparently, when they checked her passport, the previous incident came up, and indicated that she had tried to illegally enter the US to live for seven months and been turned away. When she explained what our immigration lawyer had told us (that neither of us needed to apply for permanent residency in the others' country and that visitation should be fine as long as she could show sufficient ties to Canada), she was told that "lawyers don't know anything." They claimed that her paperwork (work contracts, phone bills, etc) did not sufficiently show that she did not intend to illegally stay in the US.
Absurdly, it appears that they now suspect her of attempting to illegally enter the US, despite the fact that I am a US citizen and thus, if she genuinely wished to do so, she could easily apply for permanent residency! After the difficulty she faced today, it seems increasingly unlikely that she will be able to visit me in the future, as one of the risks she faces if she does so is a 2-5 year ban on entry to the US altogether. Not to mention the simple stress of not knowing whether or not she will be allowed to enter each time. Needless to say, the prospect of her being granted entry in the weeks before our child is due is likewise dim.
I am eager to hear from anyone who might have had, and hopefully solved, a similar problem. Thanks for the help.
