Kingston,Jamaica

[lonely_wife]

hey proper... I am not sure about you but myself didn't know anybody dealing with KG and I live in northern ontario and not much people here that i know marry people from overseas so I felt kidda isolated from my friends as they didn't understand what I was going through... I was able to find lots of support here so far and I just join the site not that long ago... I am very grateful to have the forum at times to help me go through the good times and more difficult times... looking forward to reading you through your process..

 

[Glogirl68]

Hey everyone. Question here who has went over to the US we wonna go shopping and I am reading all kinds of stuff. I had called before and got info, I was told just come down Lewiston/Niagara Falls. Come into Imm and we need the passport. Thats all, I let him know hubby was a perm res, he said just briong the passport. Hubby wants to know exactly what is what before we go. Any advice peeps.

Welcome proper come to the right place.

 

[CharlieD10]

Glo...I am not sure. I have a US visa already, so I don't know what the requirement is for Canadian PR holders.

 

[chelley]

Glo... Not sure it's that easy... I heard in the first year in canada the refusal rate is pretty much the same as it would be if they applied from their home country... I'm not much help, but I will see if I can find out more... Have a friend who works with the govt and is good at finding out this stuff

 

[lonely_wife]

Hey glo... i am not help but definatly let me know about that cause I love to go shopping in the states too... me and hubby already planning a trip to the states this summer cause his friend is getting married... let me know how it goes and if it's a smooth process and the cost and all.... thanks...

I was wondering if anyone age matters when it comes to immigration... well me and my husband don't have a big age difference but we are young... I am 24 and he is 23... I was wondering if that can work against us meaning that maybe they think that the relationship is not as strong... cause I have been reading lots of things online and even if people have a big age difference and a strong case they still get them problems... Now I am starting to get scared about this.... We build a very strong case with lots of evidence that its a genuine relationship but even though you have to be 18 years old to marry. I am asking myself some questions if they may try to do anything cause we are so young. Does anybody know anything about this????

 

[HighlyFavoured]

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL! ;D

I pray the VERY best for all of the reunited families. Special blessings to all the expentant mothers. I sent forth encouragement to all of you who are still running the immigration race with patience. All in Jesus precious Name.

Be blessed & Stay blessed!

 

[ladyposh]

HAPPY NEW YEAR TOEVERYONE. I STAYED AWAY FOR A FEW WEEKS BECAUSE I WAS FEELING SO DOWN AND OUT AND DID NOT WANT TO DAMPER ANYONES SPIRITS.

NAE NAE, GOOD NEWS AND I HOPE YOU WILL BE COMING HOME WITH YOUR HUSBAND!! HOPEFULLY MY STORY WILL FOLLOW YOURS AS I AM ABOUT 8 WEEKS OR SO AFTER YOURS.

ROSMEL-CONGRATS. YOUR STORY BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES.

TO ALL THE NEWBIES, WELCOME!

 

[rosemel]

Good morning everyone

Glo...I have a friend that is a US Customs Officer and he informed me that he will look into it, BUT he thinks that we will need to go to the US Embassy and get a US visa in order to go into the US for any kind of visit, shopping or vacation. He says that they usually issue a visa that will be good for 10 years...he is going to get back to me to make sure of this information as we also want to go and shop/vacation in the US ;D

I guess Canuck got lost on his travels back from JA... ???

As for our 2nd week as a reunited family...things are going extremely well..the girls have adjusted very well to our cold climate..and we have made our first "Jamaican Snowman" and today we are off to go shopping again ;D I cannot stress enough to all of you that are still waiting for KG to send your loved ones home to you... Please hold on and stay strong because no matter how long it will take you in this process ..it is worth every second once they are with you and immigration is a thing of the past in your life. I find myself thinking this is not real and I will wake up to a lonely house...but then my bedroom door swings open and this beautiful little girl comes strolling in saying " GOOOOOD MAWNING" with the biggest smile on her face....ahhhhhhh there is no better way to wake up than that ;D ;D

Have a great day everyone ;D

 

[canuck0469]

Happy New year to all my forum friends and a big UP for all our new friends.
The landing was awesome without any problems at all. Took about 5 mins at immigration which was perfect as we had a connecting flight out within an hour. The imm were very friendly and effeicent, never thought I'd say that.
Congrtas Rosey and MommyT, know how happy everyone is.
xmas in JA was beautiful, albiet short but was nice to be with her family, a teary goodbye, and we were off. We both picked up a cold on the flight to Edmonton but I guess we must share everything now, even a cold. I'd tried taliking her into staying in the terminal while I went and warmed up up the truck but she wanted no part of that and donned her togue and gloves and we went in search of my truck. After checking the first 2 parkade levels I finally tried using the panic button and heard it up the next floor. No heated seats so she used some clothes out of the suitcase to sit on. Got a room with a jacuzzi so she was able to thaw her butt out after an hour or so.
New Years was fantastic with my family and everyone loves the Mrs, she was the hit of the party. My brother presented her with a beautiful bouget of pink roses. Met some cousins and aunts/uncles, nieces and nephews so she is feeling right at home. Planned on driving back to Edmonton which was about 8 hrs and spend the night there, but she suggested we drive home as she was dying to see it. So after a short 16.5 hour drive we made it home. She was able to experience her first blizzard and was amazed that the snow wasn't hitting the truck. She learned to curse the semi's just as good as I could, razzleclot, bumbaclot and pussyclot were used a lot, so were asshole and prick.
I made a big welcome home banner and had it above the doorway. Have lots of plants in thye house so it looks quite tropical and she loves plants so she got busy re-decorating right away, gotta say a womens touch turns a house into a home. She joined me shovelling snow and was surprised by how light it is. Got her a snowmobile suit so she can do it all winter long. I think that novelty will soon wear off.
Well Nae, hope you get that call today, gonna get it soon. As the others have said tell hubby to go early to drop off PP. Have to pick a number and wait his turn so the earlier the sooner he'll get through.

OK KG NEXT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[canuck0469]

Lonely, don't fret about the age, you are close in age and just keep track of all your communicatios, travels etc. You'll do just fine. We have a 30 year age difference and got through without an interview. Used a consultant which may have helped somewhat, he used to be a supervisor at the VO so knew what to send and what not to expedite the process.
Good luck to all

 

[Helpmeplease]

great landing story Canuck, glad everything went off great! Enjoy your new life together!


I am curious about the US visa as well...to be able to get it I wonder if you need some kind of proof of travel? or you can just apply and say at some point you wanna go to the US?? if it's good for 10 years that is great...

 

[chelley]

my friend confirmed what i believed to be true... PRs that needed a visa to get into the US before (i.e. our jamaican spouses without US visas ) , will still need one, and she doesn't believe these to be easily obtainable at the border... she said to apply in advance and sent me this link

http://www.consular.canada.usembassy.gov/Toronto.asp

from what i've heard/read, it's best to not apply within the first year unless you can prove significant ties to Canada (i.e. house ownership, career, kids etc)... even tho their coming from a different place, they are still viewed as "risks" if they can't prove ties to the place they're supposed to go back to... residency isn't a significant tie (my husband found that out the hard way applying to come to canada from the UK (as a UK resident who had resided in the UK for less than a year)... he was declined even though he had a job, money and family in the UK)...


if you decide to give it a go in the near future, do let us know how things went... it might not be as hard as some make it out to be!!! we will probably try in the spring, I would like to take the kids to disney or something this year

 

[kc416]

Hi All... Happy new year!!

Canuck... awwwwwwwwwwww... loved the little story I smiled the whole time reading it

Welcome Proper

Just wanted to give my 2 cents on the whole travelling to America situation. I hold a british passport and still had to get a visa to go across the border to america and the visa I finally received was valid for 6 months only. I thought I was going to be able to drive across no problem with my british passport and my canadian PR card with a girlfriend a few years back and got pulled in to IMM and had to apply for a visa at the border, the wait was 4.5 hours, they took down all my info including where I work, where I live, what family I have in Canada etc, took my finger prints, did an eye scan, weight, height, background check in both UK and CAN and then gave me an interview, finally they issued me a visa... SIGH! I have never heard of the 1 year wait thing that chelley has mentioned but that would be crappy

I say apply for a visa before going to the border as others have suggested, UNLESS you go at an off time such as early early early morning or late late late late night where the traffic is quiet, and there are not a lot of "immigrants or tourists" trying to cross into america, and try and avoid weekends and long weekends if possible.

Me and hubby did go to Mexico and we also got stopped there at the airport as well for a short interview, we were wandering what was going on... Hubby landed in Nov and we went to Mex in Jan so they were skeptical, but all seemed to be okay once they realized that we were married and that I had travelled to mexico before with no problems.

 

[chelley]

KC... as a UK citizen, you weren't visa exempt? that's just odd... I'm not sure what you'd need to travel from the UK but you should have to go thru the same process from Canada... did you have to pay the visa fee too? when was this if you don't mind me asking? i think they changed regulations in 2003, so if it was before or around there, things may have been different than they are now? dunno... sounds like a horrible experience...

i also once got a US visa at the border (L1A, intercompany transfer, a 5-7 year work visa), but that was a different scenario... had a great law firm, 3 inches of paperwork and a bunch of preapprovals... i was in and out of the office in 10 minutes and had one of the officers carrying my bags it was a pleasant experience after being refused and threatened with a 3 year ban on the previous entry attempt (now that was a kicker!)

The "year thing" is just a general guideline that visa offices seem to use to demonstrate ties to a resident nation... once you've lived somewhere for a year, it seems to appease them that you have "ties" to the place... when my husband was refused the visa, they actually told him to come back in 3-4 months and apply again and he would get thru without issue, he just hadn't been in the UK long enough and his other ties were'nt definite (he didn't own anything basically)... i'm sure there are people who can get thru in less time tho... it's all up to the VO of course...

as for booking an appt... i know out of toronto the wait times can be silly... months... so you need to plan in advance of traveling... and i believe the fee is 140US now...

KC... as an aside, how's the baby kicking? everything good? when's the due date again????

 

[nae-nae]

hello everyone!!!!!

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE!!!!!!!





HUBBY GOT THE PP CALL TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

We are sooooooooo excited!!! he won't be able to come home with me but we are still happy!!! ;D

so we are off to KG on Thursday! Thanks everyone for the advice, we'll be there early to line up woo hoo!!!

canuck - welcome home to you and mrs canuck!!! loved your landing story...full of humour as usual

welcome proper....I'm about to update myself so I'll include you on our list.

SOOOO?? any nominations for someone to take over the updates??