Marrying an American. Need Help!!!

[Tiffany]

I'm a Canadian, my boyfriend is an American and we've decided we'd like to marry. At first we were considering moving me from Vancouver to California to live with him, but navigating all of the information out there is confusing us a LOT. He's okay with moving here and crossing the border to work in Seattle, or staying here altogether, and I'm okay with moving to California and living there for the time being. A few questions have arose though.

1) Is it easier to get married and stay in Canada or America? Since we want to be together and both of our jobs are relocatable, we're open to either.

2) Should I apply for a fiancee visa if I'm moving there, or should I just marry once I'm in the states and then start the process?

3) If I go to the states and marry him there, am I allowed to go back to Canada, or do I have to wait until everything goes through? and vice versa

4) What is the approximate wait time in obtaining citizenship, and could either of us work without it?

5) Is it best to apply for a work visa or holiday visa and get a job first? or again, is the legit marriage route easiest?

6) Should we talk to immigration lawyers, INS, etc. first and get the ball rolling, or do so after we're married?

7) If for any reason there's an issue with paperwork, etc. Could either of us be deported? Would we be stuck apart?

8) Once we marry and obtain citizenship in the other persons country, say America, how hard would it be for us if we both wanted to move back to Canada?

I apologize for the long list, it just seems that there is no "right" way to go about this, and a lot of horror stories to tag along with it. Neither of us thought that it would be such a hassle, but we want to do it right.

Thank you for your help!
Tiffany

 

[scylla]

I would start by reading the first post in the following thread. It will give you a good overview of the process for sponsoring someone to Canada. FYI - unlike the US, Canada has no fiance visa. So that's not one of the options available to you.

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/spousal-sponsorship-t46995.0.html

 

[blupassion06]

heY!

So my husband is a Canadian citizen and I'm a US citizen... We got married last year, and then filed the paperwork for him to sponsor me to move to Canada. I've had an IO officer tell me that fiance visa for US is a lot faster route if you want to move to the states. As a US citizen you can 'visit' canada for upto 6 months, and it can be extended but they need a good reason! If you get married in the states you CAN absolutely come back to Canada w/o a problem since you're a Canadian citizen. You can't work with out a working permit in Canada and I think the same stands for US. You can obtain a working permit by having a job offer, and going that route..at the same time you can apply for him to move to Canada..this way you won't have to worry about living apart. I personally don't think immigration lawyers are needed...I think you should just pick a country US or Canada....and it'll make a lot of things easier. I don't think you can get deported unless you lie on the paper work..your work permit visa expires.. or your visitor visa expires.. just follow the rules and everything should work out great.
Hope I was helpful.. GOOD LUCK!

 

[John198928]

Hey Tiffany,

This is a pretty long shot since you haven't used this forum since 2012 but I'm in a very similar situation now and I'm seeking those same answers. I'm Canadian and my girlfriend is American and we'd both like to live in America. Any information you could provide of your first-hand experience with marrying an American would really be appreciated. We just want to do this in the most efficient way, spending the least amount of time away from each other.

Thanks,
John

 

[CDNPR2014]

Hey Tiffany,

This is a pretty long shot since you haven't used this forum since 2012 but I'm in a very similar situation now and I'm seeking those same answers. I'm Canadian and my girlfriend is American and we'd both like to live in America. Any information you could provide of your first-hand experience with marrying an American would really be appreciated. We just want to do this in the most efficient way, spending the least amount of time away from each other.

Thanks,
John

move over to the family sponsorship board on this forum. there are MANY threads about sponsoring an american spouse.

 

[Wyn77]

Hi Tiffany, long shot but I am in your position now. I am in Vancouver and my boyfriend is in California. Did you ever move and figure out your situation?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi Tiffany, long shot but I am in your position now. I am in Vancouver and my boyfriend is in California. Did you ever move and figure out your situation?

I suggest you create your own thread detailing your situation instead dredging up a thread from years ago.