Sponsoring spouse and child while they live in the US on a visit visa

[hkalltheway]

Dear All,

As you might have read my other posts, I am trying to find a way to sponsor my wife and infant baby boy for PR. Islamabad is currently taking 24 months, which is way too long. I am trying to secure a visit visa for my wife and child, and if I am able to do that, I will sponsor in land. If not, I was wondering...

If we all have US visas...Can we enter the US, rent an apartment close to the border (niagara falls for example), and I make my wife and child stay there...and I apply for their sponsorship from Canada...could I apply to the Buffalo USA embassy instead of Islamabad, although wife and child will be staying on a visit visa in the US? Buffalo's processing time is a lot less. That way, I can visit them daily, every two days, or weekly, if I work close by. If I work during the day in Canada, and enter the USA in the evening for the night, does that count as a residence day in Canada?

Would it be possible to use this scenario? Please advise. Thank you all!

 

[Admirable]

TBuffalo will only process their application if they legally lived iin the US for one year. The US only grants Visitor Visa visits for a max of 6 months. Your spouse and child will have to use the Visa Office designated for their home country Islamabad.

They can enter the US and you can rent an apartment wherever you decide in the US for the duration of their stay (usually 6 months). If they have multiple entries B2 Visa, they can come back to the US later. Buffalo will still not process their file. They must use Islamabad.

 

[Leon]

Right, you don't have to have lived in the US for a year to apply through Buffalo but you do need to have been admitted with at least a one year visa. If your wife got a student visa to study in the US for one year, you could apply through Buffalo as soon as she is in the US. Another idea if you can't get to the US is if she can go to another country where the processing time is faster. Could she for example get a one year visa to stay in India, they are relatively fast there.

You need to be residing in Canada in order to sponsor your wife and baby. Living in the US and commuting to Canada to work is not the same as residing in Canada. You would however get credit for those days towards your PR residency requirements.

 

[chelley]

Nope..

If you had a visa that admitted them to the US for a year, you could process out of buffalo... IF you were a citizen.. As a PR, YOU at a minimum must live in Canada and not leave the country but for short trips... Living in the US on a visitor visa and going to Canada daily is a very quick way to get yourself banned at the border and your US visa revoked indefinitely never mind an sponsorship application thrown out.. Even Canadian citizens would have a hard time pulling that one off... Frequent travel across the border raises all sorts of red flags and a nexus card would be the only way to safely do this on that regular of a basis (which I doubt you'd be applicable for... And would show you are NOT living in Canada... Close doesn't count, it's not horseshoes or hand granades lol)

While i feel for your situation, you should have planned your life around where you wanted to live to avoid this... Half the people on these boards have been separated from their spouses for months on end, and unfortunately the govt does not and will not make an exception for you or anyone else who failed to use their PR status to it's intention from day one... These rules actually exist to stop people from trying to do what you have done and you're unfortunately learning the hard way..

Good luck

 

[hkalltheway]

Right, you don't have to have lived in the US for a year to apply through Buffalo but you do need to have been admitted with at least a one year visa. If your wife got a student visa to study in the US for one year, you could apply through Buffalo as soon as she is in the US. Another idea if you can't get to the US is if she can go to another country where the processing time is faster. Could she for example get a one year visa to stay in India, they are relatively fast there.

You need to be residing in Canada in order to sponsor your wife and baby. Living in the US and commuting to Canada to work is not the same as residing in Canada. You would however get credit for those days towards your PR residency requirements.

The reason I had thought of this idea was that on a visitor visa to the US, you get 6 months to stay in the US on the I-94. Then, you can get that extended for another six months if you renew it in time. That makes it one year. Could she then apply through buffalo based on this scenario? I would remain in Canada, but could visit wife and kid in Buffalo every weekend, for example. Then, I won't be violating my residency requirement in Canada, would I? I would be working and living in Canada, and would come down to buffalo for the weekend to spend time with them. Would it be possible to sponsor through buffalo in this case?

 

[Leon]

They would not be able to apply through Buffalo because they are not on a one year visa, they would be on a 6 mo. + 6 mo. visa. There is a difference.

 

[scylla]

They would not be able to apply through Buffalo because they are not on a one year visa, they would be on a 6 mo. + 6 mo. visa. There is a difference.

As Leon has explained, for your plan to work, they would have to be INITIALLY admitted to the US for a period of at least a year (extensions don't count). This is why using the Buffalo visa office will not be an option for them if they come to the US as visitors.