What can fiance bring while waiting for outland PR request

[CeeGee]

My fiance and I plan to marry in the US in early march, and late march drive to my home in Canada with her dog and cat,and show up at the border with marrage certificate from California, reciept showing that she has put in her outland application for PR, and a letter from my employer testifying my ability to support her. One of our questions is while we realize we have to leave most of her stuff in storage at the border, what can we bring in, a couple of suitcases and supplys for the pets or can we we a couple of boxes as well(thinking family photos etc?), Thanks Also what is the best time to cross border, daytime ,nighttime, weekends?

 

[RobsLuv]

No best time to cross - it won't make a difference. She can bring only what she would need for a temporary stay - even though you are married and applying for PR, you still need to demonstrate that the both of you understand that she is only allowed to stay temporarily until she has PR. (My stuff is still in storage in California - if I had it to do over again, I'd have brought it at least to Buffalo so it would be just on the other side of the border!) I did, however, ship some things via UPS that I couldn't live without - sent "from" me "to" my Canadian husband as gifts, and we somehow avoided having to pay duty. Be careful about the value you place on the shipment, and what's included. For me it was mostly pictures and stuff - nothing of any real value.

 

[BeShoo]

As for the time, it should really matter but I suppose it also depends on whether you cross at a busier or less busy border post. We crossed at Ogdensburg, NY, at 11:35 at night and there were no other cars behind or in front of us. If they'd wanted to do a thorough inspection, they had enough agent available, but they didn't.

Just remember that she is only coming for a visit for now. They will decide how long that visit will be (probably based on however long they think the application will take, and considering that you can request an extension). In all likelihood, they will issue a Visitor Record for 6 months or less.

So, you can bring however much stuff would be suitable for a 6 month visit. Bringing either more or less than that could raise concerns. I just crossed the border with my partner last week. They asked what we were bringing. We told them it was mostly clothes and food. We did bring some family photos and such and we had the car stuffed tightly with as much as we could fit into it without blocking the windows. We were worried that they would pull everything out to inspect it, but it turned out that they didn't. Carefully cramming it all back in would have been a big job. We did have two "small" U-Haul boxes full of canned and boxed food from the cupboards and some stuff from the fridge.

The only thing they were concerned with, in our case, was whether we had any furniture, so I would advise against bringing anything at all that could be described as furniture. The main thing is to be concerned about is not to give the impression that she is moving permanently, because, for now, she is only visiting and must go back when the visit ends or in case the PR should be rejected for some reason.