What are our options for my wife to stay in the US for longer than her I-94 states?
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What are our options for my wife to stay in the US for longer than her I-94 states?
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It seems I have a bit of a problem. I’m an American citizen and my wife is a Canadian citizen and we’ve been married for over three years. Our ultimate goal is to file for permanent residence for myself in Canada while staying temporarily in the US while my application is being processed. During that time, I would be working and supporting my wife and also paying the rest of my credit card debt which is why we cannot immediately move to Canada.
However, after visiting Canada last month, upon re-entry to the US is where we ran into our problem. The woman at the Niagara Falls port of entry told us that we’ve “been married since 2005 and have done nothing”. She was very unwilling to hear us explain how we’ve been trying and I was eventually told that my wife can only stay in the US for one month which is definitely not enough time for us to do what it is we need to do and my wife and I would much rather not spend any time living apart from one another.
My first thought was that we could maybe file for an extension for her stay but we need to make sure the extension will be good for as long as we need it-which could be up to a year, but it could also be as short as a few months. My other thought was that we could go ahead and file for her permanent residence to last while we’re here in the US but, since we will be living permanently in Canada in the near future, it seems ridiculous to me to pay the fourteen-hundred dollars it takes to get that done.
So I guess my question is: Is there an option I have overlooked? If not, what would seem to be the best course?
Additional Details
Obviously it was a mistake to come to Yahoo Answers for a solution... IBU GURU, your last paragraph of comments were really unnecessary, especially the part about our marriage going nowhere and having no future.. you don't know us and have no right to make those assumptions. Otherwise, thank you for your reply but I know for a fact that it is not the only option. FRED S, I will not take back what I said about the officer because it is entirely true, she only would speak to my father in law and when I tried to step in to talk with her AT ALL she was extremely rude to me. Just so you know, we didn't "make the proper arrangements before getting married" because we were unaware of the type of bureaucracy we had to go through. Thank you anyway for your reply but I believe we will be going a different route.
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Desperate
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I cannot believe you! You waste way MORE money not to apply just coming and going between countries!! Your explanation is such a week excuse and immigration fees are not getting any lower! Not to mention you put your wife to risk at every time when you/she cross the border.
BTW! If you are applying for Canadian immigration you suppose to live there on the daily basis, PERMANENTLY!!
There is a saying in my country of origin: You cannot ride two horses at the same time with one *$$! (free translation LOL) |
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Fred S
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You should take back what you said about that officer. She did listen to you, and she took pity on you. If I had been working that day and heard your story, your wife would be in Canada right now. You owe her some gratitude, not criticism.
You are the one who got married without making the proper arrangments for living legally in either Canada or the U.S. You are the ones who dragged your feet since 2005 and are still not prepared to live legally in one country or the other.
Your wife was not given an I-94 valid for one month so that you could apply for an extension of stay a few days later. The form for an extension needs to be filed 45 days before the stay expires.
Most Canadians do not receive an I-94 because most Canadians don't abuse U.S. immigration law by living in the U.S. since 2005 without an immigrant visa. I have no doubt that her application for an extension, if filed, would be denied. You certainly are not going to get an extension of one year.
You placed yourselves in the position you're in.You should have handled it by now. There is only one country in the world where your life can live legally in 2009, and that's Canada. When you have your immigrant visa, you can follow her to join. |
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ibu guru
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You've been married for over 3, maybe closer to 4 now, years, and still don't have your ducks in a row? You both need to work in order to solve your financial problems, and she cannot work in the US (or even remain here), and you cannot work in Canada. She's going to need to be living and working in Canada to get you there if that's what you two want.
So, she goes home and gets to work on your immigration to Canada and building a financial future for the both of you there, and you get a second job if necessary to pay off those bills and get going.
There's no excuse for horsing around for all these years if you two really want a life together. Keep doing what you've been doing all these years and you and your marriage are going nowhere and have no future. |
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Pojken
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Unfortunately getting her a permanent resident or living separated (each one in his/her country) are the only options I can think of. (I may be wrong, I'm not an expert on the matter).
But something similar happened to the sister of my sister in law, her husband is a US citizen, he lives in the US, she lives in her country of origin, she needs a visa to visit the US so she went to the embassy because although she doesn't want to live in the US she wanted to be able to visit her husband from time to time.
They refused her saying that she doesn't need that visa.
As you can see, they can do anything they want and there's little you can do about her.
Also, keep in mind that your canadian residence application may take a while (Canada is famous for its slow immigration processes). So not only will you need time to pay your debts but you'll also need it to wait for your application to be approved (unless you've already started that).
Wish you the best! |
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