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lol internet. posted:Initial I-130/G-325 form with passport photo copy's, drivers license, Affidavit for place of birth, marriage certificate, and passport photos. We been married for maybe 3-4 years now. Initial application was submitted in November 2014 I believe. Not a lawyer here, just someone who's been through the spousal green card process. If you look at the I-130 instructions there is stuff on page 3 (items E through J) about showing you have a real relationship. We were told by our lawyer that it's never wrong to over-document, within reason, so we submitted documentation under several of the headings: mortgage agreement, joint bank account statements, a UK land registry "official copy of register of title" showing our house owned in both our names, and some photos covering a period of several years before and after the marriage. I know other people who sent in personal correspondence, ticket stubs for flights taken together, and other stuff like that. No idea what weight or scrutiny is given to all these things - all we were told, as I said, was to over-document in order to make an RFE less likely, and indeed we were not asked for any more.
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Mar 17, 2015 21:46
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Yeeeeea, as above, you are supposed to submit evidence that you have a real marriage and aren't just two people who happen to have gotten hitched. USCIS doesn't have firm guidelines, but they generally look at the time spent in the marriage and the amount of 'comingling' you have done. So if you have only been married a short time but have already mixed your lives together (through things like insurance, property, leases, finances) it is probably fine. If you haven't done that so much but have been together a long time, you'll probably be ok too (not many people commit a fraudulent marriage and then wait five or ten years to benefit on it). The soft stuff like trip records and correspondence, affidavits from friends, etc, are basically there to pad thing out and allay any suspicions an officer may have. He won't care if you have a solid case, but if you're a young couple and you haven't been married long and don't have a lot of stuff to mix up, proof that you had a wedding with your grandma there and introduced her to your mom for Christmas make a difference. This all kicks up a notch if you aren't cohabiting. Cohabitation is not actually a requirement, but if a couple admits they aren't living together it throws up a red flag (because that's something people with a fraudulent marriage do). So then you need to explain why you are living apart, how long you expect that to last, what you do to make up for it - stuff like letters, call logs, trips to see each other, skype history, affidavits from your friends about how you won't shut up that you don't see your wife often enough and its really dragging everyone down, etc. If you did not submit any of this stuff with the original petition you need to pull it together now and send it in to answer the RFE. The good news, I guess, is that they are just prompting you for not sending in everything you are supposed to. This is better than when you have submitted documentation and USCIS sends and RFE saying that they think your marriage is bullshit and demanding you answer specific questions about it.
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Mar 17, 2015 22:19
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Ashcans, we only had my self employed father in law and mother in law, also self employed, who had filed jointly. NVC said all that paperwork was fine. I feel like this guy just is wrong? He definitely wrote joint sponsor on the sheet.
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Mar 17, 2015 22:32
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They explicitly tell you to have 2 signed affadavits from people who know you before your marriage, and then a bunch of other suggestions. I ended up sending in copies of: -christmas/birthday cards -paystubs for both of us -bills paid by both of us /sent to both of us at the same address -copy of our joint credit card account with card transactions by both of us -bank statement for joint bank account -labelled holiday photos as well as stuff like photos of us at the vet with our cats -photos of both of us with our parents edit: never mind I am dumb, that was for i-751. redreader fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Mar 17, 2015 |
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Mar 17, 2015 22:33
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Sharks Below posted:Ashcans, we only had my self employed father in law and mother in law, also self employed, who had filed jointly. NVC said all that paperwork was fine. I feel like this guy just is wrong? He definitely wrote joint sponsor on the sheet. Yea, I mean, it's entirely possible that he looked through the paperwork and went 'ok, tax return, oh no W-2' and just didn't parse that it was a self-employed sponsor. I don't like to say it, but we get asked for dumb stuff that doesn't apply all the time. I would suggest you email them a copy of the notice you were given along with your documents and say, basically, 'hey, there is no W-2, please adjudicate or let us know if you want something else'.
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Mar 18, 2015 01:36
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Ashcans posted:Yea, I mean, it's entirely possible that he looked through the paperwork and went 'ok, tax return, oh no W-2' and just didn't parse that it was a self-employed sponsor. I don't like to say it, but we get asked for dumb stuff that doesn't apply all the time. I would suggest you email them a copy of the notice you were given along with your documents and say, basically, 'hey, there is no W-2, please adjudicate or let us know if you want something else'. I said to the guy at the interview "well, he is self employed, so he doesn't get a w2. He's a self employed sole proprietor." and the guy looked at me simperingly and was like "well honey everyone gets a w2 ok? even if you have to give it to yourself" so I was like "welp ok what would I know I'm not American" but when I left and called husbo he was like wtf no, no just no and also no. So we both emailed them and were like "what do you want from us, we can't get a w2, it doesn't exist, here is the applicable tax law" and their response was "well then if he doesn't have a 2013 or 2014 w2 [WHAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND ABOUT HE DOESNT GET ONE] you will have to send a dated letter explaining why". So obviously we did that but what the gently caress. Why are we explaining this to them? This is THEIR RULES which we complied with FLAWLESSLY. We called NVC after they got our paperwork and when they checklisted us they told us all the tax / financial info was absolutely perfect. We emailed them back with the letter, attached (again) his tax return and schedule C (though we did submit ALL schedules of the jointly filed tax return when we first sent them off and he had them in front of him at the interview, I also had copies with me). I am so deeply angry about this, our application was complete and now in their response to that email they're saying "your application will be assessed for completeness and then adjudicated" and we have no idea how long this will take, all for a mistake that is IN NO WAY ours. It's hosed, so beyond hosed, and maybe I sound like I'm overreacting but I miss my husband and I thought I'd be leaving next week and now that's looking unlikely and all because of something that's 100% not our fault. I would suck it up if it was our fault but it's their mistake and I'm loving pissed off. And it's not like there's anything we can do but wait for them to do their poo poo. My husband contacted his Congresswoman and her staff member has been amazing, she said she'd get on it but I mean, they have lots of stuff to do that might mean "I'll get on it as soon as I'm done with the 8000 other enquiries I have before yours" so it might be too late by the time that happens but at least she has been responsive and interested, she seems to think it's as ridiculous as we do. On the bright side, we knew it was a risk to book flights before we had the visa but the flight prices were going up and up and up, so we booked them. However the change fees are actually not so bad! So that's good. And I shouldn't have to delay by too much. Basically if the visa is in the post by Thursday this week I'll be able to go when I want to go, if it's not, then I won't, but I can't imagine it to be too much of a delay. Also to answer your question, both my husband and his parents definitely are getting their 2014 taxes done right now, though they shouldn't be asking for them since it's not deadline yet, but we're doing it just in case. Ray's (husband) will be tricky because he has foreign income having spent a lot of his 2014 in Australia, but his dad will still be waaay over, many times over the threshold so at least that's not a concern. SOrry for the rant. I'm so angry and sad and upset and stressed. I literally have a stress rash and can only sleep with medication and have lost 3kg wiewwwwww 
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Mar 23, 2015 02:46
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We have to file a spousal visa in the near future and I'm curious about something. It is my understanding that if I were to magically get visa in and today that since my husband and I have been married less than two years I'd receive a CR-1 with conditional permanent residence. Visajourney has the approximate time frame at the moment sitting at 14 months which, if accurate, would place us very close to or just past our 2nd anniversary. Would this be taken into consideration on the application so that I'd instead be issued an IR-1 or is it based on marriage length when we applied? My husband is also looking at starting a job Stateside in an aug-oct time frame and we're not keen on doing long distance again. Visajourney lists a direct consular filing as being ~3 months at the moment but everything I can find lists that as being for overseas or special circumstances since 2011 or somesutch. Is that an option (I am Canadian, he has been here on a study permit for the past 2 years) or would that basically be a hail mary waste of time that could be placed toward sending the I-130 to the chicago lockbox? I'm not confident in how up-to-date their blurb about it is given the conflicting information I've found. e: also, how accurate is that 14 month estimate currently? Is it worth going for a K-3 instead if it is? AzureSkye fucked around with this message at 06:42 on Mar 23, 2015 |
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Mar 23, 2015 04:18
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CEAC status now says "Ready". I assume this is good? Who knows.
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Mar 25, 2015 07:35
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Sharks Below posted:CEAC status now says "Ready". I assume this is good? Who knows. Hey Sharks, I'm sorry that this has been such a pain for you. I wish that I could tell you that you'd get an apology from the consulate or something to at least acknowledge the screw up, but unfortunately what tends to happen is that you just get the decision you should have had and are expected to appreciate it. It sucks, and unfortunately happens way too often (I have any number of stories about stupid and baselessly requests that took ages to resolve, and I have never once gotten a 'whoops' out of a service. Consulates are particularly bad in this regard because they don't have any sort of defined customer service system like USCIS has, that at least gives you a clear path of follow up and escalation. Hopefully your pain is over.  AzureSkye posted:We have to file a spousal visa in the near future and I'm curious about something. It is my understanding that if I were to magically get visa in and today that since my husband and I have been married less than two years I'd receive a CR-1 with conditional permanent residence. Visajourney has the approximate time frame at the moment sitting at 14 months which, if accurate, would place us very close to or just past our 2nd anniversary. Would this be taken into consideration on the application so that I'd instead be issued an IR-1 or is it based on marriage length when we applied? For the first part of this, I am not sure exactly what the date they use for determining if you get conditional residence is. If you are in the US I think that it is the time of the I-485 filing, but if you are consular processing I am not really sure. It might be the date of your interview? In any case this isn't really a huge deal, getting conditional residence just means you need to follow up with the I-751 in 2 years - 90 days, and if your marriage hasn't fallen apart that application is more tedious than challenging. I would rely on Visajourney for processing times - it's not an official source, just a privately run website, and I don't know where they are collecting information from or how often they update it. USCIS publishes their own processing times, which are as close as you are going to get to the truth without calling the NCSC and asking them directly (actually, I am not sure you can really do this without a case pending, I've never had reason to try. hm.) Re-reading your second paragraph there is a lot of stuff going on there and I am not actually sure what you are trying to do. It sounds like you have been bouncing around doing research (which is good) but have ended up with a confused idea of how the process can be handled. Please start at the Immigrant Visa section of the Monteal Consular website, and in particular the processing steps summary. If you have questions from there I would be happy to help.
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Mar 25, 2015 14:34
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The 2 year CR vs. 10 year IR is determined by how long the applicant has been married at the time they become an LPR. For 485 processing, its the date the 485 is approved. For overseas processing, its the date you actually enter and take up the LPR status.
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Mar 25, 2015 16:05
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Thanks for the information! I realize I'm probably getting ahead of myself, but we've barely started and this is stressful as heck. It tends to help if I know what to expect so if I end up in the same boat as sharks it'll still suck, but at least it won't be surprising. Questions about the medical exam: How long does this take? All the locations with doctors that are allowed to perform the medical in Canada require a 3+ hour flight. The consulate says they "suggest you plan to attend your medical examination at least four working days prior to your visa interview date." How good/bad an idea is it to actually do that and take care of both the medical and interview in one trip to Montreal?
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Mar 25, 2015 20:26
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Manifest Dynasty posted:The 2 year CR vs. 10 year IR is determined by how long the applicant has been married at the time they become an LPR. For 485 processing, its the date the 485 is approved. For overseas processing, its the date you actually enter and take up the LPR status. AzureSkye posted:How good/bad an idea is it to actually do that and take care of both the medical and interview in one trip to Montreal? You might be able to do that, but there is a risk you will be cutting things kind of close. I think the most common delay is due to the TB test. I believe they use a skin test, and that can take 2 days to show. If you have had a TB vaccination (no idea if they do this in Canada, they do in many countries though) then you will likely show a positive reaction and have to get an Xray to show you don't have TB. Which is more time. So four days ahead? I would be clenching. But if you can structure a trip that's a week or more? More manageable. Ideally, you should get the requirements for the medical so that you can ensure you have everything needed to make it go smoothly (like your vaccine history). You could try contacting one of the people and asking about this - I am sure that it is not an unusual problem and they might have advice on how to deal with it, or at least be able to tell you more about the time they'd need for their side.
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Mar 25, 2015 20:45
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Ashcans posted:Thanks, that's good to know! I don't know why I don't know that, I think I have always just had people who were just married or married for 2+ years, not people straddling the date during the process. Yeah, it only comes up when the applicant manages to get processed very close to their second anniversary. (And USCIS will often mess it up in those cases!)
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Mar 25, 2015 20:53
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Ashcans posted:You might be able to do that, but there is a risk you will be cutting things kind of close. I think the most common delay is due to the TB test. I believe they use a skin test, and that can take 2 days to show. If you have had a TB vaccination (no idea if they do this in Canada, they do in many countries though) then you will likely show a positive reaction and have to get an Xray to show you don't have TB. Which is more time. So four days ahead? I would be clenching. But if you can structure a trip that's a week or more? More manageable. Ideally, you should get the requirements for the medical so that you can ensure you have everything needed to make it go smoothly (like your vaccine history). It varies by province. My province discontinued TB vaccinations in the 70's so if I flag positive I'm probably in for more trouble than just a chest x-ray! I'm likely going to take a week or so in Montreal either way...if I'm paying for the flights I may as well try to squeeze in some leisure time. I'll definitely put calling them down on the to do list closer to the interview though, mistakes involving air travel are gonna get pricey. Thanks again!
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Mar 25, 2015 21:22
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Thanks Ashcans. I hope this means we are nearly at the end. To be honest at this point Obama could ring me himself and be like "your visa is totes approved I signed it off myself" and I'd be like "whatever bitch I'll believe it when I am in my friend's car at LAX now gently caress off". You know? Something I've been thinking about is thus: you know how spouses wait 3 years from arrival to applying for Citizenship, does that mean 3 years from removal of conditions (ie, from getting IR-1 (Ray and I have only been married less than a year so we have a bit to wait til then)) or 3 years from port of entry into the USA? Not that it strictly matters I'm just interested.
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Mar 26, 2015 02:30
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No, it's just three years from getting residence - so in two years you remove conditions, and then a year after that you would naturalize.
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Mar 26, 2015 03:22
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Ashcans posted:No, it's just three years from getting residence - so in two years you remove conditions, and then a year after that you would naturalize. Cool that is unexpectedly good news? This process has broken me lol. AzureSkye, please make sure you really want this, ok?
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Mar 26, 2015 04:36
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Visa status turned to "issued" sometime this morning then I got an email saying it's all good. I guess it'll arrive in the next few days. Knowing Australia Post it will arrive the day after I was meant to leave. Oh well at least it's coming I guess. I honestly feel weirdly numb and like I have just run out of feelings.
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Mar 27, 2015 07:20
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Sharks Below posted:Cool that is unexpectedly good news? As someone who was on an l1b, then h1b, now gc through marriage (easy mode) I agree. There really is something about moving to the USA that is really hosed up. It's super hard, requires so much work and stress and years of waiting (literally years), and sometimes they just say 'lol no' because they feel like it rather than for any particular reason (green card through h1b especially). If you can do any other country it might be better.
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Mar 27, 2015 18:04
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redreader posted:As someone who was on an l1b, then h1b, now gc through marriage (easy mode) I agree. There really is something about moving to the USA that is really hosed up. It's super hard, requires so much work and stress and years of waiting (literally years), ...as opposed to all the other desirable countries that give you instand citizenship... redreader posted:and sometimes they just say 'lol no' because they feel like it rather than for any particular reason (green card through h1b especially). If you can do any other country it might be better. This is one of the myths that comes up here once in a while, and it's uninformed drivel from people who only know the US process and want to vent. Look up the process for a few other desirable countries and then show us a table of the requirements and processing times, that would be interesting.
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Mar 27, 2015 19:41
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flavor posted:...as opposed to all the other desirable countries that give you instand citizenship... I don't know, man. Even if I wasn't married to a Canadian it looks like I could get into Canada pretty easily just for being a skilled professional with vestigial French and a savings account.
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Mar 27, 2015 20:02
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Pinky Artichoke posted:I don't know, man. Even if I wasn't married to a Canadian it looks like I could get into Canada pretty easily just for being a skilled professional with vestigial French and a savings account. I knew Canada would come up, because it's always the only other thing some people here know bits and pieces about. And in myth-land it's always easier to go to some other country. That assessment typically changes when people actually look into it. I'll just say that there are wonderful countries in Europe that force people to relinquish their existing citizenships as a pre-condition to attaining their citizenship. Plus the whole process takes longer to begin with. Then there are many countries that it's practically impossible to become a citizen of. When you look at all that, then the US system really doesn't look as bad as the "OMG this is so difficult and I have heard in Canada..." people make it out to be. Additionally there are factors that make these processes different from buying shoes: When A marries B, usually only the respective countries they live in are options. Also, it makes more sense to select a country based on a number of factors, not just ease of paperwork.
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Mar 27, 2015 21:05
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Honestly the application for spouse doesn't seem to be anything over the top unusual to me? The wait times blow and there are hoops to jump through but that's about what I was expecting when you have red tape involved and documents changing hands multiple times. Granted, I may just be a pessimist. (I also haven't looked into policies other than Canada and the US for obvious reasons.) Canada would be easier to manage as he's already here, but work is much easier for him to find in the States so we're spending an unspecified number of years there until he's amassed enough experience to land a solid position that'll allow us to move back. e: Oh, here's a gem for you all. I was talking about the procedure we have to go through and how no, you can't just travel in as a visitor and adjust status, and was told be a friend (who is a US citizen) "Oh its ok, they only care about the brown illegals!". How do you even respond to that. Christ. AzureSkye fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Mar 27, 2015 |
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Mar 27, 2015 21:29
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flavor posted:I knew Canada would come up, because it's always the only other thing some people here know bits and pieces about. And in myth-land it's always easier to go to some other country. That assessment typically changes when people actually look into it. I know there are a lot of countries that suck *for Americans* (reciprocal suck, if you will) -- I've entertained job offers from a couple of countries in the past -- but are they all just as bad for immigrants from other countries? Assuming racism/hostilities with a specific country aren't an issue.
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Mar 27, 2015 22:01
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Pinky Artichoke posted:I know there are a lot of countries that suck *for Americans* (reciprocal suck, if you will) -- I've entertained job offers from a couple of countries in the past -- but are they all just as bad for immigrants from other countries? Assuming racism/hostilities with a specific country aren't an issue. That's such a broad an open question, I suggest that you look it up because I simply don't have the time for it. For the record, I didn't think of it from an American perspective at all, just from a general one. I've noticed that people that don't have much experience with traveling to or living in different countries tend to latch on to one particular feature of another country and then add that to everything in their home country and form their judgment based on it. Example: Somebody once told me that Saudi Arabia is a wonderful country to move to because of some right wives have (sorry, forgot what it was). Never mind human rights, relevance of that issue etc., Saudi Arabia is just as good as everything from that guy's country of origin plus that one right, therefore it wins. Countries are a mixed bag of features, and everybody can only decide for themselves what they like, but on SA Canada is always the catch-all solution for everything. It reminds me a little bit of vegetarians, those can also never shut up about that.
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Mar 27, 2015 22:46
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AzureSkye posted:Honestly the application for spouse doesn't seem to be anything over the top unusual to me? Also flavor I agree that there are probably way harder countries etc but sorry, this process is a total oval office. I literally got (temporarily) refused at interview because they asked me for a document that doesn't and can't exist so... yeah they sorta can just say no for whatever reason they want and leave you in horrible limbo.
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Mar 28, 2015 00:05
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Canada here, It's only easy if you have a lot of $$$$ (aka 500k-1mil and open a business as an "investment.") or your job is on a list of "in demand/needed" jobs. Otherwise, it's pretty comparable to other countries. Also, they just raised the spousal application process from 1 year to 2 years. So yeah..
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Mar 28, 2015 00:10
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Sharks Below posted:Of course it doesn't. Because you haven't started yet. I thought it seemed super straightforward too. My husband is a lawyer, we thought we would be golden. It's the end result that counts most, and that seems to be going okay for you. You're assuming that this would go smoothly in any other country, without having any factual base for that. Going by what a close friend told me, it's also the pits to go to some European countries. Do I make general assumptions based on that? No. I'd really like to see statistics or anything seriously researched that shows whether or not the US is particularly bad before I believe it. Anyway, good luck!
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Mar 28, 2015 00:37
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flavor posted:That's such a broad an open question, I suggest that you look it up because I simply don't have the time for it. For the record, I didn't think of it from an American perspective at all, just from a general one. I've noticed that people that don't have much experience with traveling to or living in different countries tend to latch on to one particular feature of another country and then add that to everything in their home country and form their judgment based on it. I'm not really interested in spending my time proving your point by way of researching things that are not relevant to me, so no thanks. And as much as I enjoy giving you an opportunity to vent your rage at a random person, it remains true that both Canada itself and Canadian immigration lawyers advertise their comparatively favorable residency policies vs. the US quite a bit. I wouldn't be totally surprised if some enterprising Canadian law firm sends flyers to known H1B holders.
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Mar 28, 2015 00:52
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Pinky Artichoke posted:I'm not really interested in spending my time proving your point by way of researching things that are not relevant to me, so no thanks. And as much as I enjoy giving you an opportunity to vent your rage at a random person, it remains true that both Canada itself and Canadian immigration lawyers advertise their comparatively favorable residency policies vs. the US quite a bit. I wouldn't be totally surprised if some enterprising Canadian law firm sends flyers to known H1B holders. Wow, advertising proves superiority, you learn something new each day. And a direct reply to people here is a reply to a random person, got it. Anyway, the person who makes a disputed claim should prove that claim first, not the one who disputes it. Apart from all of that there also used to be a principle here at SA that it's frowned upon to come into a thread about, say, Windows issues and solutions, and post "Install Linux problem solved  ". I'd genuinely be interested in a thread about selecting countries and describing how easy it is to get into them, but this one is not really for that. Anyway, I understand that people want to vent sometimes and I'm ready to move on.
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Mar 28, 2015 01:54
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Any advice about applying for an O-1 visa? Moving to the US for music. I've retained a US immigration lawyer but it's always useful to get other anecdotes and this thread seems pretty knowledgable.
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Mar 28, 2015 02:28
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Sharks Below posted:I literally got (temporarily) refused at interview because they asked me for a document that doesn't and can't exist so... yeah they sorta can just say no for whatever reason they want and leave you in horrible limbo. Yeah, I'm probably going to be singing a different tune once things start processing. After the wedding I've been saying I'm never planning another one again but by the end of this I'd imagine I'll take wedding planning over immigration paperwork any day.
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Mar 28, 2015 02:55
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flavor posted:It's the end result that counts most, and that seems to be going okay for you. The UK recently tightened up the financial requirements for UK citizens sponsoring a spouse. The requirements are only 18,600 pounds, but it's still more onerous than the US requirements of $19,912.
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Mar 29, 2015 22:11
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How do I go about trying to get "Secretary of Labor" approval for a visa? My common-law girlfriend is moving to LA from Canada for a veterinary internship, so she gets a TN visa from that (I believe). I was planning to move with her. I have a job with a Canadian company and work remotely, and can continue to do so from LA. Normally I understand moving to the US to get a job is basically impossible, but I saw a caveat for TN status mentioned that seems to fit my description here quote:(A) Labor certification.- Since I'd be keeping a Canadian job and just looking to pay taxes, it seems to fit. But I have no idea how to try to get that certification, since all the TN instructions are to just show up at a port of entry and that's a pretty risky move (especially since I will likely be entering in Maine while trying to drive to LA, with two cats in the car). Do I have to try to get to an embassy/consulate to talk with someone?
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Mar 31, 2015 20:12
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Oh man, it's amazing how misleading things can be. I suspect that you are imagining that this is something where like, the Department of Labor sends a letter that says 'oh this is cool' and you can come in to the US and work remotely. Sorry. The part where the 'Secretary of Labor has determined and certified to the Secretary of State and the Attorney General ' - that is accomplished through the Permanent Labor Certification process (PERM). It's the first step in applying for a green card through employment, and it requires a company to advertise the position, screen applicants, and make a submission to the Department of Labor that they could not fill the position with someone already in the US eligible to work. It is not at all what you want. You are unfortunately looking at a sort of black hole in US immigration, which is because none of the regulations were drafted in a time when someone could realistically come to the US and continue to work for their overseas employer in any meaningful way. The fact that you can do this is a place where technology has overtaken the law, and it's kind of a dilemma as to how to handle it. This is a blog post discussing it and the differing views. If you were coming here for a vacation or something, it would probably never come under scrutiny. But you are talking about a long-term move. So this raises a couple big questions for you. One, your employment in Canada does not provide you with any avenue for a US visa - you cannot use this as a basis to enter. If you are willing to make your girlfriend a wife, you could enter as a TD dependent, but that doesn't give you work authorization. Otherwise you are looking at entering for a short stay as a visitor, and then going back to Canada. The second is that if you were just in the US briefly, your work would fall under the radar. But if you are here for a while, you are going to need to do things like file tax returns. Are you going to declare this income? The longer you are in the US the longer you are creating either a papertrail of what could be work without authorization, or potentially perpetuating fraud by concealing it. Now, there isn't any sort of immediate trigger system where you report income the IRS and ICE knocks on your door asking about it. It's possible you could skate by for ages. But you are talking about building a life on very hazy foundations that could easily come apart if you are ever placed under scrutiny. I would really recommend you find an attorney, preferably an office that handles both US and Canadian immigration, and talk to them about your situation. I don't know, maybe there is some sort of carve out you can do this under; but it's not going to be through that clause and you are probably going to need a professional to find it.
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Mar 31, 2015 21:02
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Well that sucks, but thank you. My company does have some workers in the US (AFAIK they are all US citizens, just working remotely), but they have an "office"/mailing box in the US on the West coast. Maybe I can get "transferred" there to start/head up some West coast department due to my somethingsomethingsomething. Ugh.
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Mar 31, 2015 21:20
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Oh! If your company already has an office in the US, then they could potentially sponsor you for a TN. If they are hiring people in the US then they already have some sort of organization. For a TN they fundamentally just need to provide a letter explaining that you will be working in the US for their business doing whatever work you are doing - it can be pretty broad, you don't have to define specific projects or groups so you could keep on with whatever you are doing now, just under the US division. We see this all the time with large companies that have international divisions and people get moved around in them. This is assuming that you are in a TN-eligible profession, and have a degree that works. But its a lot closer to possible than my previous post. 
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Mar 31, 2015 21:34
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Ashcans posted:This is assuming that you are in a TN-eligible profession, and have a degree that works. But its a lot closer to possible than my previous post. Nope and nope  I've been working for them for near-5 years now and have probably the deepest knowledge of how things work in the department (by virtue of everybody else quitting), but neither my position nor education fit the NAFTA list. Maybe if I'd known ahead of time I could have pushed for a PMP certification and had a better chance.The only other option I've found is L-1B but I doubt the company is going to want to open a real office and I doubt "home office" qualifies for the visa. Otherwise everything else qualifies.
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Mar 31, 2015 21:48
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L-1Bs are a lot harder to file than the TN, unfortunately, as it requires showing that you have specialized knowledge with the company/business, and requires a petition to USCIS first. You could give it a shot, if your company is willing, but it is definitely something I would suggest using a lawyer for.
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Apr 1, 2015 04:35
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Been digging around and L-1B looks to be the best bet; I think I was a bit off in that it does not require a new office, which helps a lot. We already have an established presence in the state I'd be moving to, as well as a large concentration of our clients being based there, and I have probably the most specialized knowledge in the company outside of our software department (thanks, employee attrition). Ideally the company's lawyer would be doing the work and it wouldn't cost me anything Going to meet with the operations director this week and likely escalate to the CEO. The L-1B process will be much cheaper for them than trying to train a replacement + the lost capacity during said hiring/training process, plus they've already lost a bunch of people in our department so they'll be a bit desperate.Thanks for all the suggestions! If it ends up going forward I can share any experiences with the process so anyone else in a similar situation has some idea of how it goes.
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Apr 6, 2015 16:37
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