Need help - moving soon! (green card, marriage, uscis, certificate)

[EdensHeel]

Hope I can find some help - I'm in dire need of it. I'm going to be getting married and making the transition from Canada to California (I'm in BC now) and I'm hoping to do it in the next 6 months. Before I can get married though, I'm going to be doing an internship through a school and hopefully landing it in Cali (for a masters) and am going to need to also be able to work down there as soon as possible. Can anyone here tell me if they've done it and what is it like? What hurdles do I have to go through? How long does the process to get a working visa take? What rights do I have? How long do I have with it? How do I get registered with an American drivers license? How do I get approved for any car loans or mortgages/rent?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Torrey]

This post is falling on deaf ears. You better stay in Canada where you belong.

[Music Junkie]

That was not a nice thing to say at all. They are wanting to do what they need to do, but legally and they should be complimented for it. You should apologize.

[sponger42]

I might be able to give some advice. You'll need to ignore a lot of the poo that gets thrown around in here, though. Sorry your post got moved to a controversial area.

Are you marrying a Canadian or a US Citizen/legal resident? Are you looking for work in the US or is your company transferring you? What is your time frame for this move? Is your wife planning to come with you?

[Torrey]

Originally Posted by Music Junkie

That was not a nice thing to say at all. They are wanting to do what they need to do, but legally and they should be complimented for it. You should apologize.

I was just kidding to tell the truth. The guys post was here so long unanswered (and I don't have an answer for him) that I figured if I stirred things up, we could get someone over here who COULD answer him. Sorry EdensHeel.

[sponger42]

Originally Posted by EdensHeel

Hope I can find some help - I'm in dire need of it. I'm going to be getting married and making the transition from Canada to California (I'm in BC now) and I'm hoping to do it in the next 6 months. Before I can get married though, I'm going to be doing an internship through a school and hopefully landing it in Cali (for a masters) and am going to need to also be able to work down there as soon as possible. (1) Can anyone here tell me if they've done it and what is it like? (2) What hurdles do I have to go through? (3) How long does the process to get a working visa take? (4) What rights do I have? (5) How long do I have with it? (6) How do I get registered with an American drivers license? (7) How do I get approved for any car loans or mortgages/rent? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Okay, assuming you're not bringing the wife and you don't want to stay:
Start by checking with your school on the VISA situation. They'll offer better advice than I can. I'm not real clear on non-immigrant student visas.
(1) California is fun for singles and couples. Not good for raising kids, IMO. I like SanFran and Norcal. Socal has a lot to do, but the traffic is really just terrible and it's a little fast-paced/aggressive.
(2) You need a US-Governement-issued (USG) VISA to enter the US. You need a USG-issued Social Security Number (SSN) in order to work/rent/mortgage/etc. You need a State-Issued liscense to drive.
(3) Student (J1, and others) visas are pretty fast. On the order of a few months, I believe. Check with your school. The SSN's might be issued with your student visa, or it might come when you begin your OPT training. Drivers liscenses are easy.
(a) You can't legally work on a student visa. You can try to get a J1 (student visa) with an OPT option which will allow you to work for 1 year. I don't know if you can work concurrantly while going to school. You might have to wait until you graduate to active the OPT and work. Once the OPT 1-year period is up, you can't legally work any more, but you will retain your SSN. Employers tend to not check whether your work permit is expired. The lower tech/pay your job is, the less likely they'll be to check your permits.
(b) The driver's liscense just requires a local address and some certified mail or bank statements/whatever to that address to prove that you live there. Or a birth certificate. Check with the california dmv (google it, make sure it's ".gov") for the rules.

(c) If you are talking about staying, and you want a dual-intent H1-B visa (2 years working in the US and you can apply for a green card) good for 6 years, but you can't switch jobs, I've got good news and bad news. Good news: no cap on H1-B's for MS graduates, so you can get one (unlike H1-B's for BS graduates, which are nigh-impossible to get). Bad new: you gotta graduate first, find a company to hire you, do the paperwork, pay the fees, etc., work for that company for a minimum of 2 years as their wage slave, and then apply for a green card. Plus, it's a long wait (5 years or so on top of the 2 years you have to wait on the H1-B) before your wife can immigrate and join you. She can visit you on a tourist visa, though. But only for a few weeks, and not too often, subject to the whims of the US consulate. So, lucky duck, you can start a family in the US in, oh, about 10 years. Thank you wonderful immigration system that doesn't need any reform whatsoever except to deport illegals!

(4) Mwahahaha. That depends on whether the president decides you're an "enemy combatant." If you're unlucky: we can send you to Syria where they'll fry your balls on a bugzapper. But hey, free health care at Gitmo, I hear. If you're lucky: you get to pay for your own Health Care, Insurance, etc, because you haven't been "rended" to some CIA prison in East Gonzagastan. I'm only sort of kidding. Make sure you haven't donated to any charities and that your name is John Smith or something non-arab-sounding.
If you don't get branded a terrorist, you get all the rights of a US citizen except voting.

(5) 2-3 years student visa + 1 year OPT training + 6 month grace period. 6 years on a H1-B. Forever on a green card. Watch your status. Stay here 6 months past your visa expiration and you can't come back for 3 years if you leave. Stay 12 months past the expiration and it's a 10-year bar.

(6) Some form of photo ID (passport), birth certificate, proof of residence. Check the california dmv website. Make sure it ends in ".gov"

(7) SSN. If you don't get one with your visa, dunno. Probably won't be a problem. You can probably use your VISA or Alien registration number (AR#).

Again, ask these questions to the school you're going to. Good luck!

[MovingForward]

sponger: Shame on you. What makes you think that Edensheel is a guy?

[EdensHeel]

Moving Forward, i'm definitely a guy.

Sponger, thanks for the help. I will actually be marrying an American and planning on staying - how does marriage to a US citizen change things?

Thanks again.

[MovingForward]

EdensHeel: That may be, but there was no indication of that in your post.

[sponger42]

Lol. It's tough remembering to say "their" instead of "his" or "spouse" instead of "wife." Guess my "guy radar" went ping off due to the wording of his post.

Originally Posted by EdensHeel

Moving Forward, i'm definitely a guy.

Sponger, thanks for the help. I will actually be marrying an American and planning on staying - how does marriage to a US citizen change things?

Thanks again.

Well, my friend, you won the jackpot! Congratulations. This one is easy. Here's the steps:
1. Hire an immigration attorney.
2. Pay them about 4 grand plus another 4 grand in fees.
3. Wait for them to f--k up your case and get you nearly deported.
4. Get a book and do it right yourself.


Okay, if you want to skip steps 1-4, here's what you do:
(A) Get engaged, come over on a "fiancee" K-visa, get married within 6 months (I think), apply for a green card, get interviewed to make sure your marriage is real, stay married for 2 years and get the conditions on your green card removed. Get divorced or separated in those two years, and you're outta here, so remember to put the freaking seat down!
(B) Come over on a tourist/student/whatever visa, get married, apply for your green card, interviews, 2 years, etc.


I don't know much about K visas. I don't know how long they take or anything. I think you can get a work permit (I think it's the I-465) in about 4-6 months after you apply for it. Dunno about your SSN.

Assuming you get into the US legally through an inspection point (K visa, tourist visa, student visa, whatever) and you get married. Here are the next steps in a nutshell:

1. Prepare your application.
a.Your spouse fills out a petition to make you a Permanent Resident (PR) because you are the Immediate Relative (IR) of a US Citizen (her) who came in "with inspection" ie, you didn't cross the border illegally. The fee was about $500, but I think it's more like $1500 now. You also need some documents proving that you're married and love each other. Plane tickets, joint insurance, rent, etc. Because bank recipts are the key to love, don'tcha know?
b. You get a medical exam (form I-630) or something from a USCIS registered doctor. They're all over the place, so don't worry about that. It's about $300 for the exam.
c. Your spouse fills out an "Affadavit of Support" saying she can support your lazy shiftless Canadian butt. She needs to prove that she has enough money to keep you both above the poverty line. She can use her relatives or anyone willing to pledge financial assistance to get you to pass this requirement. It's a HUGE pain in the butt. Hopefully she's got a decent-paying job so you can skip all the other assets and forms you need to prove adequate finances.
d. You fill out a form that says you're not a terrorist, communist, felon, vegetarian, liberal, environmentalist or any other type of degenerate. The fee for this one is about another grand.
e. If you haven't already, fill out a request for a work permit. Another grand.
f. Fill out a request for "advance parole" if you want to go back to Canada during the YEAR it will take to process all the forms. Otherwise you won't be able to get back into the US. I think this one only costs 100 bucks or so.

2. Copy ALL your forms in quadruplicate (No, I'm not f-cking kidding) on white, pink, green, and yellow legal paper (one copy each). There's all sorts of screwy requirements like printing on both sides of the paper and arranging it so it can be 2-hole punched from the top so some little beaurocrat can flip through it easily. Mail it in.

3. Wait about 6 months for your work permit.

4. Wait about 12 months for an interview with a hostile little prick who tries to get you to say you don't love your wife and are just doing this to get a US green card. Note; assaulting a government employee isn't a good way to prove that you are in love. No matter how much you'd like to throttle the little pencil-neck.

5. Wait another 6 months for another interview if you didn't impress them enough the first time. Otherwise, wait a few months for your green card.

6. Remember to go back 2 years later (if you're still married) for a final interview to remove the "conditions" from your Green Card. Forget/miss this one and you could be deported, you will automatically become illegal if you forget.

7. Congrats, you're now a PR.

Keep in mind this is the ABSOLUTELY FASTEST/EASIEST/MOST RELIABLE WAY to become a legal immigrant to the United States.

A few more tips:
DON'T CALL USCIS. DON'T RELY ON THEIR INSTRUCTIONS. That is the fastest way to get your petition denied. Their instructions are confusing, out-of-date, and often just plain wrong! They will give you the WRONG advice over the phone 9 times out of 10. Lawyers can work sometimes, but remember, they don't give a flying fart about you or your case so long as they get paid. And you pay up front. So, to ensure it's done right, I'd get a good Immigration through Marriage book. Google it. Try this one: Fiancé & Marriage Visas: A Couple's Guide to U.S. Immigration

Be sure to get the latest version.

Good luck. You're gonna need it!