canadian marrying american... what to do next?

[kaya]

hi, i'm a canadian citizen who came to the states on vacation to visit family and ended up falling in love...

we realize that the only way we can continue to be together and work/live in each other's countries is to get married, and we'd like to do it fairly soon, but we're not sure what the best way to go about it is.

here's the story so far:

i came to the states (california) from bc to visit my aunt and uncle and planned to stay about a month. i met my fiance about 2 weeks before i was supposed to go home. i extended my trip a couple of weeks and then we flew up to bc. he was denied entry (long story, but canadian customs thinks he's a felon when in reality he was arrested but never charged... 9 years ago *sigh*). we know what to do about the denial of entry into canada, we need a letter from the FBI telling canadian customs he's okay to enter, and we're on that, but what to do after?

when he was denied entry into canada, i got everything in order and took my car back over the border to go pick him up (seeing he was stranded 1000 miles from home) saying i was meeting a friend to go camping. we drove back to california and we arrived last week. i am now in the country as a visitor, without a visa. because i'm canadian and don't have a passport yet, i came in with a driver's licence and birth certificate. i was never asked how long i was planning to be in the US this time so i don't think it's recorded anywhere.

i have a bunch of questions... what is the best way to go about getting married and getting all the paperwork filed so we can travel between both countries? is it better for us to stay in the states and get married here or should we apply for my fiance to be able to come to canada and then get married up there? where we live isn't really an issue at the moment, we just want to be able to stay together and sometime in the future be able to travel back and forth.

will it cause issues for us that i am here already? should we just get married here and then fill out the paperwork changing my status or should we file for a fiancee visa for me? would it be easier in canada? any advice would be greatly appreciated at this point

thank you very much,
kaya

[vilkatis]

.

See my post here :

Immigrationboards.com Forum Index -> US immigration -> UK chap to Marry USA girl,Fiance visa or K3 visa??!
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=8779

It doesn't solve your questions, but there are some details that might help you consider your options.

You seem able to solve the problem of his entry into Canada ... it seems that is really the only issue. Take it slow, do it perfectly and correctly right now and your future problems won't exist.

That said, arrested for a felony is pretty serious. He needs to get his record cleared and straightened up; that can haunt him in many aspects of his life beyond this little inconvenience. The exact nature of it and that he hasn't cleared it up in 9 years is something you might want to meditate upon as a possible danger signal.

However, this :

i am now in the country as a visitor, without a visa. because i'm canadian and don't have a passport yet, i came in with a driver's licence and birth certificate. i was never asked how long i was planning to be in the US this time so i don't think it's recorded anywhere.

Best to assume that there are detailed records of your entry and stay. Immigration in both countries can probably determine to the minute how long you are in country. It is your responsibility to make sure you comply with the law.

Claiming ignorance will never get you far with any law enforcement agency.

Luck!

-- vilkatis

[kaya]

thanks a lot for your help.

no worries about the 'felony'... i know exactly what happened and there aren't any red flags there, just bureaucratic talk to ups to deal with.

so what i'm gathering from all this reading is that it's probably better to get married in the states and then go through all the motions rather than apply for a fiancee visa? i guess it depends on when we do it. we just don't want to be seperated while we're waiting for the fiancee visa paperwork to come through.

[vilkatis]

.

There were a couple of follow-up posts on the marriage details, in case you missed 'em.

At some point you guys are going to decide which country is your residence as a couple. It seems it's the U.S.

But it sounds like you're happy being a Canadian, so it doesn't seem you're going the citizenship path. However, getting your green card is probably useful; there was a link about that in the other thread.

Remember you can contact the Canadian embassy for advice & assistance in the U.S. and he can contact the U.S. embassy in Canada for the same. Get all the free clarification you can to build your strategy. Take time to get very familiar with the respective websites.


Look into the possibility of getting a court ruling on the felony arrest, in addition to the FBI letter. Having a record that absolves or annuls or otherwise documents it was a talk to-up will go a long way toward future happiness. Consider, if you decide to travel to Europe or something. He could be barred from entry at a number of borders.

we just don't want to be seperated while we're waiting

My sweetie is on business for five weeks now. I get to see her for three evening this week before she leaves again until mid-September.

Life is big and wide and a whole lot of things to do. It's not "waiting." It's getting other stuff done that you don't have time for when you are together. Trust me on that.

-- vilkatis

[kaya]

his 'record' has been cleared up in the states, we made sure of that before we tried to cross the border, but the issue is that the canadian customs people have gotten the story wrong and it's recorded with them so we have to have an FBI letter saying it's all cleared... annoying but is do-able.

i understand what you're saying about some seperation being good, but we have plans to travel in canada and the states in the next while and we just want to be able to not have hassles going back and forth.

thanks again for all your help!