Canadian on TN wanting to Marry US Citizen and Stay in US

I am an American Citizen who is in love with a Canadian Citizen on a TN Visa which expires in June 2008. She has been in the states for 17 months on the TN Visa with the same employer. We met each other at work and now I want to marry her here in the US. And I don't want us to be apart from each other if possible. The status of her job is ok, but given the current recession we have some fears of being laid off. However, her employer just offered her assistance in getting the H1b visa. Yet we do not know if we will be employed with this employer next year.

What would be the best method to marry a Canadian citizen on a TN Visa that would allow her to stay in the US and allow her the flexibility to change jobs in the future? Also, should she go for the H1B visa and then we marry since it is dual intent? We just want to be together and be married as soon as possible.

Could anyone explain or assist us in this complicate matter since this is all so new to the both of us? I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks and have a great day!

I think you've got the right idea, unfortunately there is a quota on H-1Bs and even if she qualifies she may not get it. But that doesn't stop you trying. Like you say, it is dual intent, so she can change status and it will save a lot of hassle.

She might qualify for something else that is dual intent like an L-1A or an L-1B that is easier to get, but it probably is a good idea to try for an H-1B first - do it soon because the quota fills up fast and it's the end of January.

I believe the H1Bs are already gone for 2008, unless she works for a university as a specialized professor (which are exempt from the quotas I think).

She can apply to adjust status after you get married. Go have a look at http://www.visajourney.com for information on marriage based immigration. I'm sure there are other couples there who've been thru the TN to green card after marriage who could give you some tips.

What? I don't even know what the point is to the H-1B programme anymore. How anyone could run a business on the basis they were going to get people in on an H-1B is beyond me. I had a hell of a job getting mine and that was years and years ago. Now it's just a joke.

They were all gone in less than a day from what I understand.

I am a Canadian citizen who was here in the US on a TN visa when I met the person who is now my wife.

We had it a little easy because we knew really quickly that we had found the right person. When I re-entered the US on my new TN visa after the old one expired, I had just met her a week or two earlier and was certainly not intending to be here permanently. (After 2 dates, of course you don't think that!) Before the year was gone, our romance had bloomed, and we got legally married in a civil ceremony. A number of months later, we had a big family ceremony and reception. As soon as we were married, I could apply for the green card. The application itself gave me an automatic extension to my current status until such time as they could determine whether my green card application would be accepted. Eventually, it was accepted, and I got a temporary work authorization and could continue working for my employer until the process was complete. I didn't even have to leave the States!

Now the problem for you may be that she cannot renew her TN visa knowing that she is going to get married, so that is "dual-intent". I didn't know at the time that I got my visa that I was going to be married later that year, so I didn't have "dual intent."

So there are a few things you can do:

1. When the visa expires, she goes back to Canada and you apply for a "fiance visa" for her. When that comes in, she can re-enter the States. This may take a few weeks, however, and if she wants to keep her job that may not be a good thing.

2. Get married right now in a quick civil ceremony like we did and just apply for the green card right away. Heck, you can do like friends of mine did -- fly to Vegas and get married in the cheesiest Elvis chapel they could find. Then, plan the real, bank-account-draining wedding with the parents and flowers and overpriced cake and everything for a later time. The second wedding won't be the legal one of course, but if you're religious you can make it the marriage before God. Otherwise if you're not, just make it a big ceremony and a big ole fun party!

Also, contact an immigration lawyer to help you with the green card paperwork. They will guarantee is it correct, which means it will not be rejected and she will not have to leave the country. It cost us about $1800 total for the legal advice and the paperwork and the applications fees to the US govt.

Good luck, and happy valentine's day!

K1 fiancee visas actually take a few months not weeks.

And I'd hesitate to say that a lawyer will "guarantee" that paperwork it filled out correctly. Initially we hired 2 separate lawyers to do our paperwork and NEITHER one of them did it correctly! All it did was waste time and money. We ended up doing it ourselves, as do hundreds, probably thousands, of couples every year. I've already posted the link to Visa Journey for info on marriage based immigration to the US. That'll certainly help.

Well, I'm not sure how well you screened your lawyers. Mine had a monetary guarantee. She said that if it wasn't accepted the first time, she would correct them, submit them again, and refund all our money and filing fees. (But not pay for me to go back to Canada and wait). So she was very motivated to get it right. She was also very diligent and got things done when she said she would. She had also been doing it for many years (18 I think?). Hiring a lawyer is like getting a doctor or hiring an employee -- you have to do a little research first before signing up.

Another advantage of hiring her was that she answered all our questions. Yes, you can fill out the forms yourself (assuming you can figure out which ones you need to fill out for your circumstances), but you can't ask a form a question, and it's hard to get anyone at USCIS that knows all the answers either.

As for the fiance visa, I didn't know it took that long, as we didn't get one. That's crazy! Well, I guess this quicky marriage idea is the way to go then.

The forms are fairly straight forward really. And they have fillable forms in pdf format right on the USCIS website. Just fill 'em in and print them out. Full instructions right there on the form, and dozens upon dozens of websites with nice folks like us to help with questions. For free.

Hi EdwinH, would you feel comfortable recommending your lawyer? Thanks.