Canadian wanting to marry an American

I have known my American boyfriend for over 5 years now and we have met a couple times. Planning on visiting each other again this year.
Our long range plans are for him to move here and for us to get married.
Being I am religious I would love to marry him first before we go any farther in our relationship. We also have to settle out lives first as we both care for aging parents and want to have a good savings.
So would it be ok to get married, then to apply for Canadian citizenship?
Even if we have to live seperate(him in the USA and me in Canada) while waiting for us to figure out the paperwork and any waiting involved in him becoming a Canadian thats fine, as then it gives us time to save and tie up loose ends.
I just am wanting to know the best way for us to go about it legally and smartly.

He can't directly apply for citizenship just because he marries a Canadian. First he has to apply for permanent residency, and after 3 years living in Canada he can apply for citizenship.

For info on marriage based immigration to Canada see http://roadtocanada.com for message boards and support, and for the forms and whatnot, the Canadian Immigration website http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp

My advice on this one is to make up where you want to live if you have family problems, etc. If he moves to Canada and after a few months you both decide the US makes more sense, it's going to be a pig with the immigration and tax paperwork. Think it through carefully, because either way you do it, it will take the best part of a year to get the immigrant visa, then another three years to qualify for citizenship and then several more months to get it, either way you do it. Until one of you gets citizenship in the other country, it's not really practical to do the process over and move again.

Figure at least five or six years before you could move country again (because getting another immigrant visa will take another year).

You need to figure out whose family can cope without you being there for that long.

Hi there, im just seeking some input on my situation. Im currently involved with an american man. We are eventually going to get married. Now with this whole visa business i was so confused and didnt know what to do or where to go. Then i recently found out that my grandfather was indeed born in the states, and my grandmother had to get her american citizenship before she died. I have two aunts that live in the states as US citizens and my mother was told by her sister;s that she could get duel citizenship. Now does that make my situation easier if i was to get my duel citizenship cause my mother will have hers? Im not sure how all this stuff works.. Also my boyfriend and I were planning to get married in canada and i would live in the states with him..Im so lost with this..i hope this makes sense! Thanks

Your mother MAY be eligible for derivative citizenship, (doubtful though I think) but you will not be unfortunately, unless she was born there. http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/N-600instr.pdf

It would be easier and much faster for you to just get married and have your then husband sponsor you for a marriage based visa. Or sponsor you for a fiancee visa, then you can go to the US and get married after that and adjust status.

For marriage based immigration to the US see http://www.visajourney.com

thanks for the info..

another question..lol

Can we get married in canada? or is it just easier to just get married in the states? And once either the finace visa or spouse visa is being processed i know i cant live there in the states..but can i still visit..i couldnt imagine being away from him for a long period of time. Why cant it just be easier then all this paperwork..=( I know it will all be worth it in the end. But how long are the processing times? Thanks again!

All the info you need is at Visa Journey actually. And the processing times are at the USCIS website.

Yes, you can get married in Canada. You can get married whereever you like, they don't care as long as it is legal.

If you're from Ontario though, you may prefer to be married in the States. Ontario is notoriously long in getting marriage certificates registered, and you can't start any immigration paperwork without the marriage certificate. Most US counties however will have it processed in a week or less.