canadian with green card girlfriend

[ramp13]

Hi guys, need some thoughts on possible options for us. I'm currently in the US but will be leaving soon, as too not over stay 6 months. My girlfriend has a green card and is currently applying for her US citizenship. We plan to marry but I thought we should wait till that is complete. We are advised that this could take 4-9 months, do I have any options to stay with her in the US before we get married?

[Reba]

Unfortunately, there are not many legal options. Unless you qualify, and can find a job with a company that would sponsor you for a TN visa. But then you run the risk of it being denied because of your US girlfriend, and your obvious intent to immigrate.

She can submitt the I-130 petition form before she gets her citizenship, just to at least get the ball rolling. Once she's sworn in, she can notify USCIS that she is now a citizen and then they will put it on the faster processing pile.

For marriage based immigration to the US see http://www.visajourey.com Lots of info there.

[Steven]

do I have any options to stay with her in the US before we get married?

Legally you can still visit her after she files the I-130, but yes, probably a good idea for her not to file it until she gets citizenship. Although it might be quicker if she does it now as Reba explains, depends on when she reckons her citizenship will come through I guess as to whether it's worth the hassle.

So given that it's now December, in theory you can re-enter in January to visit her because it's six months in a calendar year.

The problem is that USCIS sometimes get iffy if you tell them you have someone down there you're thinking of getting married to, but legally they can let you visit, even after she files the I-130 to sponsor you and you're married.

Just depends on who you get at the POE and how convinced they are that you're only entering temporarily.

[Reba]

Processing times for naturalizatoin applications are I think 6 months, then probably another 6 months for them to schedule your swearing in.

IMO, it would be better to get married, then have her submitt the I-130 as a LPR, then switch it to citizen after her swearing in, it may speed up the processing by a couple of months, because it will already have a file number and initial processing will already have been done. If you wait until after she's sworn in, it'll be a year at the least (unless they considerably speed up the process in the next couple of months, which is unlikely.)

[flames9]

To become a USA citizen varies! I submitted my paperwork at the end of May 2008 and my interview was Oct 15 2008. Many offices do the interview/oath the VERY SAME day. Fairfax VA office does it that way, but there was an "extra file" on my case, which they had to retrieve. My oath ceremony is now Dec 15 2008. But that all depends on which offices you go through, and some do the oath later, some a week later, some a month or so later, all depends!
I came into the USA on a CR-1 visa. Checkout visajourney, lots of great info. here is a chart that gives you the plus and negatives the various relationship visas http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index ... ge=compare

Longer u take to submit the paperwork, the longer it takes,lol

[Steven]

That is fantastically quick to get citizenship (well, minus all the years as an LPR), from the sounds of it in VA you could get it less than five months!

I did think based on all the people they were hiring to process the applications when everyone got scared and created a huge backlog that once the backlog was cleared the processing times would drop very sharply. So it seems as though they've gone from 15-18 months down to less than five, at least at that office.

One of my relatives is applying next year, I'll see how long that takes.

[flames9]

When i did my Citizenship interview in Oct, I talked a fair bit with the interviewer, and he stated they at that office alone had hired quite a few new people. As well there caseload went from around 12 interviews a day up to close to 20! So more staff, and that staff is expected to see more people. So the process has really stepped up. I was expecting a year long wait, so was rather surprised when I got the letter. He stated sometimes things are so fast, they don't send out a letter at first--they call you, that doesn't happen often, but it does! And of course the time line can change, depending what offices you go through.