Dual citizen transferred to US, want to gf to live with me

With the I-94 can my gf apply for an extension?

So it seems like the best thing for her to do is to travel by herself through customs, provide proof of her own finances, our rental agreement (her name is on the lease), and request an I-94. This sounds about right?

.. by rental agreement, you mean her appartment in Canada, right? Because without this, she won't be let in.

Yes, it would be the agreement for our apartment in Canada.

Since she will likely only be in the states for a few weeks each visit between now and the new year, does it make more sense to wait to request the I-94 until the new year?

You typically don't "request" an I-94. Cdns don't get I-94s at the border for visitor status, and having one issued to her in B status is a sign that she is not trusted with being allowed to return to Canada of her own volition.

If you are asking is it better for her to avoid crossing the border all together at this point? Yes.

If she feels more comfortable having a date stamped B-2 I-94 in her possesion (to remind her not to overstay) than I guess she should get one everytime she comes down.

I definitely still want her to try crossing the border when we go down.

In regards to waiting to request the I-94 until the new year I was thinking that having the I-94 would make it easier for future border crossings after she returns to Canada for Christmas. Would she have to get a new I-94 each time she crosses the border?

From the sounds of it it seems the fewer border crossings, the better; so once she is in the states she should avoid trying to cross back and forth and then just apply for an extension before her 6 months are up.

Again, thanks everyone for your help. I realize that some of my questions are fairly basic understanding type questions so I appreciate everyone's patience and guidance.

I-94 in B status is a one-use cared. It is handed back when you leave to Cdn offocer. Even if you keep it, it will not be honored on re-entry into US.

In actaulity, the more time she crosses the better; it gives better assurance that each time she enters, she leaves shortly thereafter -- not so much risk of overstay.

Out of curiosity, how do the CBP officers know when you returned to the US (beyond simply asking) since Canadians don't have to go through any exit process?

If she goes back and forth every 1 or 2 months, this wouldn't raise flags for the officers?

if she's driving across the same POE all the time, they'll remember her.

If she's flying and they scan her passport, they'll have record of it.

As I said, one way they know you leave is when you re-enter. multiple re-entry implies multiple departures.

I-94 in B status is a one-use cared. It is handed back when you leave to Cdn offocer. Even if you keep it, it will not be honored on re-entry into US.

That's not accurate actually, you can get an I-94 on B and cross back over with it by land if you leave for less than 30 days: http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_vi ... record.xml

-- Sat Sep 19, 2009 6:51 pm --

Out of curiosity, how do the CBP officers know when you returned to the US (beyond simply asking) since Canadians don't have to go through any exit process?

If she goes back and forth every 1 or 2 months, this wouldn't raise flags for the officers?

Because CBP have access to CBSA entry records. And the plan is by October 26th, 2016 supposedly that all passports and so on that can be used for entry into either country will have RFID so it will all be electronic and encoded into a huge database that they can both check.

Sooner or later lawsrlaws is going to jump in here and tell you that what you're trying to do here is probably illegal because you're asking your gf to misrepresent the intention of her visit and sooner or later she will get denied entry and that's that.

The logical solution here is to get married and sponsor her for LPR status. If she really is going to only visit you for temporary periods then she should simply say that at the POE, no point worrying about it beyond that.