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

[skltor]

Hi Folks,
I have been researching on the internet and browsing through the many helpful posts but I keep finding conflicting information so I'm hoping other users can help me sort things out.

I am a dual citizen (U.S. and CAN) with a job that just transferred me to the US for a project that is likely to last around a year and a half and I would like my girlfriend to come with me. Her situation is that she has a job in Canada that she can do remotely (web site development) and she needs to return to Canada every couple months for visits with her company.

Our current plan is to cross the border with evidence that she can be financially supported by me and ask for an I-94 form to make her re-entries easier. It is my understanding that she would be in the states with a B-2 status and able to apply for extensions to this status.

Is this acceptable? Will she have trouble with the CBP officers because I will be entering on my US passport?

All help/advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Dremani]

The only real problem happening with CBP officer's is the fact that you are a U.S. Citizen entering with a Canadian girlfriend. They will think she has the intent to stay if anything.
My advice would be for her to gather pertinent info regarding her ties to Canada as this may be the first thing CBP will look into. Her job will also be another good proof of tie to Canada. When I entered Michigan in 2003 with a boyfriend I was dating at the time, they gave me such a hard time because he was a U.S. Citizen and they wanted concrete proof that I had ties to Canada. They didn't allow me entry so we turned around and went back to Windsor. The funny thing was we were only going to be in the U.S. for about an hour. He had forgotten something at his home.

The next day I showed up at the border with my rental lease, bank statement and most recent pay stub. Those were the specific documents they asked me for. After I had provided them, they allowed me entry and I've never had a problem since then. I guess it all depends on the situation.

[agnelson]

The solution is to not cross together. "boyfriend" carries absolutely no advantage for her and loads of problems, as dremani sez.

[Reba]

She will also have troubles if she is in the US as a visitor and says she will be "working" from the US. Regardless of where her employer is, if she is on US soil, they will require that she has US work authorization.

The laws obviously have not kept up with technology, but if she's travelling with any work related paraphernelia, she can expect to be denied entry.

[skltor]

Thanks very much for the replies folks.

Would it help if I also show ties back to Canada? I own a condo that I plan on keeping because we will be returning.

Can we cross the border separately if she is using my information as proof of sponsorship?

I really do want to do this as above-board as possible; I can't believe how big the burden of proof is to show we don't intend on staying indefinitely.

[agnelson]

What "sponsorship". There is no girlfriend sponsorship program in US.

[Dremani]

I think this is getting more complicated than necessary. So to make things a little easier and less stringent,

1. Don't cross the border together if you don't have to. My experience is a testament as to why you shouldn't.

2. I believe your girlfriend would be required to bring proof of ties to Canada and not yourself considering you're a dual citizen. However, while at the border, she should only answer questions being asked.

The sponsorship part I don't quite understand considering you're both not legally married. My suggestion would be to get married, sponsor her and things would be much less complicated.

[Steven]

Our current plan is to cross the border with evidence that she can be financially supported by me and ask for an I-94 form to make her re-entries easier. It is my understanding that she would be in the states with a B-2 status and able to apply for extensions to this status.

This won't work because you're a US citizen so she cannot qualify for the co-habiting partner exemption on B-2, because you're not in a non-immigrant status.

The only way to do it would be either for her to get some sort of status in the US independent of yours which is probably a non-starter because as soon as she says she has a US citizen boyfriend, CBP will get suspicious, or you get married and sponsor her for LPR status in the US using I-130.

One of the first things CBP ask of frequent crossers is if they have a bf/gf in the US, so even coming to visit for long periods would get tricky eventually.