green card / TN visa question

Hey everyone, this is a great forum, lots of good information. I've been looking through the old posts but I can't find anything that covers what I'm looking for.

Here's the situation:

I have been offered a job in the US, I am a Canadian citizen with an engineering degree and the job is an engineering job so there shouldn't be any troubles getting a TN visa. My wife is a dual Canada/US citizen so our plan is to file the paperwork when we get to the US for my green card through her.

Here are the questions:

1) My wife has never actually lived in the US, she was born in Canada and has always lived here but she holds a US passport and has a US social security card with no restrictions. Is there anything else that she needs to do with INS to make sure they recognize her as a US citizen or is the fact that they have been issuing her passports for the past 15 years enough?

2) Given the situation above with my wife's US status can she sponsor me for permanent residence? I haven't found anything on the INS site beyond saying that the sponsor must be living in the US when they apply.

3) The INS site mentions that in order to sponsor someone you must be able to prove that you can support them to 125% of the poverty line. My wife is a stay at home mom so she won't be able to prove this. Is this really applicable if I am already employed in the US on a TN?

4) While I am on the TN visa is it possible to set things up so that I am only paying US taxes? I understand that I need to cut ties with Canada in order to do this (i.e. close bank accounts, etc) but can this be done while on a TN since I am strictly not a US resident?

5) If I'm on a TN and technically not a US resident and my wife and kids are US residents though my wife's citizenship will this create problems when we cross the border together?

Thanks for the help.

1) My wife has never actually lived in the US, she was born in Canada and has always lived here but she holds a US passport and has a US social security card with no restrictions. Is there anything else that she needs to do with INS to make sure they recognize her as a US citizen or is the fact that they have been issuing her passports for the past 15 years enough?

has your wife ever filed taxes to the IRS? She may need to file a few years back taxes in order to sponsor you. By law, every US citizen is required to file taxes with the IRS, regardless of where they are living.

2) Given the situation above with my wife's US status can she sponsor me for permanent residence? I haven't found anything on the INS site beyond saying that the sponsor must be living in the US when they apply.

Yes, ANY US citizen is eligible to sponsor a spouse, if they can prove they have income and abode

3) The INS site mentions that in order to sponsor someone you must be able to prove that you can support them to 125% of the poverty line. My wife is a stay at home mom so she won't be able to prove this. Is this really applicable if I am already employed in the US on a TN?

You will need to find a co-sponsor then. Your income is not eligible, because 1) the TN visa is temporary, and 2) the affidavit of support that your wife will have to complete states that she will be responsible for your support for the next 10 years, should you yourself have no income. You will not be eligible for any means tested government benefits.

4) While I am on the TN visa is it possible to set things up so that I am only paying US taxes? I understand that I need to cut ties with Canada in order to do this (i.e. close bank accounts, etc) but can this be done while on a TN since I am strictly not a US resident?

you might want to check with a knowledgeable tax accountant or preparer on this one

5) If I'm on a TN and technically not a US resident and my wife and kids are US residents though my wife's citizenship will this create problems when we cross the border together?

do your children already have US citizenship? If not, then they are not "automatically" residents of hte US through your wife. You will need to visit the US consulate in Canada closest to you to find out if they have deriviative status and get them some passports. Considering your wife has never lived in the US, your children may not be eligible for deriviative status.

Thanks for the help. A couple follow-up questions:

When they say that the sponsor needs to be able to support you to 125% of the poverty line what exactly does that mean? In 2007 Health and Human services put the poverty threshold for a family of 4 at $20,650 (gotta love Google), is it 125% of that number assuming a household of 4?

Does the co-sponsor need to be a relative? Would my wife's uncle meet the requirement?

Our children don't have citizenship and don't qualify for derivative status until my wife has lived in the US for 5 years so I'm guessing I'll need to get them on a TD visa (they're 9 mos and 3 years so its not like they're going to be working). Do I need to bring them with me when I get my TN or can we just get them their TD visas when we cross the border as a family?

So many questions.

Thanks,

Here is the Poverty Guidelines form from USCIS which is the numbers they'll go by

The 125% threshold means that a sponsor must prove to have income at that level for the number in their family. Currently for a family of 4 it is $26,500.

No, a co-sponsor does not need to be family. It can be any US citizen with enough income. It can be your next door neighbour, if they are so kind. Their income would have to be enough to cover your family, (minus your US citizen spouse) plus their own family though, so if they've got a large family already, it may be difficult.

Here's an additional FUP to Reba's post about TN Visa status.
.Same situation as Reba's; a US engineering job offer to a Canadian citizen. My question - are there any International travel restrictions that apply? The job has a large Int travel component.
Thanks!

The only thing that may hinder international travel would be the country you're going to may require that you get a visa. Either visitor or business, depends on the country.

There are no travel restrictions on the TN itself, it is a multiple entry visa.

Hi,

I'm a Canadian working in the US on a TN-1. I heard that I can also apply for a green card using the consular processing. Has anyone went through this route yet? Do I need a lawyer to prepare this? or is it something that I can do myself? Thanks.

Depends on what basis you're getting permanent residency. Have you/are you getting married a US citizen or are you talking about employment-based sponsorship?

this would be an employment based sponsorship.

They can file an I-140 for you provided you qualify, with TN-1 because it's not "dual status" you need to use consular processing (i.e. via a Canadian address, not mentioning on the I-140 you have TN-1). Another way of doing it is to adjust status from TN-1 to some other non-immigrant category (e.g. L or H) that is dual-status then they file the I-140 (after doing the labour certification).

There are differing views on how to adjust status if you have TN-1, I have to say. It's a bit like the "enter as a visitor and get married and apply for AOS" argument. You're not supposed to do it, but a lot of people do. But you might get into trouble if you do it that way.

Your employer might be perfectly fine filing an I-140 for you and you get adjustment of status, but the usual advice is to use consular processing to be on the safe side.

Given that EB-3 skilled worker applications take about 3.5 years anyway, there is a possibility you may not be able to maintain TN-1 status that long so it's probably a safer bet for that reason too.