I-129 petition

I am a Canadian Citizen, my fiance is an American Citizen and she will be filing an I-129 to petition me to live in the US. Does anyone know how long the process takes and will I be able to work immediately after the petition have been approved?

Thank You, Joe
Oshawa

Go to www.visajourney.com for information on the K1 fiance visa.

Processing times are a few months (more than 6 I think) and no, you cannot work right away. First you have to get married, then you have to apply for Adjustment of Status, and an Employment Authorization Document.

After you get your K1 visa and move to the US, plan on being unemployed and bored for a minimum of 4 months.

My I129 was filed in Cal in April and it has just arrived at the Consulate in Canada - 6 months and I still have to get the other necessary docs and have an interview. I never realized it would take this long. If you have a degree you can apply to be a NAFTA professional while you are waiting for your adjustment to pass .right?

no, if you are going to the US on a K1 visa, you cannot also have a TN visa. You have to get married within 90 days of entry, and then once married and you have your marriage certificate, you can apply for Adjustment of Status (AOS) and your Employment Authorization Document (EAD).

Generally, the EAD will take 90 days from the time you send in the app. Rarely longer, and if you don't have it in 90 days, you can go to the local office and get a temporary. During the 90 day wait time, you cannot work, or even volunteer. You have to sit around bored, no ifs ands or buts about it. BTDT. AOS will take anywhere from a few months to just over a year, depending where in the US you are. Mine took about 9 months from the time I sent the app, til I got my interview and green card. I interviewed in Charlotte, NC.

So, once you enter the US on a K1 visa, the quicker you get married, the quicker you'll be able to apply for AOS and EAD, and able to work. In some states, you can't even get a driver's license until you have a Green Card, so do your homework before you get there, and expect to be bored. And broke.

For more info, check out the site I linked earlier. It is entirely devoted to marriage based immigration to the US. If at the time of your Green Card (AOS) interview, you are married 2 years or less, you will receive a 2 year conditional green card. At 1 year and 9 months you will have to apply to remove conditions. If at interview you are married more than 2 years, you should get a 10 year green card.

After 3 years of permanent residency status (green card) then you can apply for citizenship, if you so desire. But if you do that, you have to file taxes to the IRS til you die. Even if you move back to Canada permanently.

For the love of God, I have to give up shreddies? Once again proof that I truly love my fiance, maybe I could mention it in my interview.

I also can't work on a TN visa, thank you Brian Mulroney. I really have a hard time with that one because the two don't seem to relate. What if I was working on a TN visa and then got married - I'd have to give up my job?

Thanks for the brutal truth Reba

Nope, there's no Shreddies here. There's a couple of close imposters, one is organic and made by Cascadian Farms available in some stores, and Chex now has an all wheat square, but, no Shreddies. I order them from CanadianFavourites.com

If you were here on a TN visa and met someone and married, then you can adjust status directly from that, without having to give up your job. AFAIK. However, having a TN visa and applying to adjust, is not having 2 visas at the same time. They're considered 2 different animals. With a K1, you are considered a "non-immigrant" and during the in-between when you're waiting for you green card, you're pretty much a second class, slightly above illegals