Moving family to US while I'm working on a TN Visa

Hi there, I currently live in Canada and work in the US on a TN Visa. I would like to purchase a house and move my wife and kids over here as well. Does anyone know the requirements to do this an...

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Canadian Expatriate and Travellers Forum Index -> Canadians in the USA -> US Visas and Immigration

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dsnyrs
New Member

Joined: 18 Mar 2008
Posts: 4
Location: Ontario

Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 3:39 am

Hi there,

I currently live in Canada and work in the US on a TN visa. I would like to purchase a house and move my wife and kids over here as well. Does anyone know the requirements to do this and is it possible for the kids to go to school in the US as well? Can my wife work a part time job and finally will we have broken all ties to Canada if we do this?

Thanks in advance.

SarniaGrl
Junior Member

Joined: 18 Mar 2008
Posts: 16

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 1:02 pm

I had no problem obtaining a TD visa for my Daughter to move down to Tennessee with me, on the TD students cannot work and unless your wife qualified for a work visa, she would be unable to work. As I moved down ahead of her, for the TD I had my lawyer prepare a petition letter with both a copy of my TN visa and passport ID page attached. No problems with having the TD issued. If you are travelling as a family, you can appear at the border in person with them (and your valid TN) and save the cost of having a lawyer prepare the letter. For the school (high school) we had her Ontario transcript and immunization records. We had both a registration form and medical exam form which had to be completed and turned in, these were supplied by the school board office and we could use the doctor of or choice. All in all it was very streamlined.

dsnyrs
New Member

Joined: 18 Mar 2008
Posts: 4
Location: Ontario

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 1:14 pm

What about obtaining a Michigan drivers license (in my case) and transferring my car registration to Michigan. I heard I have to turn in my Ontario license and I would lose all ties with Canada, my OHIP, etc. Is this true?

Thanks in advance

SarniaGrl
Junior Member

Joined: 18 Mar 2008
Posts: 16

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 1:48 pm

My experiences in the U.S. with that;

Previous to working in Tennessee, I was employed in Kentucky. As a TN holder, I retained my Ontario DL, and obtained a KY DL. American citizens have to turn in their DL's when they move state-to-state, but as a temporary foreign worker, no.

For Kentucky, I needed to show proof of eligibilty at the regional office (valid 1-94, apartment lease, current paystub) in order to be issued a certificate allowing me to write and take the road test in my resident county. Once completed, I was issued a full KY DL, which expired on the same date as my TN visa. Renewal was simple with proof of a renewed visa.

In Tennessee, even the driving certificate program was suspended due to an overwhelming amount of fraud (including illegal immigrants buying DL's), so there was no possibility of getting a state-issued DL. They're currently reworking the policies (sounds like maybe a plan similar to KY, but we'll see). I drove on my Ontario DL without hassle.

Every state has differing rules for getting a DL, I would check the Michigan DMV website for requirements in regards to working visa holders. Their website will have all the info you'll need and a checklist for eligibility.

Because of the 'temporary' nature of the TN, I would be very cautious about relinquishing my Ontario DL amd importing my vehicle to the US. You never know what can happen at TN renewal time (it's not a sure thing) and you could find yourself with a big headache. TN visas are great to work on in the short-term, but I always look at them as 'temporary'.

dsnyrs
New Member

Joined: 18 Mar 2008
Posts: 4
Location: Ontario

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 3:27 pm

Great. Thanks for your help. I'll look into Michigan's DMV guidelines.

Steven
CanuckAbroad VIP

Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 495
Location: Calgary

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 4:30 pm

It's not a wise idea to retain the Ontario licence if plan on staying in the US, CRA consider that a "residential tie" and hence you will have to pay income tax in Canada. There's case law on that one, someone only had an Ontario DL and some of their stuff in public storage and were considered to be resident, even though they lived in Abu Dhabi. Canada has really tough rules on residency for tax purposes, you basically have to divest yourself of everything to avoid paying Canadian taxes, exceptions being a Canadian bank account, provided you've declared to the bank that you're non-resident. Plus there is the "exit" tax, which can be quite complicated depending on your circumstances.

If you're only in the US temporarily, then it's not such a big deal because if you plan on coming back you just file a 1040NR and an 8840 every year and carry on paying Canadian taxes.

But if you want to benefit from lower US taxes, you need to get rid of everything Canadian.

Be careful if you do that on a TN-1, because as already pointed out if you ever get refused entry, you suddenly become a Canadian tax resident again and that can be messy.
_________________
Steve.

perkyj
CanuckAbroad Regular

CDN in Illinois

Joined: 21 Mar 2008
Posts: 38
Location: Illinois

Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:53 pm

As a TD, I've been licensed in 5 states, but now in Illinois, I can only get a visitor's driver's license because I don't have a SSN. It expires the day that my TD expires which could turn out to be a problem, so I'm working on it. My Ontario license is long gone. I've heard, that in Michigan, it's even worse, but I don't know that for sure. I believe there are only 7 states left that require a SSN, so if you're not going to one of those, your wife and kids shouldn't have a problem.

perkyj
CanuckAbroad Regular

CDN in Illinois

Joined: 21 Mar 2008
Posts: 38
Location: Illinois

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:43 am

Are you really allowed to have two current driver's licenses, just because one is in Canada and one is in the US? That doesn't sound right to me, so I'd like to hear more about it. I'm in a realy tizzy over this expiration thing because it means that we'll have to reapply earlier every year, basically turning a 12 month TN into an 11 month one. We were told to go 3-4 weeks early to make sure that the information was in the system for verification, otherwise there's another wait there. Someone clearly did not think this thing all the way through. Who is it best to write to about a litte extension beyond the end date. If I turn my TN/TD in at the border on the day it expires, I can't even drive from there to my home town in Canada, let alone get myself over to MTO to get a new license there.