Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
US Citizenship General Discussion	Going away to school?	My son has been here with me for 3 years, however he is going to college back in Canada. How is this going to affect his naturalization process? Does anyone else ahve any experience with this? He will maintain his address with us here in teh USA and of course spend holidays and summers at home, but I am afraid that the 'continuous residency' will be affected by his absence for school. I mistakenly thought he could apply for naturalization with me at the 3 year mark which is now b4 he goes away and we would all be good since he was initially on my application as a child under 18 but now that he is 18 it seems to have all changed!! Any thoughts?	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2009-05-02 09:20:00
Canada	Ont. Office of the Registrar General	I was married in Ontario in 92, and was told that there are 2 ways to change your name, 1 is assuming your husbands name, which is 'like an alias' I was told, the 2nd was to change my name legally by filling out a form with the office of the registrar general...I ws told this was the only was to change it legally...so I complied, and ended up with a new birth certificate which reflected my new married name nee maiden name. How ridiculous!! Anyways, no big deal until I decided to revert to my maiden name following my divorce. I Paid the fee, something like $25 and waited, and waited and waited. I waited over a YEAR for my birth certificate to arrive to reflect my maiden name, so that I could apply for my passport etc, it held everything up! I applied for the name change and certificate in September 2003 and received it in October 2005 after phone call after phone call after phone call, I finally got so frustrated I wrote to the MP where I had lived when I got married/divorced, the MP where I resided at the time, the MPP, Ombudsman, Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, a few others, and finally the Prime Minister LOL. I also filled out the form on the Ministry of Consumer and Corporate Affairs website that they have for reporting bad businesses, and I reported themselves to themselves ) Needless to say, within 2 weeks of writing to everyone...I had my new birth certificate with the name change Sometimes it just takes persistence! Edited by evilcanuck, 17 February 2006 - 08:53 PM.	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-02-17 20:51:00
Canada	Quick question!	they didnt even know what to do with mine at the poe...he guy did some typing, handed me my passport and siad..$6 please...i had to show him the envelope and ask him what to do with it...he grabs it looks at the 'do not open' thing, then rips it open! i almost died...he then asked a colleague to come over and asked him what to do with it....he 'thinks' i was to leave it there and they forward it somewhere for me.....i swear, if its lost or something, im hunting him down LOL and what is with the $6???? or did I just pay for his cut in the pizza they were all ordering for dinner???? hehe	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-02-25 14:42:00
Canada	Can my fiance enter US while K-1 is in process?	Let me ask you this.... do you tell other people he is your boyfriend or your fiancee... if you generally refer to your fiancee as such and as a boyfriend only while at the POE because you know that if you say fiancee you chances of being denied entry are increased... then that is a material misrepresentation and if found out could result in a permanent ban on entry to the US... i call him my husband now hehehe when we were going thru the visa process we werent 'officially' engaged (no ring on one knee proposal) It wasnt until my visa was approved that he (finally got around to) proposed 'officially' and it was such a short engagement I often referred to him as boyfriend. We have been married a month now and we both slip up with it. He mentioned his 'girlfriend' being from canada to someone the other day...I punched him in the arm	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-03-10 14:37:00
Canada	Can my fiance enter US while K-1 is in process?	Stating a boyfriend and not fiancee could be seen as a matrial misrepresentation and result in a permanent ban on entering the US... If they ask and you have a fiancee... say you have a fiancee.. I dont think saying boyfriend instead of fiance is misrepresentation, during the engagement period the fiance is still the boyfriend....	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-03-10 13:33:00
Canada	Can my fiance enter US while K-1 is in process?	Yes, I too crossed successfully twice while the K1 is in process. However, not everyone does. Lots of evidence proving the need to return are required, such as a letter from the employer. And don't take lots of stuff across! A Uhaul truck might make them suspicious! lol @ Uhaul Every time I crossed I packed the hell outta my suitcase. By the time I was approved all I had left to move was my furniture	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-03-10 04:17:00
Canada	Can my fiance enter US while K-1 is in process?	i lived 5 hours from my fiance, and i crossed over every second weekend during the visa process....all i ever did was answer the questions that were asked, never offering more information than was requested...citizenship, where do u live who are u going to visit etc....but i never ever used the word 'fiance' ...just said my 'boyfriend'. i was never questioned beyond the usual 3 or 4 questions...where do u work and when do u have to be back to work etc. doesnt hurt to have proof of ties to canada i guess but i found i never needed it. just chose my words carefully...except once when they asked me about a box of country music tapes in the back seat, and I said they were for my mother-in-law. we werent married yet but i always called her that. this was the day after i had gone to the montreal consulate meeting, i was hauled in the office and questioned etc, and thankfully i still had all the stuff in my car from the interview so i was able to show them what was gong on, because of course the petition came up when they ran my name etc. I actually found out that I had been approved for the visa by the guys at the border lol	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-03-10 04:10:00
Canada	Dressing for the interview	K-1 here...my son and i dressed casual....i think we think too much like its going to be a 'job interview' or a formal interview setting, when really you are just at a couple of wickets being asked a few questions....not much different than going to the bank lol. The lady that first took care of my son and i, made sure we had all our documents and stuff, i think we signed a few things etc, was super nice, she made us so comfortable...and yes, it will cost you...well it cost us $100 each, which we had to pay after seeing her then wait for the actual interview part which was in a tiny room where we were seperated by glass ....kinda like visiting someone in jail hahahaha. they scanned our fingertips, took a pic and we were on our way. It was a friday so we left and had them mail the visas, i think we could have had them on mondy, they dont have next day service for saturday...anyways it is super simple. just remember to bring $100 for each person and when u check in they do a thorough search of you so its best to leave anything electronic (camera cell phone remote car starter etc) in your car or hotel room, also anything sharp (they took my tweezers out of my purse and my sons chain off his wallet) good luck its really really easy...relax I 'believe' the $100 was the visa fee...it wasnt mentioned in any of the literature that i got prior to the interview tha i can recall....but it was legit. Edited by evilcanuck, 12 March 2006 - 11:40 PM.	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-03-12 23:38:00
Canada	Montreal Consulate Told Us a "Little" White Lie	well, my son sent his passport to put the visa in, and i told him jsut to get the smaller one becaue i thought it would be just the passport, but apparently they made copies of everything in my file and are sending that just like they did mine, so it has to be a 12x15" envelope. So I had to mail the copies of the !-94 and marriage cert to my sister, tell her to put that in a 12X15 then try to shove that into another enveope ....for the second time LOL. I tried to buy the envelope online...they only sell them in packs of 10.	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-04-15 01:01:00
Canada	Montreal Consulate Told Us a "Little" White Lie	I duuno...he said he was gonna hold ameeting to 'refresh' the staff. Personally I trust people here more than the consulate. Last week they called to tell me I sent the wrong sized envelope, (my son is follow to join) and that i needed to send a copy of my marriage certficate and copy of I-94....I had to call back a few days later about something else, and told them the copies were on thier way and the guy said, had to send original marriage cert...hah. forget it, they get the copy. They cant even figure out what they need im not trusting them with the original!!!! sheesh	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-04-15 00:03:00
Canada	Montreal Consulate Told Us a "Little" White Lie	Before my interview called to ask them 4 quesions, all 4 were answered incorrectly, to the point I would have been screwed big time if I had listened to them. I let the guy who interviewed me know exactly what I had asked and exactly what they had answered. Thank god I did some research on my own before I went and didnt trust thier answers. One thing I didnt know or like was he fac that nowhere on the paperwork does it tell you that its $100 each for the visa's. I guess you are supposed to know all the fees but...I didnt....thankfully I had a buch of cash on me.	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-04-14 10:47:00
Canada	Visa Activation	is this true for k-1 visa peeps also? I was told I had to bring 'everything' but there was 1 box of stuff we couldnt fit in the trailer or truck for love nor money and my rocking chair is still at my mothers....it was a gift when I had my first born, dont really want to part with it, but I thought I would have to either abandon it or pay duty on whatever I had to leave behind.... I do have to go back and get my on who will be activating his visa in july, so I could always add it into his things, but do 15 yer old boys really own rocking chairs and quilt racks??? heh	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-04-25 13:56:00
Canada	Fellow Canadians	By my timeline...I got my notice that my stuff was sent to montreal on October 20th 2005, and I recieved my pkg 3 in the mail in Canada November 4 2005...however it took me almost 8 months to have all my information together that they required b4 I sent back the checklist..if you already have a passport, the long form of your birth certificate etc, you wont be in the same boat as me. Once I sent the checklist in, I had my interview within 8 weeks, visa was sent a week or so later, I couldnt wait around Montreal for the weekend to pick it up myself. They did have the option to pick it up the next day, however, my interview was on a Frida and apparently they arent open Saturday, so the extra 2 days werent an option. Visa in hand, I could have moved immediately but had a few things to wrap up. You would probably be safe to say about 3 months from now you could be moving....this is just a guess based on my experience.	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-05-02 16:48:00
Canada	Quick question about medicals	I called Dr Seidens office b4 I went to make an appointment, although its just a 'show up b4 10 am on monday and wednesday' tthing, but they told me everything I would need to bring, including cash for the fee...well they didnt tell me 'cash' so I had to walk down the street a wee bit to McDonalds to an ATM. The office was easy to find and parking was easy, for someone who detests driving in Toronto...it was painless I think my immunization record was missing some things that I knew I had (Im amazed I still had the damn thing) so I called the hospital back home and they faxed it to him no charge wo0o0gho0 gotta love co-operation	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-05-05 12:16:00
Canada	Vehicles	i got a car from my grandfather and they didnt charge me taxes on it. I was told from grandparent to grandchild, parent to child, sibling ot sibling or husband to wife dont have to pay tax......however from uncle/aunt, cousin etc you will have to pay tax. I would look into it more before going to an MTO office and having them charge you when they dont have to.	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-05-11 10:20:00
Canada	We made it across	I never thought twice about doing the same thing hockeygal....but now, in retrospect, I did a lot of things wrong. I would cross, and overstay... say I was coming back monday, but call in work and go back tuesday or wednesday etc. I said the same thing...visiting my b/f...had trouble one time, after the visa interview, i accidently referred to his mother as my mother-in-law in reference to a box of tapes i had in the car they were curious about...i was givng them to her. So I got hauled in and questioned and they went through my purse, wallet...every compartment, asked me questions about every scrap of paper in there sheesh. In the end the guy walked me out to the car and searched it, then asked me about my fiance visa ...I explained tht I had just had the interview yesterday, still had the papers in the car to prove it...he asked where the ring was...i told him, my fiance is holding out until I get approved He said congrats, you were approved LOL I was on my way, but I had to do a LOT of talking to explain that I wasnt already married and tht I was not going to be married for few months. Most times when I crossed they glanced at my license and waved me through, one time, with my kids in the car, the guy didnt even look at my license. I have never used my passport to cross I am coming up on my first trip back using my AP.....I had a nightmare last nite that I went there andd forgot to bring the papers!!!!! I never had any stress crossing until I came here and found out about bans and stuff!!!!	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-05-18 13:46:00
Canada	Marriage Licence	I am pretty sure you need to buy a license where you intend to marry. It was even county specific here in Ohio. Check with the county clerks office... I googled this...check it out http://usmarriagelaw...nia/index.shtml	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-05-26 09:37:00
Canada	moving all at once	I am sure this was asked/answered b4 bt i cant find the thread I moved here in December, my son is coming in July, I am going for a visit in about half an hour....and just thought I might bring a lot of his stuff back with me to make the move in July easier....can I do this? I also left some of my things there that wouldnt fit in the moving van, just 1 or 2 boxes...but is it ok if I do this or did it all have to be done at once and I will ahve to wait till we move him in July and activate his visa etc ?	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-05-26 11:51:00
Canada	5 weeks left to interview, time to sell my car!	off topic but... georgetown? i worked there for like a year and a half and came to cleveland every second weekend ....we coulda shared expenses LOL good luck with the sale!	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-05-20 15:23:00
Canada	Canada Day Party	still working on it currently there are no bands booked for that night so if I cna find one that would 'fit' ....I think its a go....since I just got hired to book the bands at the bar....I guess I can pretty much 'arrange' a party no? hehehe im workin on finding a good canadian tribute band or somethng of that nature....rush tribute, etc. anyone want to contribute ideas.....hit me back	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-06-02 13:30:00
Canada	Canada Day Party	ok well , i think im gonna put some free ads in some local papers, see what kind of response we get, i think we need more people coming before he will agree to this....what do u guys think of charging a small door fee... like selling tickets, just to get an idea of the total coming and to cover food decor etc ?	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-04-16 22:06:00
Canada	Canada Day Party	i sure will...i'll email u, we can get this party started, jen isnt far from us either. ideas ideas ideas....wo0o0ho0o0 there will be eh's flyin everywhere that nite	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-04-13 01:42:00
Canada	Canada Day Party	Evil canuck, where u from in the great north > I'm thinking of emailing molson canadian and see if they will donate some merchandise eh >> what do you think ??????? elliot lake. relocted to guelph 3 yers ago, then here im going to stop in at thier corporate office in TO next month when i go home for a visit i could also just as my buddy to get some stuff from thier beer reps, but 'authentic' canadian stuff would be more fun	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-04-13 01:13:00
Canada	Canada Day Party	yet another thread falls victim to a Tim Hortons hijacking!!! sheesh ...canucks and tims back to the party......hehehe	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-04-13 01:05:00
Canada	Canada Day Party	maybe we can get timmys to sponsor the party......tell them its a good customer research plan....since there are no friggin tims here :/ maybe i should organize a trip to toledo for coffee for all us canucks jonesing for timmies LOL my hubbie just doesnt understand my willingness to drive 2 hours for coffee hehehe	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-04-13 00:58:00
Canada	Canada Day Party	o o o we can still celebrate May Two four here, except its 'memorial day' and we would have to grab a 'case' of beer. no one seems to 'get' two four. I will pass out copies of my canadian to american dictionary to the US spouses at the party so they can understand what the hell we are talkin aboot also to add to the menu nanaimo bars Edited by evilcanuck, 13 April 2006 - 12:51 AM.	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-04-13 00:46:00
Canada	Canada Day Party	YAY! ok...I'll talk to my friend tomorrow, book the bar for a 'private party' so they dont book bands for that weekend.....and please input from everyone! This could become an annual event...I hear its pretty big in Canada LOL	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-04-13 00:30:00
Canada	Canada Day Party	yay...we are at 2 so far	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-04-12 23:44:00
Canada	Canada Day Party	This came up as a joke...but I am thinking of doing it for real. July 1 is on a Saturday My friend owns a bar. I think getting local Canucks together to party is a great idea. Think aboot it.... The Menu: Poutine TimBits Ketchup Chips Beverages Molsons Canadian Labatts Blue Tim Hortons Coffee for the non-imbibers Entertainment Rush (ok local band imitating Rush) all Canadian music all night long If I get enought response, he will let me do it...hell I know he will, but since he usually has bands I would have to book it ahead so they dont book something else that night.....obviously there would be more to it than the above, but its a start.... any one interested?	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-04-12 23:12:00
Canada	Canucks Advice	hey giggles...I too am from Guelph, well not originally but I had moved there b4 I began the visa process....my timeline is sort of accurate....however it took longer to get my paperwork ready to send the checklist to the consulate because I was missing documents and the ontario government saw it fit to take a year to send me my birth certificate. Just as a tip, they are slow, and you need your long form, not the cute wallet sized one I waited a year for, so order it now, passport, i think there is a checklist of what u need for the cheklist somewhere, if not I can let u know.....if you have everything ready you get your interview in like no time....anyways good luck. And yes you have to go to Montreal, they dont do it in Toronto.	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-05-24 10:01:00
Canada	More confusion	never listen to 3rd hand experences. Most of the time people dont know the full detaails, hell I dont even tell people the full details of my process, so if they were relaying the story they wouldnt have half the facts right. I still have people insist I am an automatic USC because I married one, they know, thier firends brothers cuzin did it and they dont have to pay taxes either! LOL Bear with the k-1, it wnt take as long as it seems really, you will be married and living here b4 you know it	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-06-04 12:42:00
Canada	A couple of questions about the interview	and dont forget $100 ...I didnt notice or they didnt put it on any of the info they sent that ther eis a $100 fee per visa, thankfully I had cash on me...I guess I should have known based on reading and re reading forms and fees pages all these years but you would think they would remind you....same with the $6 when u cross the border and activate the visa....I was lucky I had cash on me...I never carry cash! sheesh	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-06-09 11:31:00
Canada	Crossing the border while K-1 Pending	I never used my passport to trevel across the border with until I used it to activate my visa. All I ever did was hand them my drivers license (photo id) It was always sufficient, I was never questioned further and the situation of my visa never came up. I always answered only the questions asked, dont volunteer more than needed and never had a hassle. My fiance and I even went to Florida for 2 weeks and my license didnt match my name on the ticket because he bought it in my maiden name and my license still had my former married name on it....I had no hassles, didnt need a passport tho because it wasnt an international flight, I drove to Ohio, then flew to Florida, so we didnt have to clear customs or anything .....	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-06-12 18:16:00
Canada	Montreal Experience	its funny, growing up in northern ontario we always heard how rude people in quebec were, we have our share of english/french rivalries and I fully expected to be treated like ####### when we went to montreal for our visa appt. Thank god my son had to come, years of French immersion were going to be a benifit I was sure....however I was pleasantly surprised by the french people in the service industries attempting to communicate with me in english when it was obvious to them I couldnt (wouldnt) speak french. Every person whom I dealt with initially addressed me in french, and I replied in english, and from there they carried on in english to me, albeit with a very heavy accent, they tried and that impressed me a lot. I have a lot of resentments left over from years of having french rammed down my throat in school and such, canada being declared a bilingual ccountry etc, yet the french do nothing to actaually be bilingual...its french or nothing there...so ya there is a lot of bitterness left hehehe As far as hotels, we got into the city well after midnight and I am cheap..I wont pay $100+ per night to sleep for a few hours, so we headed back out about half an hour where there were little motels and such. There was a small one on the side of the road, with a sign advertising rooms $40 or womething like that, so we stayed there. The rooms were cute, and clean, but we opted to sleep on top of the covers with the lights on, because well....there were 100000 spiders in the awning outside the room and spiders are nocturnal so turning the light off was not an option LOL They had a continental breakfast but we got up and were gone b4 they served it, thank god we did leave that early tho because there was a ton of construction on the highway on the way in so even leavign at 8 to make a 30 minute drive, we got there just in time at 9:30!!! Our inerview was a friday so we didnt stick around to pick the visa up cuz I coldnt take 2 more nights of spiders LOL It arrived in the mail a week or so later.	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-06-12 16:49:00
Canada	Fingerprints for RCMP Check??	I have no criminal record and they made me get the whole fingerprint 5 months wait thing. I guess its good to be informed beforehand so you dont get roped into doing somehting u dont need to because the RCMP officer manning the station doesnt know better :/	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-06-15 01:02:00
Canada	Kids to interview??	As far as I know....they only have to come if they are over 14. Mine was 14 and was required to attend as they had to fingerprint him and stuff same as for me. I would double check, but ya, it wouldnt be a lot of fun if its crowded and they are bored and it takes a while. Now I called the consulate to confirm this and they told me he didnt have to come, because he was just 14, thank god I was suspicious and had read up here first and brought him because it would have meant a second trip, they also told me same day visa...not true, also that they were open saturday if the visa wasnt ready on the friday of my interview that I could get it Saturday, also not true, there was one other thing I cant remember but there were 4 things I asked and i got 4 out of 4 answers from them wrong, so its best to read up on thier website and such first. i mentioned all this to the interviewer, he said they were going to have to have a meeting to retrain staff LOL.	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-06-21 19:49:00
Canada	Medical Insurance before you get married	I bought CAA, then bought thier out of country insurance. It was good for 6 months, have to cross over after the 6 months back to canada. I hadn't yet given up my residency when I purchased it... so technically.... LOL A friend of mine did the same, bought out of country travel insurance at a travel agency, it cost her more than the CAA did tho. plus with CAA, all the benifits are available here, towing, run out of gas, lockout service etc. SO it was a double bonus. Worth a shot. I havent had any since that expired, hubbys job keeps screwing us around on the benifits, apparently they kick in monday...after a year and a half of waiting for them....oh and check this out, my son comes next monday to live with us, they wont put im on the plan until he arives...its a week FFS.	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-06-25 10:43:00
Canada	Things to bring back	people its easy to get Cheeze wiz here. Yes, but in tiny little very expensive jars, the cheeze whiz we get in Canada is humungous for close to the same price as the little ones here. actually all dairy products there seem to be larger and less expensive. i cant even find the huge long bricks of cheese that are almost a foot long that i used to buy back home all the time. But i did google vachon and they have a us division, well a website with pictures that made me drool but no info how or where to get them Im bringing my son here finally next week, so I will be loading up with groceries Last time thru they asked if I had anything I was bringing back, i said ya, a HUGEA$$ jar of cheeze whiz...the girl in the booth cracked up laughing	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-06-26 12:47:00
Canada	Things to bring back	o another thing I cant find here......Vachon treats. The pkg'd treats and cakes and such here is such a limited selection (and not as good as) Jos. louis, ah caramel and 1/2 moons..............mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-06-25 10:52:00
Canada	Things to bring back	I brought the HUGE a$$ jar of cheese whiz, (all I can find here are dinky little jars) bicks pickles (wayyy crispier than vlassic) robin hood nanaimo bar mix (although if you google the recipe you can make them from scratch), vim cleaner (the blueish liquid ocean fresh kind, it just smells like clean should smell), shreddies, coffee crisp, smarties, crispy crunch, all dressed up ships, and a couple large tins of tims coffee. O and only bring one copy of your AP. I handed them both copies and they gave me ######, told me that I should leave one behind in case I lose one and i can have someone fed-ex it to me in canada. It took about an hour to process me at the border....the border guy actually told me that if I would cross over late at nght its better because there are less lines ofpeople needing processing. WHen I cross with my son next month (he is activating his visa for the first time) I am crossing after nmidnight, cooler to travel, less traffic and less people at the border.	evilcanuck	Not Telling	Canada	2006-06-19 23:35:00