Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Canada	I eat whale blubber and club baby seals...	QUOTE (DeadPoolX @ Aug 28 2008, 02:46 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I know and understand that's how it feels to you, but to us -- to Americans -- it feels the same way when someone says "I'm attending university" instead of "I'm going to college." To us, it all means the same thing. The "right word" is subjective, after all. I'm fine with the "right" word being a different word in a different country. There are plenty of examples of that: washroom = bathroom or restroom, parkade = parking garage, and so on. I just need to remember to use the other word. My difficulty with college/university is that something that's ordinary to me is pretentious in the other culture, so I have to call it the word for something different to avoid sounding pretentious. Think how you'd feel if you had to call a bathroom a laundry room in a different culture because "bathroom" was seen as pretentious. Calling it a washroom probably wouldn't be difficult, but "laundry room" is the name for a different entity. Why use a word for something else when the thing already has its own name? QUOTE I'll be learning to make a clear distinction between "college" and "university" since I'm now living in Canada. That feels very wrong to me, but it's how things operate here, and I accept that. Yeah, that's how I'm trying to see it too.	vanee	Female	Canada	2008-08-28 07:58:00
Canada	I eat whale blubber and club baby seals...	QUOTE (DeadPoolX @ Aug 27 2008, 04:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> There's another one, actually: College. When I first met my in-laws, my wife told me to say "university" instead of "college." I found that odd, since I've always said "college" and that generally means the same thing as "university" in the U.S., but apparently, it has a different connotation in Canada. It's just sounds funny. No one (except pretentious a-holes) actually say "I'm attending university!" No matter where you go, from Harvard to some community college, everyone seeking education past high school says, "I'm going to college!" That's one I struggle with. My husband told me that in the US, it sounds pretentious to say that you went to or are going to university. In Canada, though, you call college college and university university. Nothing pretentious about it -- it's like calling apples apples and bananas bananas. I went to both college and university, and I think and mean 2 different things when I use each word. How can I call a banana an apple when there's a word for banana to show that you're talking about a banana and not an apple? I'll have to if I don't want to sound pretentious, but it's crazy to me that using the right word sounds pretentious and I have to use a word other than what something is to avoid coming across wrong. Imagine if you had to call both pencils and pens pens because the word pencil sounded pretentious. That's how it feels to me. Saying bathroom instead of washroom is much easier -- it's just a different word for the same thing.	vanee	Female	Canada	2008-08-27 19:16:00
Canada	Visiting DH in Michigan	I travelled to MI (from Vancouver) twice after we'd applied for a K-1. I was self-employed and didn't have have a lease, so I couldn't bring a letter from an employer or a lease agreement. Here's some of what I did bring: A letter from my landlady, which included her phone number (not on letterhead) My entire K-1 package Bank statements Appointment card for an upcoming appointment Knowledge of the immigration process The first, second, and fifth items were the most important IMO. I was able to show that I understood the process and that I had intent to do things the legal way. Why would I risk anything by not waiting a few more months? On my first trip after starting the K-1 process, the officer spent a long time looking through everything and asking me questions. The amount of documents in the K-1 package along with my knowledge of what I was doing convinced him that I probably wasn't going to stay in the country at that point. On my second trip (which was for a shorter visit), I didn't get asked any questions when I told the officer that I was visiting my fiance. Be prepared, and good luck.	vanee	Female	Canada	2008-10-30 13:47:00
Canada	Canadian Medical	QUOTE (SonoranSongbird @ Oct 22 2008, 11:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Dr Morgan can schedule an appointment around your interview date, and the consulate is willing to give you the interview before the medical (if, for example, you have an interview on a Monday or Tuesday), but you will need to bring them the results before they can issue the visa, and hotels in Vancouver can be pretty expensive. I think you could probably ask them to give you an interview on a Thursday and they'd accomodate the request. When I had my medical with Dr. Morgan in August 2007, I met another K-1 applicant there who'd had her interview the day before. She had been approved pending the results of her medical, which she brought to the consulate after picking them up from Dr. Morgan's office = 2 days that she had to spend in Vancouver. She would've spent 2 days there anyway as the Vancouver consulate has visas ready the day after successful interviews. My experience with Dr. Morgan was fine, and every review I've read of him has been good. Actually you spend only about 5 minutes with him. The rest of the time you're filling out paperwork, getting blood drawn, getting a chest X-ray, taking an eye exam, or waiting between these steps.	vanee	Female	Canada	2008-10-23 08:01:00
Canada	When you tell people you are from Canada	The other day 2 canvassers for a political party came to our door. When I told them that I can't vote because I'm not a US citizen, the woman asked what country I have citizenship in. "Canada," I replied. "That's where we'll be moving if [our candidate] doesn't win." All the responses I've had to my being Canadian have been friendly. Some people comment on how it must be colder where I'm from, but I don't expect everyone to know that Vancouver's climate is much milder than the rest of Canada. Knowledge of the visa process isn't common knowledge here, but it isn't in Canada either. And the media is somewhat to blame for that. For example, on a rerun of Will and Grace, Will was interested in a guy who had to return to Canada because his visa was expiring in a few days. (What visa?) The problem was solved when Grace married him so that he could stay. All he had to do was marry a US citizen, right?	vanee	Female	Canada	2008-10-24 18:13:00
Canada	Mail time for Visa being sent from Vancouver	I don't know the answer, but if you email the Vancouver consulate, you'll probably hear back from them within a business day. Are you sure that the interview is on Tuesday and they're closed on Wednesday? Tuesday is Nov. 11, and according to this page, they're closed on that day. From this page: QUOTE Passports and visas will be returned to the applicants with Canadian addresses by Canada Post, generally within three to five business days after the visa is approved. But that page has some information that doesn't apply to K-1 visas, so I don't know if the above applies to K-1 visas either.	vanee	Female	Canada	2008-11-10 12:36:00
Canada	Driver's License	In MI, I just had to show my Canadian driver's licence and take the vision test. (And show some other documentation.) I even got to keep my Canadian licence. I don't know if I was supposed to keep it or if the person forgot to keep it, but I didn't ask questions. I was just happy to get it back.	vanee	Female	Canada	2008-11-22 09:25:00
Canada	Off Topic Forum...	I'm not there yet (except off and on), but I hope to be in southern MI sometime this fall. If any Canucks or polite refugees are or will be in that area and would like to meet, feel free to PM me.	vanee	Female	Canada	2007-08-07 22:17:00
Canada	Withdrawing from RRSP	Thanks for the responses, everyone. Normally I'd be right with those of you who advised not to withdraw from one's RRSP. But there's a good chance that I will be withdrawing a few thousand dollars soon. It's money that I might lose if I left it there (I've already lost more than a few thousand dollars), but more important, it'll be used for something that will help us save money. And I hope to be able to pay it back but to a US retirement fund in within a couple of years. I didn't know that mutual funds have lower expenses here than in Canada, and that's an added benefit. The money might earn us more in a US retirement fund than in a Canadian one. And thanks for the reminder about Custom House. That'll save us a lot. I appreciate all the information and all the points of view. This is the place to come with questions like this.	vanee	Female	Canada	2008-12-18 19:05:00
Canada	Withdrawing from RRSP	I left my RRSP in Canada when I moved to the US. Like everyone else's, the amount has gone down in the past couple of months. Mine has dropped in value by over 20%. It may have increased slightly in the past few days, but it'll probably lose more value. I probably wouldn't withdraw from my RRSP as long as it was continuing to build a nest egg. But since it's now losing value fast, and a chunk of money would come in really handy right now, I'm considering withdrawing a few thousand dollars from it. Pros: We'd have money that would be really useful right now (not for anything frivolous). We'd be taking money that we might be losing anyway. If I'd withdrawn this money 2 months ago, it would be money that I would've lost, so why not use it before it goes down the drain? Cons: We'd have to pay 25% Canadian tax on it, and I don't think I could get any of that money back as I'm not earning money in Canada any more. With the exchange rate what it is, we'd lose money converting from CAD to USD. We'd have to pay the bank conversion rate on top of the other costs. What are your opinions on withdrawing money from retirement funds at this time? Thanks for your thoughts on this.	vanee	Female	Canada	2008-12-02 11:37:00
Canada	This house is for sale	As others pointed out, the description is evasive in parts. A better description and more photos would help. Why not have a photo of each bedroom, each bathroom, and the basement? The basement may not be a selling point, but a photo will show what it is, and the seller won't lose potential buyers over the unknown.	vanee	Female	Canada	2009-01-10 16:29:00
Canada	Medicals in Vancouver - FYI	QUOTE (carslo @ Feb 2 2009, 05:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I just wanted to let anyone on the western side of Canada to know that Dr. Morgan is still doing medicals in Vancouver on Wednesdays and for the unbelievable cost of $350.00. It was $250 when I had mine done in August 2007. I was surprised that it went up that much. QUOTE (minnew @ Feb 3 2009, 02:28 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I have a cousin that lives in Burnaby so maybe not the hotel, but it all depends if they feel like taking me LOL Is it possible to take the skytrain from the airport to Burnaby? and Burnaby to downtown Vancouver? I am going to get sooo lost!! You'll be able to take a bus from the airport to downtown and then the SkyTrain to Burnaby, depending where on Burnaby your cousin lives. The SkyTrain goes from Burnaby to downtown. You'll be able to walk to the consulate from the last stop or second last stop.	vanee	Female	Canada	2009-02-03 13:07:00
Canada	Canadian Passport	QUOTE (JillA @ Mar 17 2009, 01:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I would post this in the Canada forum, there's been lots of discussion lately about that. Or we can move this thread to the Canada forum.	vanee	Female	Canada	2009-03-18 11:23:00
Canada	Volunteering while waiting for EAD	QUOTE (FormelyCA @ May 20 2009, 07:54 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> About background checks for volunteer - I am sure there is some protocol they have to follow, but....I mean seriously, if you can get through USCIS, obviously you are good to go. What do they typically do for background checks, or what do they require?? Clearly, all of my references are out of country, even out of North America! Any problems with this? I'm all for volunteering too. I've done some volunteer work for the local SPCA, and they didn't require a background check. (On a side note, while they have lots of volunteers, they're still understaffed, with some volunteers doing too much work.) I've also volunteered for Girls on the Run, which does require a background check. They ask for your driver's license number and SSN IIRC. I didn't have a US driver's license (I got mine later), but I gave them my SSN and a copy of the police certificate that was needed for K-1. Explain that you went through a background check to get a visa to come here, and that might help.	vanee	Female	Canada	2009-05-22 09:28:00
Canada	How did YOU find out about VJ?	Like a lot of you, I didn't know anything about K-1 visas. I thought that maybe I had to fill out a few forms and then could be with my fiance in a few weeks. It was a nice thought while it lasted. I found VJ via Google. I don't know what search term I used because I didn't know what a K-1 visa was then, but I landed here and have followed the guides and the advice by members. When I joined, I hadn't done anything on the long K-1 timeline. The other day, I looked at it again, and I've finished it. I still have lifting of conditions down the road, but with a lot of help from VJ (and without the help of lawyers), I moved to the US legally, married my sweetheart, and am now a permanent legal resident. Thanks, VJ.	vanee	Female	Canada	2009-05-26 12:38:00
Canada	why do people not listen when you try to give them good advice? VENT	QUOTE (domegirl1978 @ May 28 2009, 09:14 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> So this is the situation with their relationship. He is totally in love with her. I mean, truly. You can tell. He really is a kind, caring guy and I consider myself a good judge of character so I believe him when he tells me how he feels about her. Have you tried talking to him about visas and collecting evidence?	vanee	Female	Canada	2009-06-01 09:03:00
Canada	Homesick	I'm sorry to read about all the sad experiences in this thread. I'm not sure if I should post my experience here when it has been much better than many, but I decided to post it to add to the range of experiences. While I have moments of homesickness, my adjustment has been relatively easy. It helped a lot that I was here twice for 2 months at a time as well as for a 3-week visit before I moved here. Being married has been an adventure, of course, but I knew what it was like here, and I'd already gotten to know some people who live here. Another big benefit is that my husband and I both work from home, so we're together a lot, and we always have something to do. And while there isn't nearly the diversity that I was used to in Vancouver, people here are friendly and accepting. Being involved as a volunteer has helped immensely too. I have responsibilities, I'm contributing to the community, and I'm interacting with and getting to know people. Last spring, I was a volunteer coach for Girls on the Run, and I've been volunteering for the local SPCA. The above variables aren't going to happen for everyone, but volunteering is one that's available to most of us. If it's feasible, I really recommend volunteering in a role where you're part of the team and doing something that you enjoy doing. You forget that you're a foreigner as you get involved in your role, and you have opportunities to make new friends as well.	vanee	Female	Canada	2008-11-04 20:44:00
Canada	Homesick	I was having one of those moments today. I saw a photo of a friend I've known since high school at Buntzen Lake, near Vancouver. It reminded me of the times I'd been there and to other beautiful places in and around Vancouver with friends. I don't have long-time friends here, and while the trees are nice, it's nothing like the Vancouver area. I had another of those moments a week or 2 ago when my hubby and I were watching a show about whales. We took so much for granted living on the West Coast. Whales were part of our identity as West Coasters, even if we saw them in the wild only once or twice. But the ocean is a long way from here.	vanee	Female	Canada	2008-11-01 18:47:00
Canada	The joys and differences between US/CAN spelling...	You can spell both ways. When I'm writing an email or something else to/for an American colleague or client, I use American spelling. Same with US vocabulary. If someone's paying me to do American work, it makes sense to me to use American spelling and wording. But when I'm writing to anyone else or for any other purpose, I use Canadian spelling and vocabulary. When I'm just me, well, I'm Canadian, so I write Canadian.	vanee	Female	Canada	2009-06-05 21:56:00
Canada	Doing the whole dual citizen thing......	QUOTE (Mephys @ Jun 16 2009, 12:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Shame on me if you want....but I am planning to get my US citizenship for the same reason as JillA. Shame on me for the fact that I believe it's only words, and even if I swear on it, doesn't mean I give a damn... Call it lying, call it acting, call it whatever you want, I will just make it look real, but it's not really bothering me that bad. Canadian I am and always will be. It is bothering me, but I feel like we're being forced to say meaningless words. We can't have the same rights as other married couples unless we get US citizenship. The US government knows that many citizens have dual citizenship and pretends that it doesn't exist. If they're going to pretend that, we can -- have to -- pretend that we have only one citizenship when talking to the US government. We do that whether or not we mean that controversial line, so to me, that line is part of the pretense. I will be a good citizen and loyal to the country I'm living in. But as others have said, I'll always be Canadian first. Fortunately, we don't have to worry about the 2 countries ever being at war, so I don't think a division of loyalty will ever be a concern for us.	vanee	Female	Canada	2009-06-16 12:55:00
Canada	Doing the whole dual citizen thing......	I feel the same as a lot of members here. I will always be << nationality of country of birth >> first. But the US makes dual citizenship for people in our situation the only option if we want to remove the risk of being deported and separated from our spouses and to avoid the estate tax problems mentioned above. I also don't want to say a vow when I don't mean a certain part of it, but the US government created this predicament. Since we can keep our citizenship of birth, that part loses its meaning anyway. A sort of parallel is something I remember reading here. A VJ member didn't want to get married, just to live with her partner for as long as they both wanted to be together. With one of them American and the US as the country of choice for the both of them, getting married was the only option. She probably didn't mean the "till death do us part" part of the marriage vows because it didn't fit with her and her partner's thinking, but she had to say it. (Unless they wrote their own vows, but we don't get to do that for the citizenship oath.) Rationalization helps, but it still bothers me.	vanee	Female	Canada	2009-06-13 21:17:00
Canada	if k1 is approved what can you take?	This form may help: CBP_Form_3299. IIRC you aren't limited in personal items as long as they are for you, you've owned them for at least 6 months (not that they check), and they cross the border with or after you and with the right paperwork. Pets, plants, and vehicles may require additional paperwork. There are several threads here about the process of importing cars.	vanee	Female	Canada	2009-06-27 09:40:00
Canada	Canadians going to Michigan on K1	Hopefully someone who has gone though it can offer advice. I moved to Michigan & got my SSN. We aren't married yet(less than 3 weeks away). Can I wait until I'm married to get a driver's license? If you have all the requirements I listed in my previous post in this thread (and as long as the requirements haven't changed), you'll be fine. Go for your driver's license before your I-94 expires, after you get your SSN, and with the other required documents.	vanee	Female	Canada	2010-02-02 14:37:00
Canada	Canadians going to Michigan on K1	I just saw that your fiance is coming to Michigan, not you, so the above applies to him. Either way, I hope the above information helps. Note that marriage and driver's license requirements vary by state.	vanee	Female	Canada	2009-05-29 23:14:00
Canada	Canadians going to Michigan on K1	Here's an advance welcome to Michigan. We got married 4 days after I arrived in Michigan, so my husband applied for our marriage license without me. I had to send a copy of my Canadian driver's license and IIRC my passport and birth certificate. Because I didn't have a SSN, I had to sign a paper stating that I'd never had a SSN, and I had to have that paper notarized and sent to my husband. According to this document, you can get a driver's license before AOS. You'll have the required documents from each column: 1: Social Security card (you can apply for one a couple weeks after you arrive in the US) 2: Passport with stamped I-94 and unexpired visa (or if you're too late for that, Employment Authorization card) 3: Canadian driver's license and marriage license 4: Utility bill, credit card bill, bank account statement, mortgage or rental agreement, car registration title, junk mail...you'll have something I went to get my driver's license a couple of months after I moved to Michigan. All my documents were approved, but I didn't pass the vision test. By the time I got prescription glasses, my I-94 had expired, so I had to wait. I went back and got my driver's license right after I got my EAD. All this happened in 2008, long before my AOS was approved. I don't see any changes in the requirements since then.	vanee	Female	Canada	2009-05-29 22:39:00
Canada	Canadians and different ways of thinking in the US	First, a bit of my background. After the man who became my husband and I developed a relationship online and met in a neutral city, I spent 2 months with him in Michigan. That time was mostly for us to decide if we wanted to move forward, but it was also for me to decide if I could be comfortable living in Michigan. The answer was yes for both parts of that, and we've been married and living in Michigan for over 3 years. I really like living in a small city (compared to a big Canadian city) in this state. People are friendly and genuine, and it didn't feel like a huge adjustment. I'm happy living here. But we had a possible opportunity to move to a different state (Texas) a few months ago, and while we ended up staying here, it got me thinking. I chose to live in Michigan to be with my husband, but could I be just as happy in another part of the US? While of course there are differences, Michigan isn't hugely different from Canada. But my impression is that the mentality can be quite different for the majority of people in some other states, particularly states further south. The line between religion and everything else might not be as clear, and women might not have the same rights and status in reality despite what the law says. I've gotten that impression from the media, from news articles about how specific situations were handled, from what some people have told me, and from what politicians from some states say. I don't know if that impression is accurate, though. This isn't a "right" or "wrong" question. Some things do feel wrong to me as a Canadian, but I imagine that to people who think very differently from me, some things would feel wrong if they were in Canada. My question is how you, as a Canadian, feel about the ways of thinking in the part of the US that you live in. Was it an easy adjustment? Did you see things differently after you'd lived there for a while? Are you happy living where you are? In what other parts of the US would you want to or not want to live based on the mentality of that area?	vanee	Female	Canada	2011-06-18 07:02:00
Canada	HAPPY CANADA IN THE US	Here's something for all the Canadians here:  niagarafllag.jpg   31.58KB   8 downloads	vanee	Female	Canada	2012-07-01 13:51:00
Canada	Entered the US from Canada while K-1 pending	Maybe the officer was just fishin'... and came up with the right question... Interesting possibility. He also asked me how long we'd been married, and we aren't married and there's nothing to indicate that we might be. Both of them read what was on their computer screens while talking to me, though, so something might have come up about me. Has anyone else had a similar experience while their K-1 was pending?	vanee	Female	Canada	2007-03-20 12:06:00
Canada	Entered the US from Canada while K-1 pending	Just a strong belief of mine, is that I dont see how they could get that information just by scanning passport since its required to have a passport ready only when you receive packet 3 from the embassy, and you only write that passport number on the DS-230 that you send back to them after that...thus there is noy way they can relate your passport number to it before that happens. I think the informations they have is based only on what youve told em in the past. I did go during my K-1 application and I said I was going to see my guy and all they asked was my lenght of stay and the job I do. THey never ever even mentionned the word boyfriend or fiance. Oh well! I guess some officers are really a pain in the ####### and thats unfortunate I was surprised that they had the information about me, but I don't know how else they could have gotten it. I said that I was going to see "my guy." The last time I went to the US, I said that I was going to see "my boyfriend." The border guard looked at the computer screen before asking me how long I'd been engaged. I sent a copy of my passport with the I-129f, so they could've recorded my passport number and my status in their system. I don't think this border guard was a pain. Well, it was a pain to have to go through that questioning, but he was courteous, and I think he was just doing his job. I have to like him -- he let me in. How long was your visit when you went while your K-1 was pending?	vanee	Female	Canada	2007-03-20 09:34:00
Canada	Entered the US from Canada while K-1 pending	It sounds like one of the main problems for the OP was not how many times, but length of stay. You are only supposed to be in the US no more than 6 months less a day (I do believe) in a year, hence the border guard making mention of it. Sounds like being prepared helped a lot to convince him. Right. The length of stay was the main concern, and the secondary concern was that I don't have an employer or a rental lease. I wanted to share the story of how being prepared after being forewarned here made the difference. After I posted the above, I remembered 2 more questions that the border guard asked: - What nationality is your fiance? [Uh, he has to be American to be able to apply for the K-1.] - What kind of work does he do? [What difference could that make in the decision about whether to let me into the US?] I just answered the questions, of course. I didn't understand the purpose of those questions, but I did appreciate how polite the border guard was.	vanee	Female	Canada	2007-03-18 19:29:00
Canada	Entered the US from Canada while K-1 pending	A common question here is whether beneficiaries can visit their fiancés in the US (or just travel to the US) while their K-1 visa is pending. The usual answer is that yes, we can as long as we have enough evidence to show ties to our country, and the Customs officer we talk to believes that we'll be entering the US only for a visit. Here's how it happened for me. I bought a plane ticket in December to visit my fiancé for 2 months, leaving on March 13. We mailed our I-129F in February. I'm self-employed and don't have a mortgage or an apartment lease (I rent a suite in a house), so I was concerned about whether I'd have enough evidence of ties to Canada. What I compiled: To show ties to Vancouver - A letter from my landlady stating that I'd given her post-dated cheques in December for payment up to and including June and that my suite was still fully furnished with my belongings - A letter from a company I used to work for stating that I still do occasional work for them and that I'm scheduled for some work in June - Phone and cable bills in my name going back a few months - My tenant insurance policy - An email to my insurance company in which I mentioned that I'd be away for 2 months, and the response - An email to the cable company asking them to turn off the cable for 2 months, and the response - Papers showing my travel insurance policy covering me for 2 months - My return plane and bus tickets To show that I have some money - Bank savings account statements showing money coming into my account regularly - RRSP statements K-1 related - Copies of everything (except for the photos) I'd sent my fiancé to include in our I-129F application - A copy of the NOA1 - My email to the US Vancouver embassy about a K-1 question I had, and their response My flight was out of Seattle because I'd gotten the ticket on a seat sale, so I took a bus from Vancouver to Seattle. We entered the US via the Pacific Highway border crossing. After reading all the threads here about entering the US while waiting for the K-1 to be approved, I'd reminded myself many times to just answer the questions and not give extra information. When my turn came, the conversation went something like this: Q. Where are you going? A. To Michigan. Q. What is the purpose of your visit? A. To visit my guy. Q. How long have you been engaged? [Our I-129F hasn't had any action since the NOA1 was sent out, but obviously my name has been entered into the computer system.] Q. How long have you been married? (Or "When did you get married?" I don't remember exactly what he asked.) A. We aren't married. We've applied for a K-1 visa, and we're going to get married after it's approved. Somewhere around this point, the Customs officer told me to get in line for the other Customs officer on duty then. I think that the first guy was fairly new and was told to pass more complex situations on to more senior officers. The second Customs officer also asked me how long I'd been engaged, which makes me wonder if it's a question that pops up on the computer screen when passports for K-1 applicants are scanned. Both officers spent some time studying the computer screen while talking to me. He asked to see the I-129F application, and he spent a while looking through it, stopping to read parts of it. He commented that some people include photos, showing that he was familiar with I-129Fs. I said that we had too but that I hadn't brought the photos. He asked me for the dates of when I'd been in the US in the past year (one week last summer and 8 weeks last fall), and he wrote down the dates. He wanted to see my return ticket, which I produced. He asked about my work (I'm self-employed and just need a computer for my work, so I can work almost anywhere), how I pay my bills (online), and if I have an apartment lease (just a letter from my landlady). He asked when we're getting married. I told him that I'll be able to move within a month after the K-1 is approved, and that we'll be getting married shortly after I move to the US. He then said that I don't have strong ties to Vancouver and that it would be easy for me to just leave. I responded that if we were to get married on this trip, I'd get deported and lose any opportunity to live with my fiancé in the US. I said that I understand the reasons for the K-1 process and that we're doing things legally. He talked about the amount of time I've spent in the US in the past year. With the 2 months in the fall and another 2 months now, he said, I was almost a resident of the US. I told him that I would probably be going to a conference in the US in July and that I'd been thinking about making that into a 2-3 week trip. I asked if that would be OK. He said that 2-3 weeks should be OK (although no guarantees), but not longer at this stage (because of all the time I've already spent in the US recently). Finally, he said while the length of time in the US was a lot (or something like that), he believed that I wasn't going to stay in the US on this trip, so he was going to let me through. You can all imagine how relieved I was at that point. He told me that if I want to enter the US again, I should bring all the documentation that I'd brought on this trip. Afterwards, I kept thinking about what I could've done differently. That was too close. As I said, it was in my mind not to volunteer more information than necessary, but that's for before the K-1 comes up. Once it was out there, I should've said more. I didn't tell him about most of the "ties to Vancouver" evidence I'd brought. It could've helped earlier in the conversation. I think the amount of detail I had in the I-129F package helped. He looked through it quite a bit, and either he was just curious, or (my guess) he wanted to see that the papers in the envelope were all related to the I-129F and that there was a lot of evidence. If I'd had just the bare minimum in the file, he may have thought that the file was just for show. But I don't know. Having a regular job and a letter from an employer probably makes border crossings easier. For those who don't have that, I hope something here is useful for you. Thanks everyone who posted about this topic before. If it weren't for what I read in your posts, I wouldn't have gotten across the border on this trip. Edited by vanee, 16 March 2007 - 05:49 PM.	vanee	Female	Canada	2007-03-16 17:47:00
Canada	Moving: Canada to USA. What company did u use to ship ur stuff?	Not sure how you guys got such cheap quotes from UPack. From when gas prices were a lot lower? We were all excited about using UPack from what everyone on this post said, but we just called for a quote and found out they don't service our area because we live *sob!* in the BOONDOCKS! We've had quotes from other regular moving companies for between $4000 and $7000 US (for a move from Eastern BC to Southern New Mexico). Yikes! We don't even have much furniture. Since we've been totally ripped off before by big moving companies we didn't want to use them. OTOH we don't want to drag a rental truck across the border ourselves either. Now we don't know who to use! I hate the companies that won't give you a price until the stuff is delivered to your new home. 'Surprise! It's going to cost you ten thousand dollars more than we told you!' Maybe you can use a regular company to ship just to the nearest UPack location in the right direction, and get UPack to take it from there. You'd have to find someone to reload everything in the new van, though.	vanee	Female	Canada	2007-06-23 19:22:00
Canada	Moving: Canada to USA. What company did u use to ship ur stuff?	I'm planning on using U-Pack too, and I'll also be moving from Vancouver to the eastern US. I got an online quote last February or so when I first read about them here, and IIRC it would've cost me about $1100 plus $37 for each extra foot of space. I checked again a few days ago, and the price is closer to $1500 and $100 for each extra foot. That's door-to-door pricing. Terminal-to-terminal pricing would be closer to $1000 for me now. The jump in gas prices is probably why the prices went up so much.	vanee	Female	Canada	2007-06-06 01:51:00
Removing Conditions on Residency General Discussion	Anyone else hear this last night?	QUOTE (elmcitymaven @ Jun 7 2009, 06:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> He may be on the right wing (and I am most certainly not) but I don't listen for the politics, I listen for the sasquatch! Me too. I don't remember much about politics at all. And whatever they are, they aren't related to this situation. I told him in the email that he'd get support here from people who understand the difficulties he's experiencing. Whether we agree or disagree with his political viewpoints, I think that most people here would provide the support that he and his wife need at this time.	vanee	Female	Canada	2009-06-07 18:40:00
Removing Conditions on Residency General Discussion	Anyone else hear this last night?	I used to listen to his talk show when I lived in Vancouver. It was interesting. He's a public figure with a problem that could happen to any of us. I emailed him to suggest that he get a good immigration lawyer and read VJ, and I included the link to this thread. He has proof that his response to the RFE request was received. Surely that should be enough to have the case reopened. Then again, we're talking about USCIS.	vanee	Female	Canada	2009-06-07 15:26:00
Removing Conditions on Residency General Discussion	Need passport for ROC?	It's been a great break from all this since AOS, but almost 2 years later, here I am again. I'll be filing for ROC in the next couple of months. My question is about my passport. I need to file for ROC by May 18, and my Canadian passport expires in July of this year. Do I need my passport for any of this? Will I run into problems if we have an interview and my passport is expired by then or if I don't have a passport because I'm waiting for it to be renewed? Thanks for your help. I did search for this topic but didn't find the answer.	vanee	Female	Canada	2011-02-11 19:39:00
Removing Conditions on Residency General Discussion	Deed to the house	Thanks, everyone. The house was a foreclosure, if that makes any difference. I didn't see anything called "HUD1" or "Deed Grant," so I called the city clerk's office. She said the the deed was filed about 4 months after we bought the house and that she could print out the 3-page deed for $3. So, I got the deed from the city clerk's office. It turned out to be pages that we already had, just with various stamps on them: Warranty Deed A statement by a public notary that the realtor (in a different state) "acknowledged the due execution of the foregoing instrument" Legal Description Since none of those pages have our signatures on them, I'm also including the "Assessments/Taxes Hold Harmless Letter" and the "Closing Agreement," both of which have both of our signatures. We also have property tax bills and letters from the IRS about the first-time homeowners tax credit. Together, I hope that's enough. We're mailing the package today. Thanks again for your help.	vanee	Female	Canada	2011-05-07 09:05:00
Removing Conditions on Residency General Discussion	Deed to the house	My husband (the USC) and I bought a house together a few months after AOS, so we're including evidence of joint home ownership with our ROC package. This is the first home that either of us has purchased. We have a thick package of papers that we went through and signed when we bought the house, but I don't think any one of them is the deed. Can we send in some of the papers from that package that have both of our names on them, or do we need to go to the city clerk's office and get an official paper that is the deed? Join home ownership is the strongest piece of evidence showing co-mingling of assets, so I want to get this one right. Thanks for your help!	vanee	Female	Canada	2011-05-02 09:14:00
Removing Conditions on Residency General Discussion	Just thinking ahead....	a naturalized US citizen should walk lightly and not use terms such as "dual citizenship" when outside his inner circle. Believe it or not, there are Americans who don't think a US citizen who took the Oath should have any ties to his former country of citizenship. If some people are upset that some of us have dual citizenship, well, you can't please everyone. We have to make the decisions that we think are best, and the responsible thing is to make those decisions carefully. The OP and I are doing that. After I become a US citizen, I will tell people when the subject comes up that I'm a dual citizen. Citizenship rarely comes up except in official contexts, though. Personally, I don't have any problem with people who have a dual Canadian / other citizenship as long as they take their Canadian citizenship seriously, live within the law, and contribute to the community. I don't know anyone who has a problem with that. I and people I know don't appreciate those who obtain Canadian citizenship for convenience only (whether or not they keep their previous citizenship), and I wouldn't get US citizenship for convenience only either. I believe in giving back wherever I live. There is no way to apply for dual citizenship I think we've established that. my vote is my voice. A voice and a responsibility. Being a US citizen means I'll have to pay more attention to politics.	vanee	Female	Canada	2011-05-27 16:33:00
Removing Conditions on Residency General Discussion	Just thinking ahead....	I'm planning to get dual citizenship sometime within the next few years after I get my 10-year green card. And yes, I know that to the US government, I will be only a US citizen, but to me and for all other purposes, I will be a dual citizen. What are your reasons for becoming a US/dual citizen? How do you feel about it? I want my dual citizenship to be about more than not having to deal with USCIS any more. The way I look at it, this is the country I live in now, this is the community I contribute to and gain from, and I want to make that commitment more official. As long as I can keep my birth citizenship, that is, which I can. I don't see any conflict in that as I'll be connected with both countries no matter what my citizenship is. But I'm interested in other people's thoughts on this.	vanee	Female	Canada	2011-05-26 21:57:00