Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Canada	Moving issue	I left all of my books and heavy objects behind with my parents and have been bringing them over slowly after visits. I think it really depends no how much you have -if it's only a a few boxes, I'd probably ship them UPS, if you have a lot of boxes, you'll probably need to look into actual movers.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2012-04-23 09:30:00
Canada	Advance Parole aka Travel Document	I always found it took anywhere from 5-10 days to get the card in the mail after being approved.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2012-05-18 16:15:00
Canada	Credit bureau	Does anybody know what the mortgage companies in the US require as far as length of employment in order to secure a mortgage... Although our credit is excellent here and we will have at least 20% to put down pending the sale of our home, we both need to find employment when we get to our destination since we are both leaving our (crappy) jobs here in Canada. I hardly doubt we are going to be looked on very favorably walking in to a bank and dropping a down payment on them but having no sustainable income. Right now we are considering a short term lease or rental until we can establish the rest. I very highly doubt you will be able to find someone willing to give you a mortgage with no job, even with 20% down. My coworker is just finally getting approved for a mortgage, had more than 20% down AND is employed (she just moved back to the US in September after living abroad). She had to use her Dad as a co-signer, pay extra "points" AND find a bank that was willing to use her international employment history (many won't take anything outside the US into consideration). Alsp, she made an offer on the house in February and is JUST closing on it this week in May. She was also easily pre-approved but that is basically meaningless... I would say renting is not a bad option at first to get established.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2012-05-19 09:56:00
Canada	Credit bureau	Hi Flames. A person must be added as a "co-applicant" on their spouses credit card, not an "authorized user", in order for it to get reported to the credit bureau, I'm in the process of doing this now with my wife, I just sent in the form to Bank Of America with her SSN and employment info. I'm not sure if she will get the "co-applicant" title as I requested or not, supposedly it requires some sort of credit history to do so. She is already an authorized user, all I did was make a phone call for that because I am still solely responsible for the payments. I have excellent credit and I'm hoping that will come into play with this, if not we'll have to go the Capital One route. This was not true in my case. I was added as an authorized user to my husband's credit cards and I just checked my credit file and I have a 9 year credit history (same as my husband) and an excellent rating and only been in the US for 3 years. In the past year and a half I've been able to get my own Visa with a $5000 limit through my bank, a Gap credit card, a Macy's credit card (which is awful, I don't use it ever). It is still possible to piggyback as an authorized user. I'm doing it right now with Bank of America, Barclay's and Chase. When I first moved though, it didn't kick in right away and was refused a Capitol One card, but then eventually approved. I don't use that card anymore at all because there are no perks. But it's a good card to start with if you are starting form scratch.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2012-05-17 06:15:00
Canada	interview june 18...planned travel to US july 3	We're on the border too and my daughter will be wanting to cross into the US after her Visa is approved, but before she plans on entering on her K-1. What she did was get an enhanced driver's license, back in March. Now, everytime she crosses, she uses that instead of her passport. This way she won't have to worry about not getting her passport back in time for anything and she also won't have to worry about the border agent questioning her about crossing on the K-1 because they won't even see her passport until she makes that final crossing. Maybe you could hurry and book to get an enhanced DL now. It only took a couple weeks for her to get it in the mail. It's an idea anyway. Good luck!! My daughter's physical in TO and interview are both in June. Keep in mind that they will still know there is a K1 in her passport. When I got my visa it was back when you could still cross by land using a birth certificate and driver's license. I asked at my interview if it would be okay to just use my DL and BC to cross instead of my passport in order to avoid using the K1 and the lady interviewing me said no that they would still be able to see that I had a K1 and I wouldn't be able to cross and not use the visa. Obviously, many people have been successful cross and not using their visa, so I don't think her answer is completely true. But, I don't think it's safe to say that just because she is using an enhanced driver's license she is okay to cross back and forth freely with no risk. There is always going to the risk of getting that one border officer that thinks the K1 should be used. But, since she'll likely be driving and you live close to the border, it wouldn't be the end of the world to turn back.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2012-05-22 09:53:00
Canada	interview june 18...planned travel to US july 3	Personally, I'd just wait to schedule an interview until AFTER you return from your trip in July to avoid any border crossing issues. Even if you haev NEXUS, who knows if you'll get pulled aside and then you're at the discretion of the officer. Too many what ifs for me to handle. If you don't plan to move and can wait until after your trip, that would be a good option with the least bit of risk involved.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2012-05-14 11:32:00
Canada	Only 3 more sleeps.....	Good luck with your trip back. I hope everything goes smoothly!!	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2012-05-11 12:23:00
Canada	yet another Evidence related question	Have you guys ever gone on vacation together? We had been on a cruise, so we submitted our itinerary with both our names on it.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2012-05-23 16:34:00
Canada	Visiting Spouse	The return ticket and the fact that it is a short trip has a lot of weight. I wouldn't really worry too much about needing more but if there was one more thing I'd bring it would be a letter for your employer stating when they expect you back. I used to visit my fiance every month or two, short trips with a return ticket etc. They usually just asked my return date, asked to see my return itinerary and were fine. I don't see a lot of red flags in your case. Just answer their questions and don't volunteer information. If they ask the purpose of your trip, say to visit family and take it from there. If they want more details they will ask, but no need to say too much. The one question I could see them asking is, where you plan to live together? Or what are your plans for the future with your husband? All you have to do is be honest, say you are about to file for a CR1 or he is moving to Canada, whatever the plan may be. Good luck	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2012-05-23 19:08:00
Canada	What is an overstay exactly?	Another thing to keep is mind is that people get held up places for things like weather or cancelled planes and don't contact the border telling them we are not coming back exactly on the day we said we would. Plans change and as long as it is within reason, I can't see it being an issue.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2012-05-22 21:47:00
Canada	K1 Fiance visa and work visa	Hello, Someone just told me that you as a Canadian can get a working visa for the U.S. at the border, as long as you have adequate proof of your job while the K-1 Fiance visa is still processing... can anyone provide me with information on this please? Thank you so much! Carin No you cannot. Canadians follow the same rules as everyone else. You must cross the border once you have the K1 visa, get married within 90 days of crossing and then apply for Adjustment of Status, which will give you an Advanced Parole and Employment Authorization Document you can use while you are waiting for your greencard.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2012-05-29 06:16:00
Canada	The Way We Were	Does this hold true if you didn't get interviewed the first time? We were transferred to CA. Yes, if you look at the threads tracking all of the ROCs in that part of the forum, there isn't even a column tracking interviews at all. Your ROC is based on all of the paper evidence you send in.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-09-01 14:00:00
Canada	The Way We Were	^^ I haven't seen anyone getting interviews for ROC. Just RFEs if they require more evidence.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-09-01 06:11:00
Canada	The Way We Were	Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm not on the title or the mortgage. At the time, I didn't know you could do that, It was never explained to us as an option. I just recently realized this could be done. With the time it would take and fees, It doesn't seem worth it right now. We are likely going to refinance in a few years, and when we do that, I will be added to the loan and the title. Thankfully my credit is really good now, 2 years later. If we get an RFE, then maybe we'll look into doing an emergency quit claim deed. It something happened between us, he could have the house! I wouldn't want it. We have 4 life insurance policies between the two of us. He's the beneficiary on both of mine, and I'm the beneficiary on both of his. I'm an insurance agent, so we have plenty of insurance, all in both names. I'm also a named insured on the home insurance policy, so maybe that counts for something. I also have a copy of our pre-purchase home inspection which is in both names. Did you guys include things like copies of anniversary or Christmas cards addressed to you both? Is that pointless? Bill's family is very "card oriented," so we have tons from the last 2 years. The life insurance policies will be worth a lot of weight and are great pieces of evidence. If we get an RFE we plan to do the same thing and just apply and pay the $100 credit check fee to add me to the lease since my credit is probably fine now to add me. We figured we would see what happened first before spending the money. We didn't include any cards, mainly because I don't really keep any. Couldn't hurt to include a couple but they probably won't be worth a lot of weight.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-08-30 20:29:00
Canada	The Way We Were	Thanks Kimbear! It's true, I always become a complete nut. It's the true test of love, because my husband sill actually wants to me around me The one thing I'm worried about is the house thing. We bought our house in my husbands name only. At the time I had no credit at all, and our loan officer wouldn't approve our loan if I was on it. I didn't care at the time, and I still really don't... but that's one piece of evidence we don't have. We have everything else but that. Tax returns, bills, insurance policies, a car loan, joint accounts, etc. I know a lot of people have been approved without a joint mortgage, but it seems like a big missing piece. I didn't worry about this until some other people stressed me out about it! I wrote a letter explaining the situation, so hopefully that will help. I wouldn't worry about it! We still rent, but we don't even have a joint lease. My name isn't even on our car ownership. We just just wrote a letter explaining why my name isn't on the lease and included alot of other evidence showing that we are financially intertwined. While we haven't been approved yet, I'm not all that worried. If your name is on the deed, you can use that too. Joint taxes and joint bank accounts are great. So is a joint life insurance policy if you have one. I have about a year to go before I have to worry about ROC, but since we have a child (and hopefully another one at least on the way at that time) that tends to help. I think that is a big reason why they were so quick to waive my AOS interview...being 8 months pregnant is pretty good evidence that we are 'together'!! I am not sure if we will have a house by that point either, so I am sure you will be fine with what you have. Actually, I did some reading and I was surprised to read that having a child together is not really considered strong evidence. Sure, it helps, but because any two people can have children together, it's not as strong of evidence as financial like the sharing of property and other more risky financial joint ventures. I guess the thinking is that being bound together financially and owning large scale items and being linked to joint finances is a lot more risky in a fraud situation then just having a child. Obviously it still helps though!	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-08-30 10:02:00
Canada	Questions Regarding Having a Baby in Canada and bringing him or her to the US	Insurance is better than no insurance.......but one can quickly find out some are pretty much worthless.....So 1 is best to investigate what it covers!! Good advice. Typical insurance plans cover about 80% or 90% of births/hospital visits, so they should be prepared to pay the difference. My insurance covers 100%, but it's pretty rare. They should also find out if it's EPO, PPO, HMO etc. so they can find a doctor in network if they have to. If they give birth at a hospital or doctor out of network, insurance won't matter! Most of the time it's pretty easy to find someone in network, but depends on where they will be living.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2012-05-30 08:50:00
Canada	Interview Today	Congratulations!	Adnan&Liane	Female	United Kingdom	2012-04-25 09:41:00
Canada	Canadian/U.S words & pronounciations	Where I'm from, we say "neesh" and "vwala" but also the more American "FOY-err"...but that could just be MN.	Alex+R	Female	Brazil	2008-02-20 13:29:00
Canada	Crossing U.S. border with pending CR-1	I think a return ticket and your immigration paperwork will be solid evidence for you. Even though you don't live in the apartment, bring the lease as it shows you have financial obligations in Canada you have to come back to take care of as well (they don't need to know you don't live there). Also, pack very very lightly. Bring small bags to show you are not trying to move or even bring anything ahead of your move. They've asked me in the past how many bags I've had with me and when I told them just my carry on, that seems to ease their minds. I don't think it will matter what POE you use. I might even just go through Toronto, even though it's probably more expensive, because that just shows again that you've invested money into your return ticket. I have found the officers at the Toronto airport to be very fair. Good luck!	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-09-23 08:46:00
Canada	153 days per year?	Seems so counterintuitive to me. I mean, I know that healthcare is not cheap, but it can't be that unaffordable to obtain medical insurance in Florida for the year. Would it not be cheaper than to fly back to get healthcare treatments and also maintain a cottage? I mean I guess if would keep the cottage either way, then fine. But what happens when they need to see a Doctor for a sore throat or other basic needs that come up while they are in the US? What if they were injured in a car crash and needed emergency medical care? Does OHIP even cover that? Don't Canadians still need travel medical insurance? Even if an accident would be reimbursed by OHIP, I'm sure they'd investigate the situation and then in the end it will come back to bite them. Sure, OHIP is the easy way out because it's technically "free" (i say technically, because i know Canadians pay taxes), but in my opinion, you get what you pay for! Not worth the risk if you ask me. But as they say, ignorance is bliss.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-09-26 12:18:00
Canada	medical question	Hey guys, I had my K1 medical done in Toronto last week as well. I went there couple of days later and picked up the results ( 1 sealed brown envelope, a piece of paper with some immunization information which was for my records I was told, and a chest x ray). I asked the nurse If I could get a copy of all the results for my records since I'm paying $275 for it, she said she couldn't! Sounds like a few of you have gone through this in Toronto, did you guys only get one brown envelope, I read it somewhere that a lady received two envelopes, it might have been a different county though, I just can't remember, so I thought I'd check with you guys. When I asked if I met all the K1 visa requirements, she said yes, and If I didn't, they wouldn't be giving me that paperwork! I would appreciate your comments! Dave Yes, you only get one sealed brown envelope, which you're NOT allowed to open, the immunization form (keep this in a safe place, you need it for the Adjustment of Status application that you will submit once you are move and get married) and the xray. Unfortunately you are not entitled to a copy of the records, and will never see them. No big deal though, if they had any issues, they would've shared them with you verbally.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-09-26 12:47:00
Canada	medical question	I would give the a call on Monday and ask them when the results were sent and if they have a tracking #. If there were any problems with your medical, they will contact you to discuss the results. If everything is okay, you won't hear anything and will just get the results in a sealed envelope (that you're not allowed to open).	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-09-25 11:02:00
Canada	Pay in Canada	Well depending on what kind of lifestyle you have and how many peope you support financially, yes I'd say it's livable. The hourly rate translates to $83,000-$94,000/year. Looks pretty fair for the city, although doesn't looks like a cheap place to live - you can find more information here: http://www.woodbuffa...tCostHouse.html Looks like there is very specific experience required, so if you have the experience, and are willing to live in Fort McMurray - go for it!	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-09-26 16:43:00
Canada	Toronto POE Question	1 hr 30 minutes is not going to be enough time. You're much better off flying in the night before. Can you book a airport hotel or motel? It would be worth the extra money to not have to sit around in the airport all night if you ask me. Find a hotel with a free shuttle so you don't have to worry about a taxi. You should give yourself 3-4 hours to process through customs.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-09-28 21:01:00
Canada	canadian money	You should be able to get the teller to deposit it, it'll just take extra time to process. Go ask at your bank, it really varies from bank to bank. You may also just want to mail the check to your Canadian bank branch and have them deposit it for you. I don't believe you need to be present, but also call and ask!	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-09-28 20:57:00
Canada	Canadian K-1 and I-94	Also - just a side note, when you travel with your AP, you'll have to fill out another I-94 when you cross again. Your lawyer may be referring to people people who AOS from being visitors and not when they cross as a K1? Just giving him the benefit of the doubt.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-09-29 18:35:00
Canada	Question for Canadians	I think it's the sugar type they use. I hear Canadian soda versions of Coke, Pepsi are somehow sweeter as it's a totally different way the sugar is done. I could be wrong, but I've heard that for ages that it's the sugar processing between the two countries that makes the huge difference in sodas and candies etc... Yeah definitely! The texture is a bit off too, so I wonder if there is a difference in gelatin or how the sugar forms. I think now that I've been here for 2 years, I'm pretty much acclimated to the differences in tastes of things like yogurt, meat, pop/soda, and I don't know whether ot be happy or sad, haha.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-07-27 11:46:00
Canada	Question for Canadians	I definitely miss Twizzlers! They taste much different in the US. I'm not sure why, but they are so much better in Canada.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-07-27 11:29:00
Canada	Canadian Thanksgiving	We're going home to Canada to spend it with my family. We also did this 2 years ago and it had been my first time home after moving to the US so it was really nice. Last year we had our church wedding in Canada only a few weeks before so we didn't go home, but since I had just been home and on my honeymoon and working again, I didn't really miss it. I'm really excited to get home. My husband loves to that he now gets two thanksgivings We also have a deal that we go to Canada at Christmas too since we spend so much more time with my husband's family!	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-09-29 18:58:00
Canada	Am I able to visit my fiance?	If you keep the visit to a week or so, pack very light, bring all the evidence you have now, I can't see you having a problem. The first time you tried, you were in a much different position and you've now built up a nice amount of ties to Canada. I used to visit all the time with the exact same evidence and since I never went for more than 1 week at a time, and always had a return ticket, they didn't give me any issues.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-09-27 10:16:00
Canada	Travel to canada green card expired	Yes, the NOA1 letter is an extension of your greencard. I'm in the same boat, my greencard expires in November and I plan go back to Canada in December, and on a cruise in November with it. Just leave some extra time to get through customs just in case. But, you shouldn't have any problems.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-10-03 08:58:00
Canada	what to do about insurance in the states upon arrival?	Yeah you'll need to be married to be covered under your fiance's policy. Like Udella mentioned, he can only add you due to a "life event" and then can't make any more changes until your enrollment period once a year.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-09-30 10:11:00
Canada	what to do about insurance in the states upon arrival?	You need to ask your spouse's HR department directly how it works. I could be added without my SSN if we showed our marriage certificate. Some places require the SSN. I got married within 4 days of moving there, so I just waited until I was added on the 5th day.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-09-30 06:48:00
Canada	Social Security Question	Thanks! We went to the office at 7:15am this morning .. in and out in 15 minutes! He had his passport and birth certificate with him .. and luckily, there were no issues I noticed you are in Queens, so am I I have found that a lot of people are pretty good about new immigrant procedures here, so that's been nice.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-10-05 09:47:00
Canada	Transcribing your medical...	I can't remember what boxes I had checked, but I just sent in the sheet form the medical with a letter explaining that my under their guidelines, my medical is still valid and the sheet I included shows my vaccination record. I had no problems!	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-10-05 20:08:00
Canada	Advice on money...	Honestly, save as much as you possibly can. I can't stress that enough. Like Inky said, by the time you get here, get a new cell phone, payments for AOS, driver's license, just day to day living etc. is not cheap. I had around $15k give or take when I moved here, but I also knew I would have some bills to pay (student loans) and knew that we had a large wedding to pay for and also needed to get an apartment in NYC (not cheap) and had to buy all new furniture (also not cheap). I burned through that much quicker than I thought I would and once settled, used the leftovers to pay for our large church wedding deposits.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-10-03 08:37:00
Canada	Did you have to go through ROC?	The only way you would skip ROC is if you did an IR-1 visa, which means you were already married for 2 years when you filed and received a 10 year greencard upon entry.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-10-14 08:38:00
Canada	Passport expired, Greencard Valid - too late to renew passport for travel date	You absolutely need your passport to fly from the US to Canada and back. I would call Passport Canada asap and see if you can get one issued quickly.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-10-17 20:00:00
Canada	Try to schedule a medical exam in Toronto, no one answers the phone?!	I received a phone call back within a day or so. Just make sure you leave a very slow, clear message. If you speak too quickly and they can't catch your number, well they might not call back. This happens to me a lot when people leave me voicemails at work.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-10-05 12:36:00
Canada	Evidence of domicile in the United States	Are you a US citizen? Your child should also be able to get citizenship based on yours even if they were not born in the US and you were naturalized. I don't understand why you need to file for a visa.	SapphireDreams	Female	Canada	2011-10-18 11:12:00