ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
CanadaNewbie to the forum saying hello
Welcome to VJ! And welcome to the Canada forum, which I think is probably one of the friendliest of forums here.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-19 13:30:00
CanadaWhich line do we go into at the airport customs?
Are you an American citizen?

I'd imagine that the visa-processing facilities would be on the Canadian citizens side.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-22 11:14:00
Canadawedding bands, wearing in pictures while fiance was here
The process only differs at the Consulate stage, and if you're going to a US Consulate in Canada, you'll be fine. I'd advise you to take off your wedding bands (but not the engagement ring(s)) for the interview; if they ask about it, be honest. They only really care that you haven't married yet and are still free to marry. I doubt you'll have much trouble with Montreal.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-22 10:32:00
Canadaaos package information
I-131 Supplement, from the Example Forms link up top ^

Edit: Gimme a sec and I'll put it on Google Docs...

I-131 Qualify, Google Docs

Edited by Spoom, 24 February 2010 - 01:56 PM.

SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-24 13:53:00
CanadaUS Health Fare

Students have gotten in trouble for not saying it, which in many ways is quite messed and a clear violation of the first amendment. Some people just don't get the 'freedom' of having the choice to say something or not. :)

I completely, 100% agree with you here. It's still, of course, valid for me to point out that there are several documents like this that go against your claim that the United States isn't "one nation", but I agree that the pledge shouldn't be forced upon people.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-24 13:31:00
CanadaUS Health Fare

We should declare a moritorium (sp?) on this subject in the Cdn forum....each time one side or the other starts a thread - the opposite side jumps in to ram their opinions down the other's throats.

I don't think that's necessary; I've been trying to debate this with a minimum of personal attacks, and it's currently limited to this thread.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-24 12:50:00
CanadaUS Health Fare

The USA isn't supposed to be "one" nation. We are suppose to be 50 seperate nations who live under a common central law and then can make their own laws beyond that. It's truly that simple, yet many people forget this or feel that they need someone else to take care of them in their lives.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

(emphasis added)
SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-24 12:28:00
CanadaUS Health Fare

But nooooo! Texas > The World!!!1!!1! :lol:

:hehe:
SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-24 12:03:00
CanadaUS Health Fare
Your posts are starting to become flamebait, so I'm going to stop responding now. There wasn't much hard evidence to respond to anyway.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-24 11:56:00
CanadaUS Health Fare

"General Welfare" is being bastardized in this argement and the original intention had nothing to do with domestic issues.

The 'federal government' bastardizes the 9th and 10th amendment plenty of times, but we're not going to go there on this one, eventhough they would fall under health care as well.

Then please explain why health care should not be included in "general welfare". You say that it shouldn't be interpreted that way, but you don't say why. And that's fine if you don't want to come up with a rebuttal to my other point.

LOCAL issues, NOT Federal, and in most cases not even State issues for that matter. There's a huge difference.

Very well, what about FEMA? What about immigration? What about the FBI? All federal, and I could come up with a much larger list if I spent more than thirty seconds thinking about it.

Again, apples to oranges in comparison. The amount of money doctors spend on education for one and having to repay student loans would make doctors not want to be a part of the system. Plenty of doctors are already on the brink of quitting if the current bill passes.

Again, quite odd, since there's a large group called Physicians for a National Health Care Program who support the single-payer bill that I mentioned previously. But I guess you can make a baseless claim like that if you want.

Whether people like it or not, doctors have to make money too and when the Federal Government already have proven time and time again that they COST doctor's money, then of course many will get out. Doctor's only accept Medicare and Medicaid out of a courtesy anymore. Plenty of doctor's throughout have stopped accepting one or the other or even both because of how badly the government screws them.

It sucks when a procedure really does cost a doctor $200 out of pocket to perform and he only gets 75% of that if he's lucky from the government, eating the other 25% or having to charge cash customers a bit more to make up for it. Private insurance companies actually work ALOT better for doctors (Hell you can ask doctors in Canada this too now days) than the government.

If there's a true issue with how much the government pays doctors, it should be examined, but that's not a good reason to avoid single-payer health care, since that can be fixed easily by adjusting rates. (Besides which, I'm more apt to worry about the person who can't afford the care at all under the existing system than doctors that (according to you) would theoretically lose out in a single-payer system.)

#1 - You can't add people into a system and lift the burden. Do the math, it's not possible. Hell, again look to Canada and wait times for some procedures because they can't handle the case load. Canada's population is 1/8th the population of the US.

You can if you replace the existing system with a new one, as H.R. 676 would do. The bill also details how it would be funded (in this case, by raising rates on the top 5% of earners and through a payroll and stock transaction tax), so it's not like this hasn't been considered.

#2 - Just because government takes it over, doesn't mean it'll be efficient, nor does it mean that profit will be taken out of it. There will always be those who profit and there will always be those who suffer. As I said as well, medicare and medicaid are prime examples of overburdened/broken government systems.

Why? You make the claim that there will always be a profit motive without backing it up. Do you simply believe that all humans are so greedy that as soon as they are put into an administrative position they will start to corrupt it? If so, one would think you would support anarchism rather than any government at all. As to whether or not it will be more efficient, well, you can't get much worse than it is currently. The United States government paid $6,102 per capita on health care, vs. Canadian health care spending of $3,165 per capita in 2004 (source: U.S. Health Care Spending: Comparison with Other OECD Countries:Congressional Research Service), and for that they have far fewer people covered. There's a direct comparison of government spending between the existing US system and a single-payer system. Are you really going to argue that the status quo is better, even given that the US spends almost double, while people are still routinely being denied care due to either failing to have insurance or having their insurance company deny their claim? Or perhaps you'd like to eliminate all spending on health care by the federal government period, putting thousands of people relying on Medicare and Medicaid into financial jeopardy over their very lives?

#3 - and most importantly, like it or not: It's a business, period. It's a service that people choose to take on and perform and one that they take on for one of two reasons. #1 being compassion, the other being so they can make $$$ and provide for their family a good life. You take the $$$ out of healthcare, you are honestly sacrificing quantity for quality because there are plenty of talented people out there who would stay the hell away form the business if there was no money to be made.

Doctors still are quite rich in Canada, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere. They live quite comfortable lives. My own doctor wondered why the hell I would move to the United States given the Canadian health care system, and many others have said the same thing. Frankly, those doctors who value their own profit above their patients' lives should not be doctors.

The truth about health care that no one in the "mainstream" will admit, is government is and has been the problem with our system all along. They prevent an open-market system and regulate coverage of things they don't know a damn thing about. You want to 'fix' the system in the US? You have to open up the market and stop letting insurance companies take over individual states. Let them compete with one another and let it be an across the board item. FINE, if that fail and government wants to try and intervene reasonably, but give interstate commerce a chance first before trying to dictate how something should function.

Maybe you're willing to risk thousands of lives in your 'experiment'. I'm not.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-24 11:29:00
CanadaUS Health Fare

and here I'd have to wait less than a week.

See, this bugs me as well. This "me first" mentality. Doctors use triage in Canada; if you need something done right away, it gets done right away. Honestly, I think a lot of the defense of the existing system in the United States is so people who already have health care can protect their priority status, even at the expense of some people receiving none at all.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-24 10:59:00
CanadaUS Health Fare

Single Payer = Unconstitutional in the US for one.

You cannot force the populous to buy a service. It's just not going to happen. Lawyers would have a field day.

I'm completely against socialized medecine in the US for that reason as well.

The OTHER contributing factor is our population is way too big for that to happen. It would bankrupt us even worse than we are now as a nation. We flat out cannot afford it.

Our health care system now is already overburdened. If you essentially 'give' people health care who don't already use the system, it'll send the whole thing into turmoil. That's not even mentioning the thousands of doctors who would quit under such a plan who already suffer due to the failures of medicare and medicaid. Those two programs are reason enough why a government run/single payer system would not work here.

I disagree.

First off, the argument that it is unconstitutional is tenuous at best. While you do have the Tenth Amendment, there's a much earlier section that makes something like single-payer health care constitutional: the General Welfare clause, which states that the US federal government shall have the power:

to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States;

(emphasis added)

If health care doesn't count as "general welfare", I don't know what does. And if you want to say that the Tenth Amendment specifically denies health care due to not previously being enumerated in the Constitution (which it was, as I have shown), you'll also need to identify where every other spending that the federal government does is listed; I think you'll have a bit of difficulty.

Your argument that "you cannot force the populous to buy a service" is also without basis in law. The government cannot force people to buy from another person or company, but certainly can tax people to provide services like police and fire; these services are provided whether or not you want to 'opt out', and you certainly still have to pay your taxes.

I also don't believe the idea that 'thousands of doctors would quit under such a plan'. If that were true, wouldn't Canada simply have no more doctors by now? What about Britain, where they're actually employed by the government?

Yes, the health care system in the United States is already overburdened. Believe it or not, this would lift a lot of that burden simply by removing incredible amounts of overhead. By having a single payer system, you limit the number of middlemen involved in taking a cut of your medical bills. Simultaneously, you remove the profit motive from those paying for your care as the government exists only for the public benefit, not to simply gain as much revenue as possible. The result is a much smoother system where people don't have to worry about being denied medically necessary care.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-24 10:12:00
CanadaUS Health Fare
There was an interesting discussion about the US health insurance system on Slashdot a couple days ago; my opinion of it can mostly be found there.

The whole idea of 'co-pays' and 'co-insurance' bugs me, because like KnJ said, it's a disincentive to visit the doctor (and I think the people who visit when they don't actually have to are such a small percentage that it's not worth considering). I really want to see something like H.R. 676 pass, because it would give the US single-payer health care that might actually turn out to be better than Ontario coverage (since it covers things like dental and prescription drugs). Unfortunately it looks like we'll be saddled with a 900 page bill that doesn't really do much other than giving health insurance companies a customer base guaranteed by law.

Edited by Spoom, 24 February 2010 - 09:43 AM.

SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-24 09:41:00
CanadaWhy Do Canadian Fast Food Restaraunts Serve Fries With EVERYTHING!

Pizza and fries? Salad and fries? Not sure if I've ever encountered that before!

I like how Canadian Taco Bell has fries. I find it strange here that none of the combos come with fries... Taco Bell has good fries too.

Mmm, Fries Supreme...
SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-24 15:04:00
CanadaPacket 3 Preparation
My police station was able to print the police certificate on a walk-in, so you might be lucky that way too.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-23 14:34:00
CanadaGood Luck, Froggie!
Good luck!
SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-24 10:15:00
CanadaTriple (not Dual) Citizenship?
Yep, perfectly valid. There are quite a few people have triple citizenship to the UK / Canada / the US.

Edited by Spoom, 23 February 2010 - 04:46 PM.

SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-23 16:46:00
CanadaEmails to Montreal Consulate don't appear to work either.
If you asked them about something they deem to have been answered in the auto-response FAQ that they send, they won't respond with a personal answer. And they have very broad leeway with what questions they consider to be covered by the FAQ.

If you believe your question is unique, resend it and ask specifically for a personal response.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-02-22 10:34:00
CanadaCanadians filing for family based AOS
Great! I'm just saying that you're going to have to convince a much more suspecting adjudication officer of that. And by the way, yes, technically Canada isn't in the visa waiver program, but they don't require visas for tourist or business entry (though fiance(e)s and spouses immigrating do require a visa). Again, good luck; not what I would have done.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-03-05 12:27:00
CanadaCanadians filing for family based AOS

I came to the US in the beginning of October and my boyfriend at the time proposed to me and we decided to get married on this visit.
I had no intention of staying here I actually filled for a K1 visa while I was here in the US so I thought I was going to have to return to Canada for an interview, but then I spoke to a immigration lawyer here and he suggested me to get married and apply for adjustment of status. So I cancelled the petition right away and we ended up getting married 2 months ago :)

Good luck, and I hope his advice doesn't come back to bite you later. Adjusting from a Canadian visa waiver entry can be very difficult, since you have to prove to USCIS's satisfaction that you didn't enter for the purpose of getting married (which, by the way, if they find that you did enter to get married, will likely result in a ban due to misrepresentation). I personally would have returned home and filed for the K-1 for peace of mind.

Edited by Spoom, 05 March 2010 - 12:13 PM.

SpoomMaleCanada2010-03-05 12:12:00
CanadaSignature on forms

Applicants and Petitioners: Applicants and petitioners must sign their respective applications and petitions. The signature must be an original signature. Parents and legal guardians may sign for children under age 14. Legal guardians may sign for individuals who are incompetent to sign. In such cases, the filing must include evidence of parentage or legal guardianship if not otherwise required for the immigration benefit being sought.

From the signature requirements page on the USCIS website.

I'd include a note explaining that you're signing for your minor child.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-03-17 15:22:00
CanadaGot My Visa
Congrats!
SpoomMaleCanada2010-03-17 16:56:00
CanadaInfo Buddy?
Welcome to VJ!

Check the visa comparison guide, if you haven't already. It sounds like you want to go the K-1 route though, which is probably best for your situation, so you should also read the K-1 guide to figure out your first steps.

One of the things you may not have been aware of is that because your fiance is in the US Army, you may be eligible for expedited processing (especially if he is or will be stationed abroad). Try calling the USCIS Military help line at 1-877-247-4645 and/or checking the USCIS military home page to inquire about that as I'm not all that familiar with the process.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-03-18 09:52:00
CanadaCan u use you canadian cell phones in US?
You might be able to switch a CDMA phone but you'd have to call the local CDMA network (e.g. Verizon, Sprint) on which you wanted to use it and inquire whether they'll accept a non-company phone to their network.

GSM phones (i.e. phones with a SIM card) just need to be unlocked; the process to do so depends on your phone model. Try Googling "unlock" as well as your phone's model, you should find some instructions or a company to sell you an unlock code. Once it's unlocked, all you have to do is pop in a SIM (with the phone off of course) to a local GSM network (e.g. AT&T, T-Mobile). I know AT&T at least has no problem giving you a free Pay as you Go SIM as long as you pay for some amount of minutes with it. The advantage to this is that when you go back to Canada, you can pop in your Canadian SIM and avoid roaming fees altogether.

Of course, you can always roam to the US networks, but that gets expensive very quickly (I speak from experience).

Edited by Spoom, 18 March 2010 - 10:24 AM.

SpoomMaleCanada2010-03-18 10:20:00
CanadaLosing a green card
Congrats on getting your green card back, maplestar :)

I'm still interested in knowing if, legally speaking, one is required to have the original LPR card on their person at all times, or if one can get by with just a copy. Technically speaking, the copy should be sufficient to prove your legal status, given that it has at the very least your A-file number on it (right?) and possibly another unique identifier, which they should be able to look up on demand. Can someone point me to the laws in question?

Edited by Spoom, 30 March 2010 - 10:30 AM.

SpoomMaleCanada2010-03-30 10:30:00
CanadaLong Form Birth Certificate
Here's a direct link to the Ontario Birth Certificate online application. Read it and click the button at the bottom. Flames9_RN, it wasn't completely clear from your links that you can apply directly through your browser, without having to mail anything out.

I did this at little more than a year ago and got it within a few days (I paid for expedited processing).
SpoomMaleCanada2010-03-30 01:08:00
CanadaConsulate nearest to my fiancee?
It's a really dull drive up as well (I'm from SW Ontario). You'll get through it though, just remember to bring entertainment.

Read my review of the consulate if you'd like more info :)
SpoomMaleCanada2010-03-30 00:59:00
CanadaWoohoo!!!
Congrats!

Edited by Spoom, 30 March 2010 - 10:21 AM.

SpoomMaleCanada2010-03-30 10:20:00
CanadaAny early March POE-er's get SSN yet with going to SSA office?

*NOTE* I'm pretty sure that your eventual SSN number is ON THAT SHEET. They don't give it to you there (you have to wait for the card), but if you have a good memory for numbers, there is a field on there below all of your vitals that has a nine-digit number that looks suspiciously like an SSN... I didn't memorize it, unfortunately, other than the 061 at the beginning, but I probably could have taken an extra moment under the guise of "verifying data" and committed it to memory. Oh well. Just a word to the wise. :yes:

Hmmm... you could more or less verify that by checking the area number and group number against area numbers assigned, especially if the area number is in the 729-733 "enumeration at entry" range, which I assume is what they use for immigrants. 061 is in the New York range... possibly Buffalo?

It'd be a lot easier if SSNs used a sane system with a check digit, like Canadian Social Insurance numbers.

Edited by Spoom, 30 March 2010 - 02:28 PM.

SpoomMaleCanada2010-03-30 14:27:00
CanadaFinally sent in our K-1 application
Welcome to the waiting game. :)
SpoomMaleCanada2010-03-31 00:38:00
CanadaThe I-129F package arrived at VSC
Back when I was pending I-129F, I took a copy of the entire application (you did make copies, right?) and the NOA1 in a grocery bag in a pocket of my suitcase. I think it was only asked about once, but it did tend to help as I wasn't turned back when I visited throughout the process.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-04-01 16:35:00
CanadaHad enough..
Have you contacted a Senator or Congressperson? Do you know why you're in AP?
SpoomMaleCanada2010-03-31 08:39:00
CanadaTN Visa holder wanting to marry a US citizen
Here's some info you may find interesting about the TN visa and adjusting from it (especially the parts at the end). I'm starting to think you'll be fine as well, especially given this part:

In a letter dated April 21, 2008 (the "2008 Letter"), from Mr. Paul M. Morris, Executive Director, Admissibility and Passenger Programs, USCBP opined that the mere filing or approval of a Form I-140 (I-130? -Spoom) immigrant petition on behalf of a TN nonimmigrant would not automatically constitute immigrant intent. A TN nonimmigrant and his or her dependents may have an intention to immigrate or adjust status at a future time but, as long as his or her intention at the time of admission is to be in the United States for a temporary period, he or she could be admitted. However, once the TN files an application for an immigrant visa or adjustment of status, the TN would no longer be eligible for admission or an extension of stay as a TN nonimmigrant.

Again, the question ends up being whether or not you had immigrant intent when you last renewed your TN.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-03-31 09:03:00
CanadaTN Visa holder wanting to marry a US citizen
At this point, attempting to adjust from a TN visa to LPR status based on marriage would likely be considered fraud, since:

I got engaged recently and moved to the US to be closer to work and plan the wedding.

The fact that you're already planning the wedding means that you had intent to immigrate at least the last time you entered. There's a very high chance that's how USCIS will see it, especially with you signing something when you last crossed.

Sure, you could get through. But personally, I'd return and file the I-130 abroad if you can, since if you adjust in country, there's always the chance that someone will later look more closely at it (like at naturalization)... and green cards can be revoked (not to mention your current TN status). Read the warning at the top of the in-country I-130 guide and if you still feel you want to try the in-country method, the rest.

By the way, you're referring to the 30/60/90 rule, which is the idea that if AOS is attempted on a tourist (or other nonimmigrant) visa within 30 days of entering the country, fraud is presumed and the Adjustment is denied; between 30 and 60 fraud is presumed but can be rebutted with evidence; between 60 and 90 they assume no fraud unless evidence of fraud already exists (which it might for you due to that document you signed); and after 90 days they don't assume any fraud. Whether or not consular officials actually still use this, I don't know.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-03-30 10:49:00
CanadaApril Fools on the Internets!
I forgot about xkcd. There are quite a few easter eggs in there if you know your way around a Unix prompt...
SpoomMaleCanada2010-04-01 16:10:00
CanadaApril Fools on the Internets!
As usual, the internet is full of "questionable" developments today.

What have you seen?

Edited by Spoom, 01 April 2010 - 02:53 PM.

SpoomMaleCanada2010-04-01 14:52:00
CanadaRequired Vaccinations Aged 19-26
The Immunizations page from Howard Seiden and Associates also has this information.

Edit: I either never needed the TDap or I already had it, so maybe the immunizations schedule for Ontario is different than Alberta.

Edited by Spoom, 08 April 2010 - 11:32 AM.

SpoomMaleCanada2010-04-08 11:30:00
CanadaFiling 1040NR as a Nonresident
And now I see this USCIS law interpretation.

Now, it does say: "Effect of claim of nonresident alien status for income tax purposes upon prior lawful admission for permanent residence". But then later on:

(2) An immigrant admitted to the United States for permanent residence, or an alien whose status is adjusted to that of a permanent resident, who upon admission or adjustment intends to and does establish residence in the United States, is automatically classified under the income tax laws and regulations as a resident alien. Such an alien retains his resident alien status until such time as he voluntarily elects to claim nonresident alien status under the tax laws and regulations.

Those two statements seem to be in conflict, since an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence (i.e. an immigrant visa holder) gets an I-551 LPR stamp immediately and a green card in the mail, whereas a nonimmigrant dual-intent visa holder like myself with the K-1 has to adjust later, and it doesn't say that the adjustment necessarily has to happen in the tax year in question. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Also, it's 2 AM and I'm going to bed. Thank you, automatic extension.

Edited by Spoom, 15 April 2010 - 01:01 AM.

SpoomMaleCanada2010-04-15 01:00:00
CanadaFiling 1040NR as a Nonresident
Yeah, to clarify, I am filing 2009 taxes (if I do file them) as single since I was not married as of December 31, 2009. Married filing jointly is obviously not an option.

I am currently still pending AOS. I filed for AOS in February of 2010, making me a technical nonimmigrant (the K-1 is a nonimmigrant visa) through all of 2009. Thus, the green card test doesn't apply, and I ran the numbers for the substantial presence test (see original post) and it shouldn't apply either. Keep in mind I'm just getting used to US tax laws so I may be missing something here.

I think I'm going to owe the IRS $0 either way; I just want to make sure that neither USCIS nor the IRS is going to have a tantrum over me either not filing, or filing as a nonresident for part of my time here. Can someone answer that part for me? I'm going to look at the I-751 instructions as well to make sure.

Also, we're all reasonably sure I don't need to file a normal 1040 or 1040EZ, right? I'm also still wondering if I should file at all; is a letter with my removal of conditions stating that I was a technical nonresident with zero US-source income good enough or would filing a $0 return be better? Is this likely to have any impact on my pending AOS?

Edited by Spoom, 15 April 2010 - 12:31 AM.

SpoomMaleCanada2010-04-15 00:27:00
CanadaFiling 1040NR as a Nonresident
Whoops, missed the tax thread. Mods, feel free to merge if you want.
SpoomMaleCanada2010-04-14 15:22:00