Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Canada	Filing 1040NR as a Nonresident	Whoops, missed the tax thread. Mods, feel free to merge if you want.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-14 15:22:00
Canada	Filing 1040NR as a Nonresident	As you can see from my timeline, I am a Canadian citizen, and moved to the US on 11/22/2009 on a K-1 (nonimmigrant) visa. We married in January and started the AOS process in February. Days in the US in 2009: Approximately 80. Days in the US in 2008: Approximately 45. Days in the US in 2007: Approximately 10. 80 + (1/3)45 + (1/6)10 = ~97. According to this, I don't meet the substantial presence test to be considered a "resident alien" for tax filing purposes, meaning that I would be considered a nonresident for all of 2009 (or so I've been told by the advanced tax law division of the IRS when I called). None of my income is US-sourced, it's all from Canadian clients earned while in Canada. The guy at the IRS said because of these two facts, I could even get away with not filing, and I certainly don't have to file a 1040 other than a 1040NR. So my question is, what should I do here? I've read somewhere that filing as a nonresident is detrimental to your immigration status, or could be brought up at my removal of conditions down the road (or even for my pending AOS). Am I just being paranoid? Should I file a 1040NR or simply not at all?	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-14 15:17:00
Canada	Prescriptions of the 'Ladies Only' kind... ifyouknowwhatimean	Planned Parenthood has them all listed out here. (They have an effectiveness chart as well, but the images seem to be broken at the moment.) There are a few things on there that don't involve hormones. Edited by Spoom, 17 April 2010 - 12:57 AM.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-17 00:57:00
Canada	Question on Custom House	Custom House is great. I'm waiting for a transaction to go through as we speak. Usually they take about a week if you use ACH from the US to EFT in Canada (the normal and free* method). * They charge a two cent surcharge on the forex rate. On another note, if you ever need to wire money (the quicker way), first examine with your bank in Canada and the US if there's a way to get the money directly there without using a third party like Custom House; most likely there is, you just need to know the SWIFT code for your bank in Canada.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-19 09:08:00
Canada	Canadian degrees?	Nearly 100% of this is the employer's preference. If they like Canadian degrees, they'll take you. (And really, most do.) Teaching may be a special case as there may be laws involved as to who may legally teach; if this is the case with you, I'm sure you'll be told as such by their hiring department. So basically, call up your potential hirer and ask.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-19 09:16:00
Canada	Faxed copy of the Compliance Letter for Vehicle Import	Well, at this point I'm only worried about USCBP's acceptance of the faxed copy; whether or not I need it later once I'm inside the country doesn't matter as much as I can get my parents to mail it to me.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2009-11-18 13:19:00
Canada	Faxed copy of the Compliance Letter for Vehicle Import	Hi folks, I'm wondering, have any of you have crossed with a faxed copy of the compliance letter from the manufacturer when importing a vehicle? I called the Peace Bridge USCBP directly and the officer said it was OK, but I'd like to hear personal anecdotes just to be sure. Please feed my paranoia. Edited by Spoom, 17 November 2009 - 10:26 PM.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2009-11-17 22:25:00
Canada	DS 230	I had a previous relationship with someone in the US between 2005 - 2006, and for the life of me I couldn't remember the dates. I attached the list of visits I could remember, and put a footnote that I visited various times in 2005 through Detroit but don't remember the dates. They accepted it without any questions. I think they're primarily concerned that your list roughly matches up with their USCBP database list within the last year or so. If you're concerned, you could file a FOIA request with USCBP for your entry records, though you may not get them for a while (though at the latest, they have to respond within 20 business days). Canadians are in an odd position compared with most, since we don't need a visa to enter. My guess is that this question is much more useful to the Dept. of State when the applicant needs a visa to even enter the US, which isn't the case here. Try to get all of your recent visits (within the last two years at least, let's say) and list "various visits" and where you entered otherwise. State that you were always inspected by a USCBP officer upon entry. The DS160 only requires the last five visits, by comparison. Edited by Spoom, 20 April 2010 - 04:03 PM.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-20 15:58:00
Canada	Need Help! Medical Emergency in Canada	A Canadian Consulate (or Embassy) will give you an emergency travel document or a temporary passport on demand. Emergency travel documents Canadians stranded abroad may be issued emergency travel documents by Canadian Government offices abroad on behalf of Passport Canada. ... Temporary passport Selected Canadian Government offices abroad may issue temporary passports on behalf of Passport Canada to Canadians with an urgent and proven need for a passport, while they wait to receive a regular passport. Here's a list of Canadian Government offices abroad, including in the United States. Worst case scenario, the government offices may have an area to take passport photos. Edited by Spoom, 20 April 2010 - 03:25 PM.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-20 15:24:00
Canada	Done with USCIS for two years!	Thanks folks, the short timeline almost makes me feel guilty. Now begins the job hunt! I hope USCIS gets to your cases soon	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-22 10:03:00
Canada	Done with USCIS for two years!	Document production or Oath Ceremony On April 21, 2010, we ordered production of your new card. Please allow 30 days for your card to be mailed to you. If we need something from you we will contact you. If you move before you receive the card, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283. It just jumped straight from "Initial Review" to "Document Production"; I guess I can't complain too much about an AOS that took less than two months overall Good luck to the rest of you pending adjustment, I hope you get a surprise like this shortly	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-21 15:44:00
Canada	Visa case NOT in DOS system	I would imagine even most Immigration Officers and Consuls don't have the access required to literally and completely delete a case from the DoS database. My money's on an incorrect case number.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-22 10:02:00
Canada	USCIS is taking a survey on their website	I posted this over on the Immigration News section a few days ago. Good way to provide feedback to USCIS. Edited by Spoom, 23 April 2010 - 02:04 PM.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-23 14:03:00
Canada	Keeping Bank Accounts & Credit cards after move to USA?	FYI, if you want to just transfer your entire balance, you might be able to do a wire directly from a Canadian account to a US one, or vice versa, without the assistance of a third party (i.e. CustomHouse). It seems to vary based on the bank but I know that CIBC (and by extension PC Financial) uses Bank of America as a correspondent bank to do cross-border wires. You just have to make sure that when you're setting up the wire, you give them the correct correspondent bank information (which your bank can give you) and the transfer should go through. This means you can get transfers done either same day or next day if needed. Don't get me wrong, CustomHouse is great for ACH -> EFT and EFT -> ACH cross-border transactions, but if I'm doing a wire, I just go down to my bank and do the wire directly.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-22 10:09:00
Canada	K-1 visa fee payment	We paid in Canadian, Montreal accepts it just fine and the conversion rate seemed fair.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-22 23:01:00
Canada	Visa question?	CALM DOWN! I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T CALM DOWN THIS SECOND I'M TURNING THIS CAR AROUND! ...whoops, sorry about that.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-22 23:03:00
Canada	For Those Who Have Interviewed	(PS: In reality I wore business casual; polo + khakis.)	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-24 08:42:00
Canada	For Those Who Have Interviewed	A single large cape of the American flag.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-23 13:47:00
Canada	Missouri drivers licence	I called them, and she had no idea!! "Well, Ive never dealt with your kind before..." Im guessing by "my kind" shes meaning an immigrant..lol. Im just gonna wait for my SSN and GC. Damn. Anyway, the PDF directly from the Missouri DMV that I linked you to specifies that your passport with the stamp is acceptable. Print it off and bring it with you; if they say no, they're not following their own policies. You need an SSN, but not the actual green card. Edited by Spoom, 29 April 2010 - 03:46 PM.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-29 15:44:00
Canada	Missouri drivers licence	Missouri driver's license ID requirements [PDF] Lawful Permanent Resident (Resident Aliens) One of the following: ? I-551 card (Resident Alien Card) ? Passport stamped ?Approved I-551? ? Passport stamped ?Processed for I-551? ? Re-entry Permit I-327 ? I-94 stamped ?Processed for I-551? Very similar to the PA requirements. I'm guessing that the requirements are driven by the federal government as a requirement for funding. Edited by Spoom, 29 April 2010 - 09:21 AM.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-29 09:21:00
Canada	i-485 AOS for Canadian on F-1	Attach a full explanation on a separate sheet of paper, and refer to it on the form in the field asking for the visa number. Put all of the dates associated with the F-1 status in the explanation. That should get you the best chance of avoiding an RFE, since they'll have a full history.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-05-06 23:09:00
Canada	DS160 online form problems	QUESTION - My fiance filled the DS-160 with a JPG photo, she did print everything including confirmation page and she mailed it all back to the montreal office(packet3). Curious to know if she will need copies of what she sent to them including confirmation number? what if she doesn't have copies of the confirmation number even though it was included in the packet 3? should she fill out another DS-160 ? If she sent it in, it's in her file, which means they'll have it in front of them at the interview. You should be OK. Though in general, you should keep two copies of anything you ever send USCIS or a Consulate.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-05-06 23:26:00
Canada	how detailed does the border declaration form need to be at POE?	I had handwritten lists of contents for each box. They didn't even look in the U-haul though.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-05-06 23:53:00
Canada	Thinking Canadian in the USA	Oh, random one from yesterday: I was mentioning doing my American taxes and said that this year I'd have to do two, and a friend of ours said "Oh YEAH, they DO have taxes in Canada, don't they?" She was quickly embarrassed when I said "Really? Really?" Edited by Spoom, 17 April 2010 - 01:28 AM.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-17 01:28:00
Canada	Thinking Canadian in the USA	Please keep this thread on topic, I'd rather it not become another second amendment debate.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-15 13:45:00
Canada	Thinking Canadian in the USA	Another one - and it may just be region specific - but the focus on religion. There are more churches here than there were Tim Horton's back home (ok, that was a joke!), but there are literally churches everywhere from the small cornerstore church to the mega-churches - in shopping malls, industrial parks, on 3 out of 4 street corners . . . . there are 4 different churches at the entrance to our subdivision beside each other and across the road from each other. While the US says it practices separation of Church and State it has been my experience that it does anything but - Church and State are very much married to each other in politics and daily life. And at the risk of raising ire, I don't see a lot of those 'Christian values" that were practiced by the Churches back home practiced here: intolerance, greed, vanity, judgment and fear seem to be at the core of many of these church's messages. I am not religious but my mother was and I remember her quiet faith that she lived every day of her life - tolerance, kindness, generosity and helping others regardless of who they were, where they lived, what they believed or in what situation they found themself. She didn't need recognition; she didn't need praise; she didn't need to make a big public statement that she was doing this in the name of Jesus or God - she didn't need anyone to know - her religion was between her and God and shared by the congregation at Church. Religion here is just - so 'in your face' - and if you don't believe what they believe you are one of 'them' and not 'us'. I am sorry if anyone feels offended by this observation, but it is another difference I have noted between Canada and the US - the attitude towards religion. To be fair, the intolerance, greed, fear, etc. is probably either regional or based on the religion in question. Granted, there are a few of those ones here, but at least my wife's religion is pretty accepting and doesn't just declare people damned if they don't agree. The focus is much more on helping people than fire and brimstone.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-15 00:38:00
Canada	Thinking Canadian in the USA	I moved from London, Ontario to rural Pennsylvania outside Erie. I'm surrounded by (often far-right) conservatives. It hurts my brain sometimes. I've gone back and forth on Facebook and Myspace with folks like Miranda&John's friends and experienced much the same... plus the dinner conversations with my fiancee's family sometimes get to me, or their constant (constant) watching of Fox News. Glenn Beck is kind of an idol out here. I have found a few people that are (mostly) on my side politically, our pastor being one of them, but it does bother me a bit that I'm so outnumbered out here. My wife runs a youth center. I remember one of the kids said something racist about Obama in his first conversation with me; I believe this was a middle-schooler. Also, on that subject, it bugs me that there seems to be such a resistance to funding social programs out here. Our youth center struggles for funding, getting it primarily from a deal with the school board, churches, and private donations. I don't want to get too in-depth, but we run it for very, very little. My wife has sometimes bought food for the kids out of her own pocket because we were basically broke in the general fund. Dah well. I just hope I can eventually get some decent healthcare once the federal government lets me work...	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-14 16:09:00
Canada	The Vent - Part Trois	With regard to ScooterMac's and my friend-with-issues, I have to say I saw it coming when we started hearing grumblings about not being able to pay for the tux rental. This person mooches off of everyone he can until they're either bone dry or don't want to support his being a bum, and then accuses them of not being a friend in order to guilt them into giving him more. At least, that's my thinking now. Dude hasn't had a long-term job for quite a while now because there are classes of jobs he considers "beneath him". He wants to get hired as a supervisor or manager, and nothing less... or at least, that's his excuse for not working. I know ScooterMac has sent his resume around to different potential employers where he lives, and the few ones that have tried him on for size, he's either decided that he didn't like the job and stopped coming, or was late enough times in a row that they just said to forget it. Besides which, dude is in a city four hours away. I don't really understand what he expects of us. Visiting is one thing but we're in the middle of planning a wedding; free weekends are a rare and wonderful thing. Edited by Spoom, 14 January 2010 - 01:04 PM.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-01-14 13:04:00
Canada	The Vent - Part Trois	As I understand it, while you can apply for an EAD strictly on a K-1, it would only be valid for the length of the K-1, and with EAD processing times being two months or more, it's kinda useless (and expensive) to try before you apply for AOS.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2009-12-28 15:18:00
Canada	The Vent - Part Trois	QUOTE (Rob and Mel @ Dec 28 2009, 12:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The Social Security Administration is a federal department, how can a state law, ie the Pennsylvania requisite that you can't get a SSN without proof that you need one, superced federal laws? You can get a SSN in any state and the regulations are federally standardized. The only restriction that I can think of is regarding replacement cards. QUOTE (Social Security Administration form SS-5) If you are not authorized to work in the U.S., we can issue you a Social Security card only if you need the number for a valid non-work reason. Your card will be marked to show you cannot work and if you do work, we will notify DHS. See page 3, item 5 for more information. ... 5. If you check “Legal Alien Not Allowed to Work” or “Other,” you must provide a document from a U.S. Federal, State, or local government agency that explains why you need a Social Security number and that you meet all the requirements for the government benefit. NOTE: Most agencies do not require that you have a Social Security number. Contact us to see if your reason qualifies for a Social Security number. No superceding of federal laws here, we're just following them. The requirement that you need a SS# is a municipal requirement for a marriage license here; the federal law is that you need a valid reason to get a non-work-authorized SS card. They require some sort of documentation that you need it.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2009-12-28 13:10:00
Canada	Off Topic Part Quatre	I kind of want to try it once in my life, but not if it's illegal and I could lose my job for it. Not to mention any immigration status, and the ability to enter the United States at all. (They can ban you for three years if USCIS or the Department of State determines you've ever used any illegal substances, and they can generally test you if they suspect you have.) Edited by Spoom, 16 January 2010 - 02:56 AM.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-01-16 02:56:00
Canada	Canadian/American VJ meetup......(ON/NYS).....	Might I suggest a poll? You can ask multiple questions at once. And yeah, I'd be up for a meetup, and I can't leave the country until I get my AP so it'd have to be in the US for me to be there (unless it's in May or thereafter as I'd be likely to have my AP by then).	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-02-25 11:32:00
Canada	Wedding Details	So it's... *counts* four days to the wedding, and everyone keeps asking me if I'm "nervous" yet. For the fiftieth time, no. I mean, I've dealt with the United States government and survived. I don't think I'll be scared of anything else again	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-01-19 11:07:00
Canada	AOS'rs...	Got my physical green card a couple of days ago. I have to say, I've never seen the metallic printing effect they use on the back anywhere else. It also somehow got a scratch within an hour of me getting it. I guess they really do mean you should use that little envelope they send with it!	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-05-02 23:58:00
Canada	AOS'rs...	Biometrics done! Is it just me or did anyone else look around the office after they got their receipt back wondering 'I can leave now? no... seriously? no one wants to interrogate me? that's it? that was worth the drive?'.... etc etc... lol But no one was around so I couldn't ask, but I have my receipt. That was exactly what it was like for me. Two hours of driving to Buffalo, and then less than five minutes at their office. I literally asked her if it was OK for me to just go	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-30 11:46:00
Canada	AOS'rs...	Congrats, guys	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-29 00:29:00
Canada	AOS'rs...	Interesting thing: I got my I-797 AOS approval yesterday, and today I got a text that my case status had been updated. It now says that they sent it today! Here's hoping that the rest of your approvals travel backward in time to get to you.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-28 13:50:00
Canada	AOS'rs...	Document production or Oath Ceremony On April 21, 2010, we ordered production of your new card. Please allow 30 days for your card to be mailed to you. If we need something from you we will contact you. If you move before you receive the card, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283. Oh, and that's not the EAD. That's the green card. Edited by Spoom, 21 April 2010 - 12:41 PM.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-21 12:41:00
Canada	AOS'rs...	Back when I was doing the K-1 initial paperwork (or was it for Montreal? I forget), I got some generic lease from Google and adjusted it for our needs. Had my parents and me sign it, and there you go, there's your lease. You might find companies trying to sell their generic forms first, but keep looking and you'll find some unencumbered ones.	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-20 15:19:00
Canada	AOS'rs...	You guys are gonna laugh at this. I started my new job today, and I was filling out the I-9, and checked the "Legal Permanent Resident" box, yada yada. Then the lady that does the payroll stuff asked for a copy of my SSN card. So I'm like, "ok, did you want a copy of my PR card too?" And she gave me this dumbfounded look. So then I'm like, "my resident card? Green Card? The prof that I'm allowed to work?" Still, blank stares. So I'm like, "I'm not a US citizen..." then suddenly it clicked. She's like "ohhhhhhhhhh!!! I don't know..." So, I gave her a copy anyways. And then, she's like "you're not a US citizen but you have an SSN number?" Ohhh boy. Haha, nice. Is your company not used to hiring non-USCs? I think in the tech field it's pretty common (though most of the time through contracting).	Spoom	Male	Canada	2010-04-20 09:27:00