ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
CanadaWaiting for our passports from Montreal

My fiancee and I attended our interview on August 5th, and were approved. But still no waybill number. Hopefully I get one tomorrow - but anyone know if DHL is open at all on Saturdays?


I asked my fiance and he said it's probably open for pick up on Saturday, but no courier service. Your best bet is to call them tomorrow.

Also, I believe ralyse and I had the same interviewer (the lady with dreadlocks), so maybe the reason we received our waybills is the amount of time and when the interviewer processes the applicants.
BM CanadaFemaleCanada2011-08-11 21:25:00
CanadaWaiting for our passports from Montreal
Waybill number received today via email around 6:30PM EDT
BM CanadaFemaleCanada2011-08-11 18:57:00
CanadaWaiting for our passports from Montreal

I caved and called DOS just now, was told that my visa has been printed and when I tried to verify beyond that she literally hung up on me mid sentence. That was a little bit startling... No sign of a waybill or anything and no idea *when* it was printed. I know not to 100% trust what I was told but hopefully I'll get an email tonight.

PS: I've seen people mentioning using the reference number to track, how are you doing that? Using "Shipper reference number" on DHL's website? Or some other method?


Thanks everyone for the shipper reference number -- this is just the MTL case number, correct?

And I'm avoiding calling DOS for at least a week... 1) the hold time is unbearable 99% of the time and 2) the agents are horrible. During college, I worked on the phones and knew what it was like to be treated poorly by a caller, so I'm EXCEPTIONALLY nice to them and still get treated like I'm dirt.

Good luck on getting visas, everyone! Let us know when you have it. I've also read forums where people physically travel to the DHL location and it's been there, even though they weren't notified. My fiance knows people at his DHL location and is going to pull a few strings for them to watch for it. Fingers crossed.
BM CanadaFemaleCanada2011-08-10 19:03:00
Removing Conditions on Residency General DiscussionROC Reminder letter
QUOTE (Lona.C. @ Oct 29 2009, 12:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
i got a question , I heard that lately they send out reminder letters to people who have to apply for ROC ,
I was wondering if anyone knows when they usualy send it out ??
( I know not everyone recieved one but was curiouse as to the time frame on how long before you have to aply did people get the reminder in mail ?


My greencard expires in Feb of 2010 and I just received a reminder from them last week.
mmmm1982Male02009-11-03 15:05:00
CanadaWhat to do ?!?

Thank you so much guys! And thank you Hugglesbuggles for the reassurance!
We have decided to give each other until the 18th to see if we have an interview in July...

One last question: If I were to be turned back at the border, would this affect the K-1 approval?

Being turned back at the border for insufficient ties to Canada has no effect whatsoever on your K-1 approval, or on being able to enter using a K-1 visa. It may affect being able to enter as a tourist in the future, but that's a totally different category than entering with a K-1 visa, and problems with entrances in one category don't affect entrances in another category.

Not that that second part even matters, since once you get your K-1 you will never enter the US as a visitor again. Doesn't that seem weird? :) After you enter as a K-1 you will stay in the US at least until you get your AP documents, and all subsequent entries will either be as an AOS applicant with AP, as a returning permanent resident or (maybe, eventually) as a returning US citizen. But any way you look at it, the issuance of your K-1 visa means you are permanently done as a Canadian visitor to the US, Feels weird when you think about it that way. We're so used, as Canadians, to having this nice/weird/oddball visitor status we can use in the US, it feels strange to think we won't be using that ever again.

Edited by HeatDeath, 23 May 2010 - 12:50 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-05-23 12:50:00
CanadaPOE @ Sweet Grass, MT
Congratulations on your wedding and welcome to the Salt Lake City area :)
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-05-25 00:36:00
Canadaoh crap
It's probably not a big deal, but you should definitely make every effort to be seen to be proactive in correcting it. Call your local USCIS office and ask to speak to an immigration officer. They should be able to help you.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-05-28 16:42:00
CanadaWait for Social security card????
I don't believe this applies to you, but if it's within 2 weeks or so of your I-94's expiry date, they won't give you a SSC, and then you'll definitely have to wait until you get your EAD.

If you go to a different office, and check on the SS-5 form "alien authorized to work" they probably won't give you as much trouble.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-05-20 17:37:00
CanadaCanadian married an American, now what?

Thank you so much for your very informative response. You have helped quite a bit. this having to fly to Montreal and Vancounver is a pain but will do what I have to do. I think I will let my husband do the travelling back and forth to visit, he has stronger ties to the US than I do Canada. i was told at the border that just having my family and my kids here, not working at present and no ownership of a house is not enough. Thanks again and i will probably be talking to you again.

You will definitely have to go to Montreal. All CR-1 visas are issued through there. I'm not quite sure why you'd have to go to Vancouver though. You can do the medical in Montreal on the same trip you do the interview on. It just takes a little extra planing, but the medical clinics are used to that.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-06-20 11:27:00
CanadaCanadian married an American, now what?
Traveling to the US wile you have a visa application process underway is doable, but uncertain. Whether or not you are admitted to the US, and for how long, is at the sole discretion of the CBP officer you get when you hit the airport customs lane / land crossing, and is really a total roll of the dice. Best advice is to be completely honest - never EVER lie to anyone in the US government regarding anything even tangentially related to visiting or immigrating, EVER! At the same time volunteering that you are visiting your USC husband, if you have no additional documentation, will probably get your entry denied, so you will be strongly tempted to not volunteer that. On the other, other hand, not volunteering that you have a USC husband can look bad if it comes out later in the conversation. There is a solution to this dilemma, I think - see below.

CBP will be looking for evidence that you are not an illegal-immigration risk - that you intend to return to Canada in a reasonably short period of time. The standard advice is to bring a folder of documentation with you that will help you to prove this. Things like a letter from an employer describing your job and specifying an expected return date; Evidence of a mortgage or rental agreement, showing you have property in Canada that walking away from would be unreasonable; Basic medical information about your mother and brother might be helpful. One of the most important pieces of documentation you can bring is the initial USCIS NOA1 receipt for the K-3 visa petition. This proves that you and your husband have already invested hundreds of dollars in doing this properly. If you have this it is probably safe and probably even preferable to volunteer that you are married to a USC to the CBP officer. It is vitally important that you have a return ticket purchased, dated for not more than a few weeks later. Staying with your husband for more than a relatively short period at a time is, unfortunately, simply not an option.

It may happen that, at some point prior to the issuance of your visa, you may be denied entry to the US. DO NOT WORRY IF THIS HAPPENS! Denial of permission to visit has no bearing whatsoever on your K-3 visa. They are totally different categories, and denial of an attempt to visit has no bearing on whether or not you will be allowed to immigrate. I'm just telling you this so you can be prepared, and so you won't panic or breakdown, worrying about the implications for your future life together.

BTW, you will find that your K-3 visa will be administratively switched over to a CR-1 visa process by the NVC. There is a gotcha regarding that transition you should know about now. In the K-3 process, the initial petition requires you to list any children coming with you on the initial petition, but requires no additional paperwork for them. The CR-1 process requires that I-130s be filed out for each child. Many K-3 applicants have been caught flat-footed when their applications got switched to CR-1 applications, and they had not filed out and filed I-130s for their children. I'm no expert on this process (entered using a K-1 fiance visa) but you'll want to read the forums here carefully and make sure you understand both the K-3 and CR-1 processes and how they relate when (not if) you get switched over a few months from now.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-06-20 10:04:00
CanadaHow soon after POE can we get married?
Here in Utah, I could pick up my fiancee from the airport, stop at the county office to apply for a marriage license on the way, and, if I had made arrangements no more than a few days earlier, be married by a Justice of the Peace right there in the county office, all before I'd gotten my fiancee back to my house. :)

Your only delays are going to be :
A ) how long a person has to be a resident of your state to be married there. Utah has no residency requirement. I don't think many states do.
B ) a forced waiting period between the issuance of the marriage license and the wedding. Utah has none. Some states do. California may be among them, but it'd be for no longer than a week, tops.
C ) How long it takes to arrange a justice of the peace. Will vary wildly from county to county. If you know your fiancee's arrival date in advance, this can be done ahead of time.

At any rate, with a little bit of planning, marrying within 2 weeks of PoE is very very doable. You should also try to have the AOS forms completed as much as possible prior to your fiancee's arrival. That way they can be sent off the instant you have your completed marriage certificate (which can be arranged to be within 0-3 days after the ceremony, if the county office will let you hand-deliver it - which depends on the office).

Edited by HeatDeath, 20 June 2010 - 11:44 AM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-06-20 11:42:00
CanadaPLEASE HELP!!
Because you were married within 30 days of entry, you may have a hard time proving that you had no intention to marry when you crossed the border. There is an informal "30-60-90" days rule. Marriages within 30 days are usually assumed to have been intended at the border crossing. Marriages after 60 days are a toss-up, and marriages after 90 days are usually assumed not to have been intended. This is an informal, unofficial, unwritten CBP/USCIS rule of thumb, and is not, in itself, any cause for panic. If you have significant evidence that you intended to return promptly to Canada (a return ticket, a job waiting for you, a rental agreement or mortgage) then the presumption of intent can be overcome.

If you apply for AOS, you will file an I-130, an I-485, an I-765, and an I-131.

A one-time consult with an immigration lawyer might be a good idea, but in my non-professional opinion, filing for AOS, while not a dead lock, should be reasonably safe.

If you choose to go the CR-1 route (which is significantly safer, but takes significantly longer) you can start the process now, while you are in the US. You would certainly have to leave when your admitted stay is up in October. You should be able to return for Christmas/New Years. Just bring your documentary proof of strong ties to Canada, as you were made to this time. Lots of people are able to visit the US while their CR-1 is in process. It's not a dead lock, as it depends on the particular CBP officer you get, but the odds are quite good.

Above all, don't panic. This process works best if you stay cool like ice, working the steps one at a time. Like a bulldozer: slow, steady, and powerful. Be careful, pay attention to details, and no force on earth can stop you.

Edited by HeatDeath, 23 June 2010 - 05:35 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-06-23 17:32:00
CanadaPOE Rainbow bridge Niagara Falls, NY

You shouldn't have to pay tax on your car if you've owned it for longer than 6 months.

It depends on which state you're in. DMVs are run by the state, and the DMV import tax is a state tax, and varies wildly from state to state.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-06-29 16:27:00
CanadaPOE Rainbow bridge Niagara Falls, NY
You will almost certainly need to import your car at some point. But you don't need to return to a land PoE to do it. The CBP "Deferred Inspection Unit" at your nearest international airport can do it too, if your nearest land PoE is too far to be convenient.

Importing your car is really just filling out a form and having it stamped by the border officer. You'll need paper proof of ownership, and you'll need to know the blue-book value of the car. I did mine when I PoEd at a land PoE, but it was the easiest part of the whole process.

If you get there and aren't quite sure about your car's value, lowball it a little if you can. That figure gets used as the basis for a 1-2% import tax in some state's DMVs, depending on the age of the car.

Edited by HeatDeath, 29 June 2010 - 10:20 AM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-06-29 10:19:00
CanadaMedical Exam Review

Sorry you were sidetracked by your vaccination issues. Hopefully things will all work out soon.

When I was arranging my medical in Vancouver (which ended up being the same day as my interview - Not much choice about that, if you live 2000 km from the nearest panel physician :)) I made a minor nuisance of myself with the medical clinci staff via email ensuring that I had all the encessary vaccines. I needed MMR, Varicella, and TDap. I was able to get titre tests for MMR and Varicella, but Manitoba Health doesn't do TDap for adults. The clinic in Vancouver arranged for me to get TDap from a travel clinic in Vancouver on the day of my appointment, after the rest of the medical was finished, but you had to tell them in advance so they could prearrange it with the travel clinic.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-07-01 10:38:00
CanadaCan't cash CDN check in US
My bank, a local credit union, could not cash a Canadian cheque but could deposit it. There is apprarently a very sharp distinction between those two operations, but most people conflate them. I don't know precisely what their internal operations are but, just as they said, it took about a week to show up in my account. I don't recall whether the exchange rate was good or bad though.

Edited by HeatDeath, 18 May 2010 - 08:48 AM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-05-18 08:48:00
CanadaWrong Consulate

OK I learned something interesting yesterday from the guys at the Vancouver consulate. I emailed them and Montreal about moving my case and the Montreal people i still have not heard back from, but the Vancouver ones emailed me back within 2 hours to tell me that all K1's that are in their jurisdiction (BC, AB, SK, NWT, Yukon) are sent to Vancouver automatically if they arrive at Montreal. Regardless they told me to email Montreal (which I already had) and to just see where things are with them.

So thats just an info share, so anyone else that has this happen to them knows not to panic!

Manitoba is in Vancouver's jurisdiction too. I hope they haven't forgotten about us! :)
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-07-27 11:22:00
CanadaCDN Stocks Question
I've got a few shares of a Canadian stock. They're administered by a company called Computershare, based in Toronto. I don't believe they're a brokerage, as such. My grandparents purchased these shares for me when the company (a provincial telephone company) went public years ago, and I've never done anything with them except accept dividend cheques. I believe Computershare was administering the IPO.

This link should get you to the Canadian section of their website.

http://www-us.comput...1&cc=ca&lang=en

They were sending me quarterly dividend cheques in Canada. After I moved to the US I sent their Client Services department a letter notifying them of my change in residence status, and requesting them to send my cheques to my American address and to withhold the required non-resident tax. I received my most recent cheque a few weeks ago with non-residence tax withheld, so everything seems to be working. They expressed no objections to me, as a non-resident, holding stocks or receiving dividends.

You might want to look into seeing if they can hold/administer your Canadian stocks.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-05 10:44:00
CanadaVaccinations for Vancouver Medical

Thanks for the info. Laura said that since I had TD, I can't get Tdap for another 2 years (which makes sense since Tdap contains vaccinations against tetanus/diptheria). But do I need to get a separate pertussis shot?

I have no idea. but email Laura that question. She'll know, or be able to find out [the answer involves detailed parsing of CDC immunization regulations]. Then let us know.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-05 11:26:00
CanadaVaccinations for Vancouver Medical
If Laura @ Woking said you're fine, then you're fine. As a clinic employee, she's the authoritative representative on what you have to do to pass the medical.

Now it may be, several months from now when you go to do AOS, that the local civil surgeon in the US doing your I-693 transcription may want another vaccine of some kind, but we can burn that bridge when we get to it :).

If Laura syays you're good to go, and no other issues arise in the examination, then you're good to go for the Vancouver, medical-wise.

BTW, if you (or anyone else reading this and doing a medical and interview in Vancouver) haven't booked your hotel in Vancouver yet, the Burrard Inn (www.burrardinn.com) is reasonably clean, very inexpensive (50-60 per night for a budget room) and immediately next door to teh Woking medical clinic. It's worth looking into. It's real nice to be only 200 feet from the medical clinic's doors when you have to be there for 5:45 am! :D

edit:
their rates may have gone up a smidge since the Olympics, but they're still substantially cheaper than anywhere comparable in downtown Vancouver, and as conveniently located as it's possible to be!

Edited by HeatDeath, 04 August 2010 - 02:37 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-04 14:32:00
CanadaMarriage Cert's, Divorce cert's, Divorce Decrees....
That's what I found. Vancouver is great for answering emails quickly and authoritatively. When I was in the application phase, I didn't even come here - just went straight to the horse's mouth, as you said. Theirs is the only opinion that actually counts at this phase, so find out directly from them what they want.

Thanks for filling us in on what they said.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-09 18:02:00
CanadaVan Consulate Question
Vancouver Embassy Info page, right at the bottom:

http://www.visajourn...a&cty=Vancouver
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-08 23:48:00
CanadaWaiting at Woking

Sorry to ask so many annoying questions. It seems like once you get everything to the interview stage the questions flood in!!

What time did you go to Woking to wait for the doors to open for your medical? Is it a safer part of downtown? I have to wait with my mini me out there and I am hopeful its an ok part of Vancouver!

We booked the flights and our hotel last night! Sooooooo exciting and nerwracking at the same time!! (L)

I stayed at the Burrard Inn which, while a mediocre hotel, is on the same block, 200 feet down from the medical clinic. I gave myself a 5:30 wakeup call and got there about 5:50. There were 2 people in front of me.

It seemed like a perfectly fine area. It's on a major street. There's a big hospital on the north side of the street, which I initially thought contained Woking, but it doesn't. Burrard Inn and Woking are both on the south side of the street. I recall there being very very little pedestrian or motor traffic at that time of the morning. I wouldn't worry about it.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-12 09:29:00
CanadaMontreal Interview Review

TBenjamin... As soon as I got my packet 3 i got all my documents together. My interview was August 10 and all bank letters and statements, letter from employer were all from May. So I had everything 3 months in advance. I even used the expired Affidavit of Support and they didn't say anything. Everything went smooth.

LOL. That's how it goes. If you have all your ducks in a row they don't ask to see anything. But if you had just one thing left undone, you could be guaranteed they'd ask for it! :lol:
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-13 09:29:00
CanadaForgot birth certificate at the consulate!
They'll probably put it in your sealed envelope, where it will become a permanent part of your immigration file. I can't recall if you'll need it for AOS, but it's a good thing to have anyways. Order a new one from the government, and don't worry too much about it.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-09 18:00:00
CanadaWhat exactly do I need to make sure they do at POE?

Haha, I have a list like that, too! And on all my boxes it's marked box 1, box 2, etc.

Since we're on the subject of crossing the border, I had a question. My fiance will be flying into Canada and we'll be crossing the border with my vehicle. Will this be okay? Also, where can I get a vehicle import form? Thank you muchly for your replies. :)


Vehicle import form is provided at the PoE. You just need to know the approximate blue book value of your car.

Fiance flying into Canada and driving back with you should be no problem at all. Me and my now-wife did that a few years ago, before we were formally engaged. the CBP officer was a little worried about me as an illegal immigration risk until I said we were going to get a fiance visa. With a visa already in your passport it should be no problem at all. Just make sure your fiance has soemthing to do while you two wait in secondary inspection.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-16 15:59:00
CanadaWhat exactly do I need to make sure they do at POE?

Has anyone ever had to give a detailed list of what`s in their suitcase? I`m taking the plane, btw...

I was at a land PoE, but my list was more along the lines of "Box 1: Books. Box 2: Books. Box 3: More books.Box 4: Even more boks. Box 5: toys..." Etc. :D
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-16 08:56:00
CanadaWhat exactly do I need to make sure they do at POE?
You need to make sure you get an I-94 stapled into your passport. You need to make sure the expiry date of the I-94 is for 90 days after your date of entry. You need to make sure your name is spelled correctly on the I-94. You should make sure (though it doesn't matter as much as the others) that your I-94 is single use [Even iif your I-94 says multiple use, DO NOT try to leave the country and get back in with it!]. Also, make sure they take your sealed envelope.

If you are driving through a land PoE, you will almost certainly want to import your car. Make sure you leave with a completed, stamped car import form that has a reasonably correct number (the bluebook value, if you know it, slightly lowballed otherwise) for the value of your car.

I think that's everything the PoE can screw up that you have any control over before you leave. I can't recall, and don't have it handy whether the I-94 actually lists the type of visa but if it does, make sure that's right too.

To sum up, the two pieces of paper you need to leave the PoE with are an I-94 (stapled into your passport) and, if applicable, a vehicle import form. Go over both papers with a fine-toothed comb and make sure every detail is correct. The I-94 should be single-entry, for 90 days.

Edited by HeatDeath, 14 August 2010 - 11:16 AM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-14 11:13:00
CanadaCrossing the border after visa is approved

Once the visa is approved, how do you move any furniture, clothing, personal belongings across the border? How would we know how much they will charge for declaring everything? Also, what do I need to do to bring my car into the Sates? We have family bringing stuff down to the states for us, does everything need to be declared, and how much are we talking about?

I filled my car to the roof with boxes of books, video games/other toys, and threw all my clothes on top. Did you know you can get about a dozen photocopier paper boxes into a 2 door Sunfire if you're careful? :) Now granted, I didn't have any furniture to bring. I would have used a U-haul trailer if I had.

The PoE doesn't charge anything, except $6-7 USD for your I-94 card, which you can pay for using a Canadian CC, if getting the US cash would be inconvenient.

To bring your car to the US you will need compliance letters, which you order from the manufacturer (GM want about 90 bucks). You will also need to know the bluebook value of your car to fill out the import form. You'll also need your proof of ownership.

You will need a list of what you are carrying, but it can be pretty general: e.g. Box 1: Books, Box 2: Nintendo Wii, Xbox and accessories, etc.
Your family will need to be carrying a letter signed by you in which you indicate the date, why and on what status you are entering, a copy of your visa, the fact that they have your permission to import your belongings, and a list, as above, of what they are carrying of your stuff. It also helps if they go through the same lane at the PoE immediately after you. It will take you some time - 15 to 60 minutes - to get through secondary inspection (where they will process your visa and import your car (though they will probably express no interest in your personal effects) so have a plan of where they should go to wait for you if they get cleared through the PoE quickly.

Edited by HeatDeath, 17 August 2010 - 06:22 AM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-17 06:22:00
CanadaSchedualing Interviews
If you are in or west of Manitoba, you will do your K-1 interview in Vancouver. Which is great, as Vancouver is significantly faster, and [some say] easier to deal with than Montreal.

You can't really schedule your own interview with Vancouver, but, once you recieve your [Packet 4] interview letter, you can email them at VancouverK@state.gov. If you have a good reason to reschedule your interview, they are certainly prepared to negotiate.

Last spring, in mid-April. I sent in my Packet 3 forms by fax and got an interview letter giving me an interview for the end of May. Now I was teaching at a school and, as you may know, schools usually like to get a committment from their teachers as to whether or not you will be back next year as early as possible. They usually like to know by mid-April at the latest, so they can start the recruitment and hiring process if they know they'll need to replace you for next September.

Anyways, it was already getting late in the year. My principal was being really good about it, but he kinda really needed to know if I was coming back next year as soon as possible. So I emailed Vancouver and explained the situation. I pointed out that all of their own material :devil: says I shouldn't make any irrevocable commitments without a visa in hand, and asked if there was any way they could move the interview to earlier in May.

Well they came back and said they could fit me in on April 30th: 2 weeks from then! :blink: :D :yes: :dance: That was a busy hour I spent then, making sure I could even get flights and hotel reservations on that short notice. :)

So yeah. The Vancouver consulate rocks. You don't schedule your own interview because, as was said above, the K-1 is treated more like an immigrant- than a non-immigrant visa. But as I said, if you have a good reason to reschedule, they are prepared to negotiate.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-19 12:09:00
CanadaAddress Changes POE upcoming...

So all in all seems better to just sit on my Canadian license and NOT apply for California license with I-94, but wait until I have EAD in hand?

Thanks:)

Yes, with a caveat. If you are driving with your Canadian license you had better be considering yourself a visitor to California, not a resident of California, and answering any police questions accordingly. Which is a not-entirely-unreasonable interpretation of the facts, since you came on on a non-immigrant visa and are not yet a permanent resident.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-20 12:49:00
CanadaAddress Changes POE upcoming...
They need proof of legal presence, either permanent/open-ended or with a specific expiration date. The EAD qualifies, as does the GC. An I-485 NOA1 does not. You I-94 would, but the resulting drivers license will expire at the same time as the I-94, 90 days after entry. Then you'd be stuck with nothing, as they usually (unless the DMV person forgets) take your foreign license when they give you the local one.

It's all part of that "no real documentation" legal limbo all K-1ers are stuck in between the expiry of the I-94 and the arrival of the EAD.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-20 12:02:00
CanadaAddress Changes POE upcoming...
I don't think I ever did get around to telling Manitoba Driver Licensing that I was moving. I just drove on my Manitoba license in Utah until it was about to expire, then got a Utah license. I may have technically been violating Utah's laws in doing so. But California is even worse.

California's residency laws for DL purposes are almost Kafka-esque. You can drive on a foreign drivers license as long as you are just visitng, but the instant you start calling it "home" you only have 10 days to get a CA DL. If you are driving on a foreign license, and a police officer asks where you live, make sure you give your Canadian address. If you tell a cop you have lived in CA for more than 10 days, and are still driving on a foreign DL, they will book you with a minor felony.

The Kafkaesque part is, you CAN'T get a California DL until you have at least an EAD. which isn't gonna happen within 10 days of entry on a K-1.

There are a couple of threads here on the California DL situation. One guy had a genuinely unpleasant time getting exerything sorted back out after a traffic stop. Do some more research here and be careful.

I had to do a full driving test again. I thik CA may make Canadian immigrants do one as well, but I don't know for sure. Quite possibly.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-20 11:48:00
Canadaquestion about luggage

Oh stop it - knock-offs are not a problem

I recall reading several months ago that CBP had circulated a policy memo instructing officers to be more vigilant for people importing knockoffs and to enforce international intellectual property laws more vigourously.

Now I'm sure the CBP officers took that memo about as seriously as we are ( :devil: ), and that's why I emphasized that it's a very very small chance. Getting nailed by a CBP officer playing IP cop over a knock-off is about as likely as being hit by lightning in the customs line, inside the airport terminal :), but it could possibly happen. The laws of physics do not exclude that event, so to speak. :)

The OP almost certainly has nothing to worry about, particularly because her luggage (even if it is a knock off, and I don't know for sure, from what she said, if it is) is so beat up. She would clearly not be importing a knockoff for purposes of resale.

[It's important to distinguish here between off-brand knock-offs, which merely look designer, and counterfeits, which fraudulently bear a real designer's logo and are intended to deceive a potential customer. Knock-offs are a little tacky, but it would be very difficult to secure a conviction, even if they're technically illegal, and they might not be. Importing counterfeits for the purposes of resale, on the other hand, is a slam dunk federal felony.]
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-20 11:57:00
Canadaquestion about luggage
If it's a counterfeit of a really expensive brand then there is a small chance (less than 1%) a bored customs officer with nothing better to do could make an issue of it. But if it's just cheap luggage with a no-name brand, then it'll be just fine - nobody will care.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-20 10:35:00
CanadaFiled my AOS TODAY
This comes up frequently regarding teaching jobs, where "in-classroom volunteering" is somewhat commonplace. The precise wording from USCIS is that a nonimmigrant cannot "fill a job for which a US citizen could be paid."

This means that continuing to work remotely for your foreign employer is ok, but "volunteering" for a position for which you will later be hired [and probably receive back pay under the table] is a strict no-no.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-23 12:11:00
Canadaimporting cars from Canada to USA
If the car is "under your name" as far as the registration is concerned, you own it. The bank, if the car was used as collateral for the loan [as is standard practice] almost certainly has a "lien" on it, but if your name is the only name on the registration then you are the owner of record, and can legally import the car.

If your Dad were part owner of the car, his name would be on the registration, ditto the bank. As a cosigner, the bank can nail your Dad to the wall if you stop making payments, but if his name is not on the registration, he isn't a part owner. Similarly the bank may have a lien on the car (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lien) but having a lien is not the same as being part owner.

Edited by HeatDeath, 23 August 2010 - 03:30 PM.

HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-23 15:28:00
Canadaimporting cars from Canada to USA
That's all I needed. I showed up at a land PoE with my compliance letters and provincial registration/proof of ownership. After I finished all my K-1 stuff (1.5 hours of the CBP officer flipping through papers and cross checking reference binders - grumblegrumblegrumble), I told them I wanted to import my car. They read the compliance letters, asked for it's value (check the bluebook value of the car before you leave or slightly lowball it if you have to guess - some states' DMVs use it as the basis for a 1-2% import tax), filled out and stamped a form, and that was that.

Later I took the stamped form and Canadian proof of ownership to the local DMV, paid a bunch of money (~$150, as I recall) and they gave me a registration form, plates, stickers, and mailed me a title deed.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-10 11:33:00
CanadaEnter the US first then apply for change of status?

Thanks for the reply. The consultant seems to do this on a very regular basis, and claims they haven't had any problems. I'm trying to figure out the likelihood of there being a problem.

The likelihood of there being a problem is, honestly, very low. The consequences of there being a problem are very severe.

Risk is defined as Probability x Consequences. Tiny probabilities x Large consequences = moderate risk.

Moderate risks should be avoided if it is reasonable to do so. And it is here. Doing this properly carries almost zero risk. Taking a moderate risk to save a few months isn't rational, and therefore should not be done.
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-27 11:07:00
CanadaPOE
FYI:

When I was figuring out my taxes this year, I had to figure out when I ceased to be a Canadian resident. The info was in a tax document but is repeated on this federal government website:

http://www.cra-arc.g...s/lvng-eng.html

The formula says it's the latest of 3 dates: when you enter the US, when the last of your spouse or dependents enter the US, and the "Resident since" date on your GC. For a K-1 holder, it makes quite a bit of difference. My latest of those dates was 5 months after my PoE, For a CR-1 holder, I'm pretty sure that your GC gets dated the date you activate your visa. There might be some fudge-factor around "the date you leave Canada" which leaves room for an interpretation of "the [final] date you leave Canada".
HeatDeathMaleCanada2010-08-15 21:16:00