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| Hello, I'm TOBound2007
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I am from United States
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I last logged in on 25 Feb 2008
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I have been a member since 08 Jan 2007
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| I have added
17 posts in trackitt forums
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I added my last post on 25 Feb 2008
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TOBound2007's Immigration Cases
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| Federal Skilled Worker case:
Approved in 671 days (30 days less than average) (6 comments) |
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| User: |
TOBound2007 |
Visa Office: |
Buffalo, USA |
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| Application Filed: |
21 Dec 2005 |
AOR Date: |
04 Jan 2006 |
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| Transferred to Local: |
19 Dec 2006 |
Initial Assessment: |
19 Apr 2007 |
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| Medical Done: |
03 May 2007 |
Documents Requested: |
19 Apr 2007 |
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| Documents Sent: |
16 May 2007 |
Interview Date: |
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| Passport Requested: |
11 Jul 2007 |
Visa Received: |
23 Oct 2007 |
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| Nationality: |
United States |
Last Updated: |
11 Nov 2007 |
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| Notes: |
Processing in Detroit; interview waived, landed Oct. 28. |
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Topic: IF Canada PR is in process, Can sombody move from USA???????
I agree, there is no problem doing this. All that matters is you were in the US with at least a 1 year visa when you applied. The only issues are practical: if the address they have for you will no longer work then you need to give them a new (US) address to use. Also, if you are unable to return to the US at all then that would cause a problem if you needed to attend an interview (really really unlikely), and will make it tougher to send in your passport for them to attach the visa (some countries say its illegal to mail your passport out of the country, so I guess you might have to courier it). All in all, however, it's best to leave it in Buffalo because most likely you will save *years* of waiting. |
Topic: Police Certificate, please help
Actually, submitting your application without the police clearance is a wise move since you will most likely be asked to do it again anyway. They are only considered valid for 1 year and lately most applications take more than that (for instance 1 1/2 in my case). So, when your application is actually processed you will be asked to obtain new clearances.
For everywhere except Buffalo, CIC has actually made this official by implementing a "simplified" application process, which basically means submitting your application without *any* of this extra stuff, then sending it later when they ask for it.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-how-simple.asp |
Topic: Applying for PR, buffalo office, spouse is illegally staying in USA
Minj,
I think enlightened's answer was right, that is being in legal status while your application is processed is best. I don't *think* that it will matter that your husband is out of status, provided he does not get caught, which would result in a criminal record. The FBI is concerned with criminals, in other words if he is not arrested and fingerprinted then they do not know about him so everything is fine.
This is important enough to check with a lawyer though, I think.
I *don't* advise that you lie on the application about where your husband lives. Legal status or not, if they figure out that you put false information on the application it will be rejected for sure.
If you get called for an interview (not that likely) you'll both be expected to appear. Obviously if you are living in different countries they will understand this is not possible, and I think would only interview you, but I'm not sure. |
Topic: IMMEDIATE HELP NEEDED ON this UNPRECEDENTED CASE
Ignore that stupid reply and *don't panic*.
It's clear from your post that they requested your passport since you wrote "I was asked to submit my passport to affix immigrant visa". I'll bet they asked for your passport, 2 photos, and a form containing your height, hair & eye colour, right? And now they reply saying that your background check is still pending.
To answer your question, they are so busy that sometimes they don't know what they're doing. Somebody goofed... hence the apology. They were probably expecting the background check to come in before too long, hoping you would not notice the delay, but sometimes these things are unpredictable. It could also be that you have lived in more than one country, hence need multiple checks and some are complete but not all of them. When they prepared to finally issue your visa they did a check to see that everything was in order and discovered that one of the required background checks was missing. |
Topic: Posibility of having PR and work in USA on H1B and keeping US - Green card process alive?
I think they mean NAFTA professional visas, and they are easy to get if you qualify - you are given the visa right at the border. It covers most non-medical professions which require a University education. Unfortunately only applies to Canada/US/Mexico citizens so I don't think this helps you. |
Topic: Citizenship Rules once we enter canada
My advice would be to first check with your US immigration lawyer to make sure this is Ok. I don't know much about it, but I do realize that your immigration application is tied to the H1B visa, which in turn is good for a certain job with a certain employer, that's why you want to stay with it. So it's best to check with your lawyer to make sure there are no hidden gotchas there.
Second, if that's ok I think you should also run this idea past a Canadian immigration adviser (does not need to be a lawyer here). As far as I can see you would just need to keep track of the days carefully, and be aware of how partials count (I'm not sure if a travel day would count as a day in Canada or not... this is important since you will have so many). I can't see any reason it would not work, but it never hurts to get a professional opinion. Flying vs. driving should not matter either. But ask an expert, this sort of advice should not even cost you anything.
Just to be clear: the 2 years of every 5 is the requirement to keep your permanent resident status. Citizenship is different, for this you need to be in Canada for 3 of the last 4 years at the time you apply for it. So unless you can work from home mostly, you won't be able to become a citizen so quickly with this plan. (That may not matter anyway, since once you live here you will realize how much better it is, get a job here and forget about US immigration ;) |
Topic: Citizenship Rules once we enter canada
No, because the requirement is that you be *physically* present in Canada for 730 days of each 5 years. You can find the requirements at:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5445EA.asp
These are pretty strictly adhered to, as I understand it. For instance you cannot get away with creating a Canadian company just for you and hiring yourself out to an American firm! And owning property isn't the same as living here either.
As far as I can see, you still have several options though -
1) Take your time, find a good job in Canada while still working in the US. You have almost 3 years, after all.
2) If you have a job that permits it, ask your employer if you can work from home (say, if you're a computer programmer). They might be willing to let you do this; then you can live in Canada, while working for the American company. Even if you had to make frequent trips to the US it wouldn't add up to over 50%, I'm sure. You'll need to hire an accountant to do your taxes, but this will work.
3) If your job is close enough (like, Detroit), live in Canada and commute every morning to the US. You should check on this, I'm not 100% sure it's Ok. You'll need a tax accountant just like option 2) but don't worry, this sort of cross-border tax situation is not *that* uncommon. |
Topic: USA to Canada
I think you may be able to count 4 years part time as 2 years full time, however I agree that working in retail probably does not qualify you as a skilled worker. You can check the NOC list at:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/noc.asp
your experience would have to fall into one of these categories. As far as what I can see, in retail you would need to either be a manager or have very specialized skills (such as a real estate agent). You might want to check with an immigration consultant though, since it's difficult to be sure from just the job titles. |
Topic: Landing
Shouldn't be any problem. In your car you can cross with just the COPR (it'll be stapled in your passport). You only need the PR card when using a commercial carrier. I forgot to mention one thing in my post though - the car itself. I have already sold my US car and purchased a Canadian one, so I didn't have to do anything. If, however, you are landing with a US car you must import it at once. In effect it's got to be on your "goods-to-accompany" list, which is obvious since it's coming in with you... but many people forget.
Once you've landed one of the first things to do is get a social insurance # so that you can work. Just go to a Service Canada location with your passport and you'll get the number on the spot; the card takes about a week to arrive. Like the PR card you'll need a Canadian address for them to mail it to, of course.
http://www1.servicecanada.gc.ca/en/gateways/where_you_live/regions/offices/on.shtml
TOB |
Topic: Landing
I landed last month at Ft. Erie (by car) and it was very simple. The entire process took less than 30 minutes for 2 people. We are already living in Canada so there was no need to bring money, and had no goods-to-accompany so that may have made customs slightly faster. Here's what I brought:
- passports
- confirmation of permanent residence (COPR) documents
- settlement funds (in my case, Canadian bank statements which were not needed, but more usually a bank cheque)
- Goods-to-accompany list (Form B4E) (in my case, empty)
- Goods-to-follow list (Form B4A)
The process went very smoothly. Once across the bridge and at the booth, I hand over our passports and tell the officer we are there to land. He asked if we had any goods with us and I said "no". He wrote "landing no goods" on a piece of paper, handed it all back to me and directed me to park and go into the building. Once inside we got on line for the immigration desk and waited there approximately 10 minutes.
The immigration officer who landed us was very pleasant and polite, and the entire process took only around 10 minutes. She asked for our passports and COPR documents, and began typing into her computer. She asked if we were here on work permits and I said yes (I have been in Canada on a work permit for 2 1/2 years). She asked if we were still at our old address and I said no and gave her the new one. I asked if it was possible to send the PR cards to the immigration advisers rather than my home and she said it was fine, so I gave her that address. She asked for our phone number as well.
She checked the size of the photos attached to the COPR; I believe these are the ones which will be used for our PR cards. She then asked us if we had ever been arrested (no!) and had us initial and sign the COPR documents in a couple of places. She drew a line through our immigrant visas and attached a copy of the COPR to our passports, explaining that we could remove them after we got the PR cards but to keep them in a safe place as we would need them later to apply for citizenship. She also drew a line across our work and study permits, but let us keep them. She explained a bit about SIN numbers and health insurance as well, as I recall. That was all, then just "welcome to Canada"! She never asked about money, clearly she knew that it did not apply to us since we were already here in Canada (I've heard stories that some ask you anyway, which is why I brought along bank statements).
Then last it was over to the customs desk to process my goods. I had prepared an empty sheet for the "goods to accompany" and 4 pages of "goods to follow", which they stamp. Three minutes later it's all done, paid the bridge toll ($1.50 I think?) and drove into Fort Erie for lunch. :)
TOB |
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