GC holder plans to marry a Canadian

[USCanada009]

Hello guys, I needed some advice on my situation here. I am a Naturalized Canadian citizen( Born in India). Me and my ex-wife got GC through my Employer at the end of 2010. I got divorced in 2012. After this, I have a Girlfriend in Canada who is a naturalized Canadian ( Born in Russia).
We are already talking about marriage plans; and I am wondering about the best way we can stay together while I still have two more years before applying for a US citizenship.
Here are a few possible Options that I can think of -

Option 1). She tries to get into a School here in US in the same city where I live. I believe, that would be a F1(student) visa. Of course, she was not very keen on going as a Full time student after gap of like 5 years or so. Plus, she needs to maintain her F1 status throughout her stay here and also pay international student fees are a few flip sides of F1 status. Is F1 the best choice to try?If it works out, is it ok to marry in US after a while ? Or we must wait until I apply for a US citizenship?

Option 2). She can come over to visit me in US like any Canadian citizen do. How long can she stay(Before marriage ) if she flies with a return ticket? Can she mention that she has a Boyfriend in US as far as we do not get married until my citizenship?

Option 3). Based on answer of option 2, here is another option. Does it get difficult to bring her to US on visit if I drive her into US from Canada border? As she doesn’t have a car, I need to accompany her and we need to probably mention that we are going through relationships.Can we say that we are still dating, and so not really sure of a marriage yet?. But this might make the border officials suspicious whether we might be getting married in near future. And if we get officially married during one of her visits down the line, does it mean it would put restrictions on her future travel ?

Please try to answer as many questions as you can. This will very much help us in deciding the course of actions. We intend to stay together as much as possible, while I wait for my US citizenship. Thanks a lot in advance..

 

[Jackolantern]

Option 1 is a problem because (a) she's not supposed to enter the US with an F1 visa while having preconceived immigrant intent (b) you're a permanent resident so they won't give her the leniency that they give to spouses of US citizens on the immigrant intent issue (c) they ask about fiance in the US on the visa application (d) it costs a lot!

Option 2: She's normally allowed to stay only 6 months at a time as a visitor. And after one stay of almost 6 months, they're likely to either refuse entry or subject her to heavy questioning if she visits the US again within 6 months after that. If they know she has a boyfriend or husband in the US, there's a significant chance of being refused entry, especially if she has a history of long or frequent trips to the US.

Option 3 is a problem for reasons you indicate.

So what to do? Wait until you're a US citizen, and then bring her in with the fiancee visa, in the meanwhile she can visit the US for 6 months a year. Or marry soon and file the I-130 to initiate the process, then have her pursue the green card via a consulate in Canada. Meanwhile she can try to visit the US during the 1 or 2 years it will take to get a consular interview, but you having filed the I-130 may result in her being refused entry because that would create a record of the marriage in the system.