Please help ..

H

humeraginwalla

Registered Users (C)
i am a Canadian citizen came to US and got married with US permanent resident. I would like to stay in US with my husband. I came in July 2007 and I am still here? Canadian citizens dont need any kind Visa to visit US. Now my question is since we did not apply for I-130 what should do we? can I go to Canada and my husband can apply for I-130? or can i stay here not go to canada adjust my status or something? Since I have overstayed ?or did I overstay? I really dont know what to do so I could stay here and also visit canada in the future.I called USCIS to ask how long a Canadian citizen stay in the us, they said upto six months. And I have been here for over a year now So if my husband applies I-130 is that gonna create a problem? on the form they ask for date of my arrival and departure thats why I am worried. Also lets say I go to canada will they scan my passport or if they find out i stayed in US for over a year will they notify US authority?

Any help would be greatly appreciated ..
thanks
Humera
 
humeraginwalla said:
i am a Canadian citizen came to US and got married with US permanent resident. I would like to stay in US with my husband. I came in July 2007 and I am still here? Canadian citizens dont need any kind Visa to visit US. Now my question is since we did not apply for I-130 what should do we? can I go to Canada and my husband can apply for I-130? or can i stay here not go to canada adjust my status or something? Since I have overstayed ?or did I overstay? I really dont know what to do so I could stay here and also visit canada in the future.I called USCIS to ask how long a Canadian citizen stay in the us, they said upto six months. And I have been here for over a year now So if my husband applies I-130 is that gonna create a problem? on the form they ask for date of my arrival and departure thats why I am worried. Also lets say I go to canada will they scan my passport or if they find out i stayed in US for over a year will they notify US authority?

Any help would be greatly appreciated ..
thanks
Humera
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If your husband files I-130 for you, it will get approved without a doubt because I-130 is about proving the relationship. Submitting the marriage certificate will do the trick in a blink. But since he is a LPR and not citizen then you have to wait for a visa number to be available for you, which could take 3-5 yrs. And once you will be eligible to file AOS after a few years later when visa number would be available to you, yet still your AOS will get denied because of you being overstaying. You will be barred for 10 yrs. Then you would need to file a waiver to overcome this 10 yrs bar which is not that easy to get approved. It's very hard and would depend on extreme hardship factors.

And if you do leave the US now then you will automatically be ineligible for 10 yrs. But if you husband becomes a US citizen then you will be able to adjust your status without a problem within a few months so long you will not leave the US in the meantime...Canadian citizens are allowed to stay only 6 months in the US. Though it's hard to track the leaving and departure information on Canadians since officials don't scan nor stamp the passport at the border but one shouldn't rule out anything as to how US govt. would find out...
 
TheRealCanadian said:
Only if she received an I-94. She cannot accrue illegal presence without an I-94, hence to 10-year bar.
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Just because a Canadian doesn't receive I-94 most of time at border, that doesn't give an automatic right to any Canadian to stay in the US more than 6 months nor it makes everything alright. And as I said earlier that if her passport wasn't scanned or stamped at the border, it would be hard to know when she was entered and departed from the US...but one shouldn't completely rule out on finding the entries made by Canadians especially these days...It's always best to tell the truth than lying and circumventing immigration laws in thinking that govt. has no way to know just because I-94 wasn't issued. Just because I-94 wasn't issued, that doesn't cut off the fact when a Canadian entered into the US nor it gives the right to Canadians to lie to US govt.
 
should I hire a lawyer to handle my case? i want to stay here ligally and work. Do you guys think lawyer would be able to do something ?
 
when i came to US they did scan my passport and stamped it, it says my date of arrival on it.
I dont know if this is going to make any difference or not but I was born in India and I have an indian passport. I have US visitor visa on it for 10 yrs.when I came to US i used my canadian passport.
 
humeraginwalla said:
I dont understand what do u mean ? If i leave Us now will I be banned from coming back here? or not?
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If you have overstayed for 6 months or more but not for one year then you are subject to bar to re-enter into the US for 3 yrs. And if you have overstayed for a year or not then you will be barred for 10 yrs. These bars would apply immediately if you depart the US. Being a Canadian doesn't mean you are exempt from these bars. Nevertheless, many Canadians get away from facing these bars but not as a matter of law rather because of the fact they don't dislcose their overstaying and US govt. cannot prove them wrong because these Canadians' passport don't get scanned nor stamped at the border. That means, no proof to their entry into the US.

But if somehow US govt. finds out when a Canadian entered into the US...by any other ways...like Canadian having dealt with other govt. agencies in the US then US govt. would find out...and situation could become more messy if a Canadian would lie about his/her entry under oath and penalty of perjury.
 
humeraginwalla said:
should I hire a lawyer to handle my case? i want to stay here ligally and work. Do you guys think lawyer would be able to do something ?
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Lawyers cannot waive a law for you. Laws are laws, and nobody is above the laws...even attorneys are not above the laws. They will tell you pretty much the same what you have been told here. But if you still want to spend money then go ahead.

Your passport was stamped, so you cannot conceal or lie the fact on when you entered into the US. The best way is- your husband should get US citizenship first.
 
So its better I dont leave now ..right? My husband will be getting citizenship in 2 yrs should I just wait till he gets his citizenship and just stay here? and after he gets his citizenship we apply for I -130 but then they will know i overstayed for like 3 yrs will that be forgiven?
 
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humeraginwalla said:
So its better I dont leave now ..right? My husband will be getting citizenship in 2 yrs should I just wait till he gets his citizenship and just stay here? and after he gets his citizenship we apply for I -130 but then they will know i overstayed for like 3 yrs will that be forgiven?
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Yes, overstaying is automatically forgiven when an alien is the beneficiary on a visa petition being an immediate relative to a US citizen. So you will be alright by living here illegaly until your husband becomes a US citizen and files for you. But if you leave the country in the meantime then overstaying bar wouldn't be waived and your green card application would be denied in the future. Then you would need to file a waiver application to ask for forgiveness, and as I said earlier that obtaining a waiver is not that easy.
 
JohnnyCash said:
Just because a Canadian doesn't receive I-94 most of time at border, that doesn't give an automatic right to any Canadian to stay in the US more than 6 months nor it makes everything alright.
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I never said that. I'm merely pointing out that the 3/10-year bars are triggered via illegal presence, which cannot be accrued without an I-94 or a written notice from USCIS determining that the OP is out of status or has overstayed.

An arrival stamp is meaningless unless it has an "admitted until" date, and even that's a gray area. Johnny, are you a Canadian citizen, or are you familiar with the procedures and various waivers available to them?
 
my husband is going to apply for his citizen ship in dec this year , so how soon after that i can appy for my GC and what should we write on his citizenship forms where they ask information on his wife? like her address ? where she is living and etc , becoz i have been living with for past 3 yrs now ..
I am jus curious I know there is plenty of time but i just wanna know and is it okay to apply 90 before its 5 yrs becoz on his GC it say permanent resident sice may 2006 , so can we apply in dec or should we wait till may 2011?
thanks
 
p.s i have been staying here in US since july 2007 ., never left the contry. And I dont plan on leaving untill I get legal here , that would be after my husband gets his citizenship.
 
humeraginwalla said:
I am jus curious I know there is plenty of time but i just wanna know and is it okay to apply 90 before its 5 yrs becoz on his GC it say permanent resident sice may 2006 , so can we apply in dec or should we wait till may 2011?
thanks
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He has to wait until 90 days before May 2011 to apply, which would be some time in Feb 2011. He cannot complete the process until the full 5 years, May 2011 itself. If you have your green card application prepared ahead of time, you can file them on the same day he completes the naturalization oath.
 
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