Hi, I'm a Canadian under TN status, having been in the US since 2015 (first as a student, then under OPT for a year). My TN runs out January 1st 2021. I've been with my girlfriend since 2013 and would like to stay here in the US with her. I'm asking for advice on how I should proceed.
She would marry me to help me get a GC, but her taxes filed for 2019 were below the poverty line/cutoff. She should be above the cutoff for next year. I have about 30K in stocks. We also have some friends that might be willing to sign as a sponsor for me but I'm a bit unclear as to how much is involved with that and what exactly I'd be asking of them.
I'm unclear on the timeline of how to proceed. Should I just try to renew my TN status and figure out the marriage process later? If so, when should I try to renew my TN? I was thinking of trying to do it by mail so that I wouldn't risk getting stuck in Canada if there's an issue, but after reading about the termination of USCIS workers and potential added delays, I'm wondering if it would be better just to do it at the border. If it gets rejected, can I then enter as a visitor for a few months to look for other work etc.? I'm unclear on how that works and how much time I would have as a visitor.
Thanks, any advice would be much appreciated.
She would marry me to help me get a GC, but her taxes filed for 2019 were below the poverty line/cutoff. She should be above the cutoff for next year. I have about 30K in stocks. We also have some friends that might be willing to sign as a sponsor for me but I'm a bit unclear as to how much is involved with that and what exactly I'd be asking of them.
I'm unclear on the timeline of how to proceed. Should I just try to renew my TN status and figure out the marriage process later? If so, when should I try to renew my TN? I was thinking of trying to do it by mail so that I wouldn't risk getting stuck in Canada if there's an issue, but after reading about the termination of USCIS workers and potential added delays, I'm wondering if it would be better just to do it at the border. If it gets rejected, can I then enter as a visitor for a few months to look for other work etc.? I'm unclear on how that works and how much time I would have as a visitor.
Thanks, any advice would be much appreciated.