marrying from another country

Hey! I'm Canadian and I married an American. We have applied for his permanent residency. I don't know anything about going the other way, though.

I can say that at one point I looked into going the the US, and found that if you go on a fiance visa, you would have to marry within three months, and apparently you would be allowed to work. Canada does not have the fiance visa, and a spouse who is being sponsored cannot work here until they receive their permanent residency - unless they are in an occupation that is "required" in Canada and they can find a job that cannot be hired from within Canada.

There are some cultural mindsets that are different, too. Canada and the US are very similar, but having different colonization processes, there are some different ways of thinking - guns and gun laws are one of them - where Americans tend to feel they have to fend for and protect themselves, Canadians don't have that mindset since we think that's what the RCMP are for. That's just one little difference. My recommendation? Accept that there will be some significant differences and respect them.

I also have to say that you should get your immigration paperwork in as soon as possible after your wedding. Keep all receipts of any travel or money you spend on each other. Keep your wedding receipts, wedding cards, etc, honeymoon expenses, and take a lot of pictures over time, doing lots of different activities - preferably stamped with time and date. Save any emails, love letters, etc. too. They will want it all. Get letters of support from friends and family on both sides of the border.

Keep all the originals together in a big file box in a safe place. Do not hold back and do not procrastinate in getting it all done.

Congrats on your engagement!

California Dreamin' said:

I'm just wondering if you married someone from another country and what it all involved. I'm Canadian and my significant other is American and I'd be moving to the USA when we get married.

Click to expand...

Guessing that you'd be moving to California?

Which part?

Frisco, Santa Barbara and the whole stretch in between are nice. LA is a pit (I can say that with authority because I'm from there originally). Orange County has some nice areas, although they've got a weird obsession with John Wayne. San Diego is nice. Everything else is God forsaken...lol

lol - well at least now ya know where to go if you 'n hubby ever travel out west.

Canada and USA are like siblings in terms of getting married and coming here (or going there). My soon to be wife is from the Philippines and because the laws are beyond complicated we considered meeting in Canada, then bringing her to the USA on a fiance visa to marry. But in the end I don't like fiance visas. At least not with the Philippine rules.

If she comes here on one and we marry. They have a right to bring her back at ANY time to her country and theres nothing we can do about it. Its why I am going down the spousal visa route. On that note just 6 days until I see her and get married!

California Dreamin' said:

Pennsylvania actually.
I had this username a lot time ago, from a song.

Thanks so much for the great help.

Click to expand...

I'm in Pa, will you be in the southeastern part?

Well howdy neighbor!

motherprayer said:

Well howdy neighbor!

Click to expand...

I went to Philly once. The cheesesteaks were good. The cheese tasted familiar. My wife identified the flavor-- cheese wiz. I doubt they use cheese wiz, but that's what it tastes like. And the cheese fries were good.

There were reasonably-priced little Indonesian places to eat in in Philly, too. I wasn't there long enough to get a Vietnamese sandwich.

It was a pain in the rear to go through everything to get DH into the country and working with a German company (his choice, and I understand why)... so I sent all my paperwork ahead to have it translated and we filed for a legal marriage here. I came once that was completed and confirmed and we went to the court house. I got copies of everything in triplicate right then and there, and I came home a week and a half later and filed for a name change, new driver's license, passport and began planning the wedding in the US.

DH filed his paperwork and we requested permanent residency here. That goes on a yr to year basis for a while, and then on a longer basis with another check with the immigration authorities (I forget when it is I go back or if I go back again unless I need something specific) and then I'm here permanently. Having two kids here also helps with my credibility.

It is overwhelming. When we got stuck, we asked the Embassy and we asked the local immigration authorities. It went much easier that way.


Congrats on your engagement! I wish you nothing but luck. I have heard trying to get everything approved through the US can be a big hairy cow of a deal.

I married an Indonesian woman. I was living and working there. The only difference between me and a local getting married, I think, was that I had to sign an affidavit that I wasn't already married. I think the embassy may have had to stamp it or something like that. Parental approval is important there, and I don't think the civil registrar would have stamped our license if we'd have said our parents didn't approve. Hers were the civil servant asked them if they approved.

We got married before 9/11, and things have changed since then. I'd already spent two years working in Indonesia before we moved here. Maybe that helped with the green card process. There was a lot of paperwork to fill out, but eventually we got it done. Make sure you do any name changes before getting a Green card so you don't have to pay hundreds of dollars just for a name change. Social security name changes are free, I think.

I got her a fiance visa, which we had visited the US with before she got her Green card. The visa was good for 5 years, which is pretty good. I did the greencard process through the embassy in Jakarta which is the 'right way' but it may be slower. Interviews for either the visa or, if we had one for the greencard, which I'm not sure about, that was easy too. I basically vouched for her, and they asked a few questions. I tried to look like we were dating or married, just some mild shows of affection, for interviews. No heavy PDA, just an arm around the shoulder and that sort of thing, just to let them know we were for real, but they didn't seem suspicious. I doubt a lot of Canadians do short term marriages to get greencards like people from developing countries do, so it is unlikely Canadian-US marriages would be subjected to a lot of scrutiny.

As far as the actual marriage goes, there were some misunderstandings that came from being from different cultures and language backgrounds. My guess is that would be kind of mild with Canadians in comparison. It's probably good to go into the marriage, even with such a close country historically and culturally, realizing there may be some cultural differences that could cause confusion or even conflict.

ValleyGal said:

I also have to say that you should get your immigration paperwork in as soon as possible after your wedding. Keep all receipts of any travel or money you spend on each other. Keep your wedding receipts, wedding cards, etc, honeymoon expenses, and take a lot of pictures over time, doing lots of different activities - preferably stamped with time and date. Save any emails, love letters, etc. too. They will want it all. Get letters of support from friends and family on both sides of the border.

Keep all the originals together in a big file box in a safe place. Do not hold back and do not procrastinate in getting it all done.

Congrats on your engagement!

Click to expand...

This is the best advice! I am also an American immigrating to Canada where my wife is from. The sooner you get started, the better. If we did it all over again, we would have had everything collected and the application finished, then pay the fees and send it away right after our wedding.

Sorry to hear that. >.<

California Dreamin' said:

He has never had a cheesesteak and I don't think I will be either.
He has started the paperwork and consulting a lawyer, it is so overwhelming.
Trying to decide where to get married, I am hoping to get married in the US.
We may have to just 'legally' get married before having a real ceremony or something.

Click to expand...

My brother married a woman from Spain and she got a visa after they married. One thing that was helpful was my mom contacted our Senator's office when paperwork was getting held up and there was some confusion (as it seems there always is). They have some clout and they got things rolling again. I don't know if PA Congressmen are as helpful as ours were, but it's worth checking to see if they offer assistance with visas.

Oops. Should have finished reading the thread before posting.

Sorry to hear that. But maybe better off if he's still under his dad's thumb. Better than uprooting and being expected to be under his dad's thumb too.

I'm sorry to hear things did not work out.