spouse sponsor

[stesvis]

Hello everybody!

I have a question about immigration and i hope that someone can help in finding the answer.

My fiancee and i are living in Canada. She is american citizen and i am italian. Once we are married we would like to go live in US but she can't apply for the fiance visa because she is not living in america right now. Also we don't need to rush, so we can marry in Canada. The question is:

can she file to sponsor me as spouse while we live in Canada? In this way i would wait the required time while we are here, and then when i can go to US we would move.

another thing, when they give me the permit to go to live in US, will i be able to work? or will i have to wait again? if i have to wait, can i apply for a work permit and wait in Canada (where i can work in the meantime)?

thanks!!

cristian

[Tropical]

Does she have a parents/relatives address that she can maybe use?

[Los G]

What is her status in Canada? Maybe another member can clarify, but as far as I know, under certain Canadian immigration statuses, your fiance should be eligible to file (Direct Consular Filing) with a US consulate or possibly the embassy in Canada. Here's a thread on it from VisaJourney. This would apply to K1 fiance visas as well as the spouse visa. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/in...?showtopic=621

Meanwhile, she can otherwise file the regular process in the US, but she'd need a permanent address in the US where forms would be sent from US immigration and the National Visa Center. Fortunately, almost all the forms can be downloaded online as well, so being out of the country wouldn't be a huge restriction.

For example, my husband and I did the CR1 spouse visa process with both of us living in Mexico. There were some tough moments, especially at the NVC stage, where I had to gather documents from both countries, but in general, it's totally doable.
Edit:
Oh, in answer to your other question, it all comes down to the visa you file for. If you do a K visa (K1 fiance or K3 spouse), you are authorized for a single entry to the US and then must file for the Adjustment of Status to Legal Permanent Resident. During this AoS process, you receive the EAD, which is the work permit. However, some people must wait awhile for this, and you can't work until it arrives.

So if working upon entry is important to you, then you would definitely want the CR1 spouse visa, which allows you to enter the US as a permanent resident with full working permission as soon as you have access to your Social Security #. This still may take a few weeks, but nothing like the Adjustment of Status process under the K visas.

You might want to use that VisaJourney site to research the timelines and options of each visa (K1, K3, CR1) so that you can figure out which is the best for you and your fiance. They have really great guides and flowcharts there.