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American Immigration

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: Oct. 2007 ~ Dec. 2007: Free Expressions: American Immigration users admin

Author Message
Spitfire
Member

07-18-2002

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 1:20 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Spitfire a private message Print Post    
Does anyone have knowledge of American Immigration laws? I have a friend who is looking for any help and or answers to her questions. She does have a young DS as well. Here is her post:

So, DH and I want to move to NC, to be closer to my family, farther away from his, and because we like the area a lot. I've tried to contact some immigration lawyers about this, but everything seems to have strings attached, andI'm not ready to commit to paying them yet. If anyone here has any advice, I'd REALLY appreciate it!

Here's our situation:

I have my greencard, and I've had it since Sept 2000, and it expires Sept 2010. I'd love to get my American citizenship before it expires. I've been enrolled in university every since I moved to Montreal in 2002, so technically, I've been away as a "student". I still have bank accounts, etc, in the US. If I wanted to, I could "move" back today, since technically, I've never actually moved out.

But, with DH, things are a bit more complicated. As far as I can tell, being the spouse of a greencard holder doesn't help him much. He would need to come into the US on his own. I know that if he got a job in the US, according to NAFTA, he would be granted a VISA. However, he doesn't want to go get a job; he wants to work for himself. He has a company here that he's also registered in the US, with the NC Secretary of State. We have NC and Federal Tax ID numbers and everything.

So, my question is: is working for his own business sufficient grounds for him to be considered "employed" in the US, and to get a visa?

Also, how do things work with DS? What sort of papers would I need for him?

Thanks so much!!


Spitfire
Member

07-18-2002

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 1:21 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Spitfire a private message Print Post    
I'm not sure I'll be around tonight so if there are any q's for her just post them and I'll pass them along. TIA to anyone who may have answers!

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 1:24 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Escapee a private message Print Post    
Was her DS born here?

Spitfire
Member

07-18-2002

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 1:24 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Spitfire a private message Print Post    
No he was born in Canada.

Holly
Member

06-19-2005

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 2:54 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Holly a private message Print Post    
<since technically, I've never actually moved out.>

If she's been living in Canada for five years, then "technically" she moved out. When you exit the US and/or enter another country, with computers today it is logged and can be easily checked. She would have to re-enter the US officially. But if her green card is valid until 2010, there should be no problem. Then again, with the way US immigration is so inefficient and screwed up these days, there would probably be no problem anyway, even without a valid green card.

As for the husband, in order to open a business, he will need a certain amount of cash (I think it's up to $100,000 now) and be able and ready to hire a certain number of citizens (it used to be four--not sure what it is now.) I'm sure there is an 1-800 INS number she could call to find out the criteria w/out paying a lawyer. Hope this helps.

Kitt
Member

09-06-2000

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 3:09 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kitt a private message Print Post    
A greencard holder can sponsor their spouse and children, however while the greencard process is happening the spouse cannot work as far as I know, and might not even be able to live in the US if they have no other visa. You'd have to start the application with the I-130 and I don't know how long it takes now, it used to be about 18 months.

I think you have to be married over two years or there are additional rules and scrutiny to the application.

I-130 info from the govt:
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis (main site)

http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/B1.pdf (this is their leaflet about it)

I would think your husband's company in the US would enable him to get a TN visa pretty quickly, depending on the type of business. The TN visa is pretty quick (a month?), too, and would enable him to work as soon as it is processed. I don't know much about the TN visa but I was surprised how quickly it happened (someone at work got one last year). It cost about $1500 for us to get an immigration lawyer to do the whole process. HOWEVER the TN is meant to be a non-immigrant visa, i.e. he's working in the US but intends to go back to Canada. If he's doing it to be in the US with his wife that might not work. I'd get advice from a professional or do a lot of online research (and preferably both).

Here's a link to information that might help. Unfortunately a lot of the online info is linked to immigration lawyer's websites. The info is likely to be correct but their aim is for you to pay them to do the paperwork so read with caution.

TN visas:
http://www.naftalawfirm.com/

Spitfire
Member

07-18-2002

Thursday, October 25, 2007 - 8:45 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Spitfire a private message Print Post    
Thanks very much to both of you for the info. I will pass it along to her.