Hi there,

I'm a Canadian Citizen living in Ontario and my boyfriend is a US citizen living in western New York. I would like to move in with him, but I'm not sure how to best address the immigration situation. I would like to move sometime next month. We plan on becoming engaged in the near future, and hope to be married by the end of the year.

What would the best way for us to approach this? If I entered the US as a visitor, could I marry later and apply for immigration as a spouse? Would it be better to try to find a job and get sponsored by an employer? My boyfriend's father owns a small painting business, would he be able to sponsor me or does it need to be a larger business?

Right now we are leaning towards me coming across as a visitor and marrying later in the year. How long can I visit the US before I would need to return to Canada?

I know there are some similar questions, but none of them completely fit my situation. Any suggestions would be appreciated... thanks!

You can enter as a visitor but would have to return within 6 months to avoid being in the US illegally if you haven't filed by that time, If you remained in the US illegally it would make your application for permanent residence (once you get married) get looked over more closely and it may take longer to get approved.

A work visa might be a good way to get into the US without having to leave every 6 months but I don't think his fathers business would have way to get you one, the company would have to contact USCIS and prove they are unable to find a qualified worker in the US. Try applying yourself to larger companies based on whatever field you have studied / worked in.

Thanks for your quick response. So if I went into the US at the beginning of October and got married in December, could we apply for permanent residence at that time and could I stay in the country until it's complete? What if the process meant I was in the country longer than 6 months until the application was approved? I'm not sure what wait times are like for these things. Would we have any hassles applying for a spousal permanent residency when I entered the country as a visitor?

I'll keep looking into the work visa, if I could find a job that would certainly solve a lot of headaches. Thanks for your help!