I am an American citizen.  I met my wife who is a Canadian citizen (she immigrated from the Philippines) over the internet.  She also has one child who is 12, who is also a Canadian citizen (also an immigrant from the Philippines).  After visiting my wife in Canada during Thanksgiving last year she attempted to come back to the US with me for acouple of weeks (we were traveling through the Vancouver airport).  She did not have a return ticket - so the INS stopped her at the airport, went through here wallet and told us I would be fined if they caught her with me. When I questioned them they suggested I go the the US Embassy in Vancouver if I wanted her to cross with me.  We did the next day and they suggested she try another border crossing.  She then drove her car across the border to visit me twice and was never given any problems. She last drove across right before Christmas, 1997 with her daughter and never left. We married in April here in the US, filed all the necessary INS paperwork ourselves and are now awaiting our interview. Since we have had a child together.  The treatment we received in Vancouver has left us with a fear of the INS.  Should I be concerned that my wife and her daughter will be asked to leave the US after our interview?

It is very hard for me to respond since you have given me only limited information. In order to do so, I will have to make the following assumptions:

1. she was denied admission in Vancouver solely on the basis of her having immigrant intent (not permitted for visitors), based on the fact that she had a one way ticket and is married to a U.S. citizen;

2. that the INS did not subject your wife to expedited removal when she was denied entry in Vancouver (they would have given her written notice if this had been the case); and

3. you chose to adjust your wife's status in the U.S. rather than request consular processing of her immigration case.

Based on the above assumptions, your trouble with the INS should not cause any problems during your final interview, assuming that you are not excludable under other grounds (criminal, medical, etc.). However, don't forget that once your application to adjust status has been filed, your wife and child must not leave the U.S. until after they get lawful permanent residence, unless they first apply for advance parole.

If my third assumption is not correct and consular processing was chosen (less desirable in your case), your wife and child can only stay in the U.S. until her visitor status expires (usually six months from entry for Canadians). They will then have to leave the country and wait in Canada until their immigration interview in Montreal. If your wife and child remain past their authorized period of stay, you risk incurring a three-year or ten-year bar for unlawful presence. Please refer to my discussion of these bars in the exclusion section of our site.

I am a Canadian citizen, but I have been living in the US with permanent residence since the age of two.  I am now twenty-two, my father is now a U.S. citizen and my mother is applying for citizenship.  Is there any law that makes me a U.S. citizen with just these qualifications?  I heard from someone who had children born in Canada, and who later moved to the U.S. as a permanent resident, that his kids became U.S. citizens after the age of fourteen.  If not, if I apply for naturalization could I work in Canada without jeopardizing my U.S. residency? 

Assuming that you are now 22, you would have been born in 1976. Even if your father had naturalized during your lifetime, the law applicable after December 24, 1952, requires both parents to naturalize before you turn 18, unless the other parent is already a U.S. citizen from the date of your birth.

As stated in our citizenship articles, in order to apply for U.S. citizenship, you must be continuously resident in the United States for a period of at least five years preceding the filing of the application for naturalization. Although I don't have all the facts, it appears as though you meet this requirement.

However, residency in the United States must also be maintained from the time of filing of the application until the time that the alien acquires U.S. citizenship. Therefore, if you work in Canada after you file for naturalization but before you acquire U.S. citizenship, your naturalization case may be denied.

I am a Canadian citizen who entered the U.S. on a TN-1 visa as a Graphic Designer. I worked in California for a magazine company for one year, renewed my TN staus for a second year and recently (October 1998) left employment with the company before my status was to expire (Jan. 2, 1999). However, during my first year of work I married a U.S. citizen. He lived in Illinois at the time and continued to do so for job-related reasons while I was living in California. Fearing INS doubts on the legitimacy of our marriage since we lived in different states and because we had not decided whether we would ultimately live together in Canada or the U.S., I applied for the renewal of my TN-1 instead of applying for an adjustment of status to permanent resident. I was also afraid that I would not necessarily be able to continue working without interruption if I took this route. I have now moved to Illinois to be with my husband and have submitted an immigrant petition and an application for adjustment of status (I-485 and I-130), along with a request for employment authorization (I-765). Will I have problems getting this approved since I am no longer working for the TN-1 employer? Must I wait for approval of my employment authorization before working? My status appears on my I-94 as expiring as of Jan 2, 1999. The same company in California has recently asked me to do some work on a freelance or contract basis for them, from my home here in Illinois. Can I accept this employment?

You appear to mistakenly believe that you are in legal status as long as the date on your I-94 has not passed. In fact, your status ended in October 1998, when you quit your job. I don't think that you will be subject to the 3- or 10-year bars under §212(a)(9)(B)(i), since unlawful presence generally only accrues after the date stated on your I-94. However, the fact is that you are still out of status.

Aliens who have engaged in unauthorized employment, who are not in lawful status at the time of filing of the adjustment application or who have failed to continuously maintain status since their entry into the United States are normally barred from adjustment of status. However, this statutory bar does not apply to immediate relatives of U.S. citizens.

Despite this fact, the INS could still deny your adjustment application. Adjustment is discretionary; "negative factors" often prompt the INS to refuse adjustment, even in the absence of statutory ineligibility. However, since you would have a close family relative in the U.S. (your U.S. citizen spouse), they will probably not deny your adjustment application.

Assuming that your adjustment application is not rejected, you are entitled to seek a blanket work authorization, which you have done. You should not work until this EAD is approved. While it *may* be possible to continue working for your previous employer using your current I-94, I don't recommend it for the following reasons: (a) your current status is technically not valid since you terminated your employment in October, and (b) there have probably been material changes in your employment (number of hours, contract v. salary, etc.) in any event. I recommend that you refrain from working at all until your EAD is approved.