Need general advice - wedding location, IO issues

Hey everyone,

My fiance and I have set the date for our wedding, this June, and have everything ready to apply as soon as possible after that, outland.

In October we drove down to the Emerson, MB border, at the suggestion of a representative from the toll free immigration number, to renew his temp residence visa so he could stay and we could plan the wedding and continue to build up the case of our relationship. He was denied entry, because he doesn't have a job (obviously) and because of what he does (video editing, filmmaking, animation) because he couldn't prove that he WASN'T working. We had bank statement printouts, of his account and mine, showing where the money we live off comes from, and the fact that he has nothing in his personal bank account. She denied him entry, though she did give him another week in Canada to say goodbye to friends, get his things ready to go, and do any last minute things that we needed to do (like get a joint bank account set up, etc).

She said we hadn't done anything wrong, but that she couldn't let him back in the country because he had no income. When we explained that I'm the income earner she didn't even want to hear it. She told him in order for him to cross back into Canada he needs to show proof of employment, have a return ticket back, and at least a grand in his bank account (not our bank account, HIS bank account).

Anyway, he's been back in Vegas for a little over a month and still can't find work - it's next to impossible. It's easy enough to book a flight with a return ticket, and since we have a joint bank account he can always transfer funds into his personal bank account to appease the border guards, but we're a bit nervous. He does mostly freelance, but apparently that isn't good enough. He has no criminal record, is in his mid 20s and the guard had told us we did EVERYTHING right and NOTHING wrong and that she even put down on his file that she believes the relationship to be genuine. It's noted on there that we intend to get married as well.

However, she also told us that when he crosses back in to get married he must tell the guards that he is here to get married or else they will see him as lying (and that's fair, honestly.) She also said that if he tells them he's here to get married, which he should, they will likely deny him. So we run the risk of planning our wedding and having him not even being allowed into the country for it, it seems.

I suggested I fly down there and we just have a legal ceremony at city hall and continue to plan our 'wedding' for June 5th. That way, we're already married and this is just a celebration with all our friends and family (75% of which are from out of town, as far away as Sweden).

Would that be the better course of action to take? If he's already married can they deny him entry to have his Canadian wedding celebration with his friends and family as if he was getting married here? I know they can always deny him entry, obviously, but this is pretty terrifying to both of us, we're not sure what to do.

I'm also concerned about what a Vegas wedding would look like to them. The fact that he is from Vegas is the reason for it, but I feel it would still look shady to officials.

Advice?

Yeah, we know he can be denied entry. In fact his request for extension at the border in October was denied, so we're quite wary.

We're just trying to determine whether to run the risk of his being denied entry at the border then or whether we should get married in the US earlier and apply for PR prior to the 'real' wedding in June so that he has it on record, along with a return ticket.

Did your husband tell them he was crossing to marry you when he came over?

Thanks for the reply, and congratulations and good luck!

It's not a big wedding to begin with, and we're not terribly concerned about how it looks; we have plenty of proof it's a real relationship including hundreds of pages of communication, joint bank accounts, joint utilities, and testimonials from friends and family.

I wasn't really asking whether he'd be denied. Obviously I wasn't clear. I'm essentially looking for people's experiences with this type of situation.

We certainly understand there's no guarantee they'll allow him in.

The irony is that this IO, who denied his extension, said we did everything right and to keep on keeping on, basically. I fail to understand how, if we are doing everything right, he wasn't allowed back. She said it was due to the fact that he's not working (which you'd think they'd be pleased with) and that he does freelance work back in the States.

She had given him an extension for a week and instructed him to hand it to an IO upon his departure and said him doing so would help prove his compliance and even said she was helping us build his case.

We're not concerned about proving it's a real relationship; we're more concerned about flying friends in from Sweden, and all over the US, for a wedding that may need to be cancelled and just generally looking for some pearls of wisdom, no matter how small or irrelevant I suppose.

Thanks.

Yeah those Nexus cards are handy. My father lives in White Rock and uses his regularly. He buys bread in WA state, haha.

We're just wary due to the ridiculously hard time he got last time he had to leave. Without wanting to sound prejudiced, both he and I are under the distinct impression she wasn't happy that a woman was supporting him.

We have loads of documentation, online communication every day he hasn't been here, phone records, joint bank accounts, family and friends' testimonials. The one thing we're short of is photographs. We have maybe 20 total but that's it.

I know regardless there's a risk. I'll probably just fly down there for it, that way it's less stress if he's turned away for June.

Perhaps it's worthwhile speaking to a consultant about it.

That's exactly why she refused him entry. She said if he finds work in the US (which he still hasn't been able to do, for crying out loud), has a return ticket and enough funds he should be able to make it back January/February.

Thankfully she said she put a notation on his file that our relationship is genuine.

We know we can't guarantee anything, which is why we're probably getting married there instead of here. Now I'm contemplating even holding our June wedding at all, and just waiting until he has PR status to have it.

We're having about 50 guests as well, for the June wedding, and frankly we're scared sh*tless. Your story is exactly what I'm terrified of.

We figured if we flew him up a few weeks before and flew him home a few weeks after, that would be a month, which would under normal circumstances be fine, but we're not so sure.

I'm happy things worked out for you! Was that the worst part of the process?