Got married on Friday, now what???

[trishp]

I am Canadian, he is American. We were legally married on Friday in Canada and he flew back to Phoenix this morning and I am here in Canada. All the info for the I-130 will be sent in in two weeks or so. What do I have to do to go down and stay with him while the paperwork is in the process? I was told at the border last time to "not even try and return to the USA without proper visas in hand". How do I get a I-94 and would my marriage certificate be sufficient for them to issue a travel visa? Does the airport give those out or do I have to apply somewhere? Sorry for all the questions but I find this whole process very confusing. You read websites and each one seems to give a different idea or instructions. Please help. Is there any other Canadians married to Americans on here?

[MrsAllen2b]

As the immigration officers said, you can't. You cannot live here until you have a proper visa authorizing you to do so. When it is issued to you, THEN you can come here and stay with him. If you attempt to come back into the country with the marriage certificate, you're likely to be turned away, as they would assume you were planning to stay and not return to Canada. That is the purpose of the visa. The I-94 is issued by the airport immigration official when you arrive WITH your visa. Unless you were somehow allowed entry under a visa waiver, which isn't likely with a marriage certificate, you won't be getting in.

[nichole]

Normally you could visit while you wait on the process. BUT it sounds like you've visited too often and for too long to be told at the border not to try it again. There is no rule that you can't visit once you have filed papers, but it sounds like you did something (other than marry) to have them flag your passport to not allow you back in.

Visitor visas are issued by the US Embassy.