U.S. citizens who reside legally in Canada and who wish to sponsor (petition) their spouse, minor children or parents as immigrants to the United States may start the immigration process by filing an immigrant petition (I-130) at the U.S. Embassy or U.S. Consulate in whose district they reside. Please check for specific I-130 filing requirements and procedures at that consular office by following the internet links below. Note that Toronto requires I-130 filing by mail first, followed by an appearance by appointment only. All consular offices require an in-person appearance by both the petitioner and the beneficiary, some by appointment only.

Following approval of the I-130 petition, each intending immigrant (beneficiary) will be informed how to proceed with the immigrant visa (IV) process. In Canada all immigration processing is centralized at the U.S. Consulate General Montréal. CG Montréal will mail to each IV applicant full details after their I-130 is approved.

U.S. citizens resident in Canada who wish to file I-130 petitions on behalf of siblings (brothers/sisters) or adult sons and daughters as well as U.S. Legal Permanent Resident Aliens (holders of 'green cards') resident in Canada who wish to file I-130 petitions on behalf of their spouses or minor children must do so only by mail to:

USCIS Vermont Service Center
75 Lower Weldon Street
St. Albans, VT 05479-0001

U.S. citizens resident in Canada may also file I-130 petitions on behalf of their spouse, minor children or parents, alternatively, by mail at Vermont.

Petitioners who file I-130's at Vermont by mail will hear directly from Vermont when the petition has been approved. Vermont will send the approved I-130 to the National Visa Center (NVC) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for processing. In order to move your approved I-130 to Montréal for IV processing applicants must follow NVC instructions.

Processing time is approximately six to twelve months from for the spouses, minor children and parents of U.S. citizens. It takes much longer for other categories of IV applicants due to numerical limitations that are set by law. Further information is available at the following link: Visa Bulletin.

Documents required at the time of filing an I-130 at U.S. consular officers in Canada:

• Form I-130 for each intending immigrant, regardless of age.
• Payment of the filing fee for each I-130 of US$355. Payment may be in cash or credit card if applying in person. If initially by mail to Toronto, it may be by US$ money order or cashier's check. A receipt is returned to the petitioner after filing.
• Two Biographic Information Forms (G-325A) - one for the petitioner, one for the beneficiary; with recent passport-style photo attached to the bottom right corner or the form.
• Evidence of the petitioner's U.S. citizenship, such as a U.S. passport, U.S. birth certificate or U.S. Naturalization or Citizenship Certificate.
• Evidence of Petitioner's legal long term residence status in Canada, such as a provincial healthcare card, provincial driving license or Canadian immigrant card.
• Petitioner's complete long form birth certificate (if filing on behalf of a parent.)
• Beneficiary's complete long form birth certificate.
• Both parties' Current complete marriage certificate.
• All parties divorce decrees or death certificates showing termination of all prior marriages of petitioner and beneficiary and any derivative relatives, if marriage is the basis of the qualifying relationship, i.e. spouse or stepchild relationship.
• If applicant's name is different from that on his/her birth certificate, all past marriage certificates, court decrees or other legal evidence of a name change.
• Original documents (i.e. civil records issued under the original seal, stamp or signature of the government or official custodian) must be presented to the U.S. consular officer together with a photocopy. Original documents will be returned. Any document written in a language other than English must be accompanied by a certified translation.
• You may photo-copy your U.S. naturalization certificate for use by the U.S. Government contrary to the prohibition stated on the certificate. If the petitioner submits photocopies to Vermont, the beneficiary must submit the originals at the time of the immigrant visa interview.

I-130 petitioners must file at the consular office that includes the petitioner's residence in Canada. Following is a list of all U.S. consular offices together with information on the hours and procedures. Click the name of the Consulate for locations and other details.

The button below opens an Adobe Acrobat file containing a list of all physicians in Canada authorized to perform immigration medical exams.

All persons traveling to the U.S. as visitors or students, Canadian or other nationality, under U.S. law are deemed to be intending immigrants and thus inadmissible for temporary purposes until they have an immigrant visa in hand. The burden of qualifying for any visa for entry to the U.S. rests solely with the applicant. Entry to the U.S. is solely up to a Department of Homeland Security/Customs and Border Protection (DHS/CBP) officer at the Port of Entry. While intending immigrants may have and lawfully seek to exercise a dual intent to be a visitor or student now and an immigrant later, it is against U.S. law to enter the U.S. as a visitor or student with the intent to wait for or seek immigrant status while in the U.S. Anyone who attempts to enter the U.S. by misrepresentation, or unlawfully, may face severe sanctions up to and including permanent ineligibility to enter the U.S.

If you need to contact NVC about immigrant visa processing please phone (603) 334-0700.