[review taken from my VisaJourney timeline]
POE was easy. Got to the border (the one at Champlain at the Quebec/NY border) around 10am and told to head to secondary with my sealed package from the consulate. Parked the car and went inside. I was only sitting for less than 5 minutes before a lady called me up. She asked me about my visa, where I was moving, when I got married, and a few other questions. She then opened the sealed envelope and told me to go over the DS-230 to make sure the addresses were right, so the green card and SSN would be sent to the right place. I was then instructed to sit down while she went over the forms. About 30 minutes later, I was finally called back up and she took my fingerprints. And not electronically, the old way with ink and paper. She was having problems doing my fingerprint, so another guy came to take them. He was extremely nice and even joked with me. He asked if my hair was my natural colour (if you don't know I have pink and blue hair XD). Once he took my fingerprint, I was then asked to sign this tiny box. The lady then gave me this paper about the I-751 and told me to sign two of them, one of which I kept. And then I got my passport back and that was it! I was at the border for less than an hour. Everyone I interacted with was extremely nice and I had no problems.
~Lindsay
P.S. I'll write up a summary tomorrow of my trip :)
That was easy :)
ReplyDeleteI hope I get nice people like that when we finally move the States... though we are going to fly.
I have a question can you change the address to where the green card is going to be sent at POE?
James and I are thinking on renting an appartment rather than staying at his parents' house (that's the address we filed on our paperwork)
Another one, what's that form you had to file? They give it to you there? What's it about?
We are waiting for our interview to get scheduled the operator said to call after the 16th which is today, so hopefully by tomorrow we know, I'm already freaking out since it's going to be hell expensive when we go to Cd. Juarez for my interview, thank God we are not going to have the kids with us.
How's life now for you now adays? Such a nice change I suppose ;)
Sarai
Yup, it was super easy.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, at POE, just mention you have a different address where you want the green card and SSN to be sent to.
The I-751 is a form you have to fill out 2 years after POE to remove conditions on the 2-year green card you get. Those that have been married longer than 2 years at time of POE get an IR-1 visa and don't have to do this. But for couples like Ben and I whom have been married less than two years have to file this. You don't fill the form out at POE, they just give you a paper talking about it. But I knew all about it already.
And good luck with your interview date! Hope you don't have to wait as long as I did (15 days) to find out.
Life's good. Although Ben has shingles, so he's not doing so good :(
I'm so sorry to hear that Ben is sick, we'll keep him in our prayers to get back to normal ASAP :)
ReplyDeleteBy the way, we got our interview letter this morning at 3am James was the first one to see it of course, I was still in bed when he called me :)
I jumped out of bed and turned my computer on, fed the kids breakfast and tried to make an appnt. at the medical place just to find out that you can't schedule an appointment, you get in line the day before you interview and get it done in the morning and pick up the results that day at 4pm... that's nuts the open at 6, i'll have to be there at 5 I suppose.
I already scheduled an appointment at the place you get your biometrics done in Mexico City, that'll be next week and picked my DHL courier at the same time... did it on the phone I tried to do it online and wouldn't allow me to pick the DHL place I wanted so I just called, it was fast and the operator was nice.
Gotta book our plane tickets, it's less than a month... I can't believe it.
THANKS LINDSAY for all your help, you're AWESOME!
Thanks. I'm hoping Ben gets better soon too. Especially since it's our one year this Saturday!
ReplyDeleteAnd wow, your medical is the day before the interview? That's gonna be an early two mornings, back to back.
Glad you have everything set up already! Have fun booking those tickets!
I'm excited to hear the good news on June 14th that you got approved! ^_^
HI Saylin,
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if there is a specific POE that we need to go to enter the USA with the immigrant visa? Is Detroit POE ok ? I am going to drive as well and will also order the road trip from CAA. Since I did the trip before when I was on a work visa, we enter the USA by Detroit and would like to use the same road. By the way, thank you for your blog. It is really well done and I love the details you write for everything. I have my interview on July 19 ;o)
Best regard,
G
Hi,
ReplyDeleteNope, it doesn't matter at all what POE you go through. Just go through the one that's most convenient to you. The Champlain one was the closest for me, so that's why I chose it. Good luck on your move once you get around to doing it. And good luck on your interview!
And thanks! I'm glad you like my blog :)
wow, that doesn't sound bad at all, thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteNope, not bad at all. It was just waiting awhile at POE for my forms to be reviewed that took the longest. Besides that, it was just routine questions and signing some papers and giving my fingerprints. It's rare to see a Canadian having a problem at POE.
ReplyDelete