AP Review

[Melyssa 0]

So everything went fine at the border, other than the fact that they took so long...

First of all, we left the U.S. on Friday. That part was easy. In fact, my husband handed over our passports, and he asked my husband where he lived and didn't even look at me but said it looked like there were two people in there - I don't think he even realized I was a female. LOL Then he said, "And where does that other person over there live?" So my husband said we were married and we were going to visit my family. That was about it and we were on our way. Probably could have had a few people hidden and they wouldn't have noticed. LOL

We surprised my family - didn't tell them we were coming. It was great and they were so surprised and happy.

Anyways, as for the way back, we got to the border and handed over our stuff. The guy asked us a bunch of questions and then had us go inside. I knew it was for my AP. My husband and sister came in as well but it was just my papers they were working on and we had to wait for 45 minutes or so before we were able to go on our way.

I'm not sure what all they did but...

The lady called my name so we went up and then she said I didn't have to come up - she just wanted to tell me she was working on my paperwork.

She was working alongside another guy who was helping her out a lot so we thought she might have been new.

She asked me a total of 4 questions:

- What colour do you consider your hair, brown or blonde?

- What colour are your eyes?

- Who was driving the car?

- Is this the correct address [insert address]?

Other than that, finally she called me up and gave me my stuff, and said it was good until mid-February. She said "Congratulations" and wished me luck with the rest of the paperwork and she said hopefully everything comes through.

She gave me one copy of my AP with a date stamped into it, along with my passport (they had removed the I-94 I got when I entered with the K-1 and replaced it with a new one) and my husband's and sister's documents. So they kept one copy of the AP as well as the old I-94.

We went outside to go back to the car and saw her walking outside - she was looking for me because she'd forgotten to give me our marriage certificate.

And then we were off.

Besides it taking too long and us getting home after 11 p.m. when we planned to arrive home earlier, we were fine and they were nice to us. So we were pretty happy... and it was so nice to have the opportunity to spend some time in Canada after almost 4 months (which I know is sooner than a lot of people get to go back!)

Edited February 19, 2008 by Melyssa

[Krikit 1,164]

Wow. Those are weird questions. Which POE did you cross at? Glad you got to go home and see the family, Melyssa. Unfortunately, you'll have to go into secondary each time you cross with an AP. (Saw that mentioned in your other post.)

[Melyssa 0]

Wow. Those are weird questions. Which POE did you cross at? Glad you got to go home and see the family, Melyssa. Unfortunately, you'll have to go into secondary each time you cross with an AP. (Saw that mentioned in your other post.)

I'm not sure... it was Ontario/New York though!

Wow, hopefully it doesn't take that long next time... or hopefully I'll have the green card by then...

[Krikit 1,164]

I'm not sure... it was Ontario/New York though!

Wow, hopefully it doesn't take that long next time... or hopefully I'll have the green card by then...

Hope for the greencard. It's never taken me less than an hour. Well.... maybe 45 minutes once.

[trailmix 77]

I'm not sure... it was Ontario/New York though!

Wow, hopefully it doesn't take that long next time... or hopefully I'll have the green card by then...

Hope for the greencard. It's never taken me less than an hour. Well.... maybe 45 minutes once.

Good info! My Sister and her family tried to surprise me once with a visit. My Husband was in on it - they managed to keep it a secret until the day they were arriving - when I finally figured it out. It was Christmas and she was supposed to be mailing me something that I had delivered to her house in the States and she kept giving me all these lame excuses as to why she hadn't mailed it. Plus they were driving up which takes 2 days and she made up some story about being away for 2 days.

Anyway they all arrived that day with flashing reindeer antler things on and it was fun

[Krikit 1,164]

Good info! My Sister and her family tried to surprise me once with a visit. My Husband was in on it - they managed to keep it a secret until the day they were arriving - when I finally figured it out. It was Christmas and she was supposed to be mailing me something that I had delivered to her house in the States and she kept giving me all these lame excuses as to why she hadn't mailed it. Plus they were driving up which takes 2 days and she made up some story about being away for 2 days.

Anyway they all arrived that day with flashing reindeer antler things on and it was fun

LOL. Nice one. I hate surprises.

[Melyssa 0]

I'm not sure... it was Ontario/New York though!

Wow, hopefully it doesn't take that long next time... or hopefully I'll have the green card by then...

Hope for the greencard. It's never taken me less than an hour. Well.... maybe 45 minutes once.

Good info! My Sister and her family tried to surprise me once with a visit. My Husband was in on it - they managed to keep it a secret until the day they were arriving - when I finally figured it out. It was Christmas and she was supposed to be mailing me something that I had delivered to her house in the States and she kept giving me all these lame excuses as to why she hadn't mailed it. Plus they were driving up which takes 2 days and she made up some story about being away for 2 days.

Anyway they all arrived that day with flashing reindeer antler things on and it was fun

LOL.

I know surprises wouldn't work for a lot of people, but they can't help but work with mine. I always used to surprise my family and almost never told them when I was coming home... it was fun. But I probably wouldn't show up randomly at a friend's door expecting to sleep over, without first asking if they were free blah blah blah... but family is different... mine anyway! We didn't make up any excuses... we just didn't tell them we were coming or if they suggested it would be a long time until we saw them we just didn't say anything.

BTW, I was thinking about what Krikit said about those questions being weird, but I realized it was because they were filling in some paperwork or something... they weren't actually using those questions to interrogate me... at least I don't think so... I was sitting down in the waiting area and they didn't call me up - just called out my name and asked those questions as they were filling something in. I guess they're still weird though - I had to laugh at the blonde/brown question because I was wondering how they couldn't tell the difference just by looking but then I guess some people with my hair colour consider it blonde or that it might look dark blonde in some lights or something...

Edited February 19, 2008 by Melyssa

[JoeCanuk 3]

I was amazed at how nice they were to me when I entered with my AP. Having entered the states many times in my life I've seen them be very rude at times. but they were nice this time. they gave me back both copies of my AP though. I came in at Detroit.

Glad you got to make it back to Canada. I went 7 and a half months before I could go back. It seemed like years.