Visa Activation

[nathandace 0]

Hi all,

I just got my visa yesterday, and I was wondering what it is like crossing the border into the US? and how soon afterwords would I have to apply for the AOS? Oh and for the immunization/3rd HPV shot, do I have to get it done in canada or can I get a note from my doctor to have it done within the US ( I still have 2 months before it needs to be done)I would appreciate any advice. Thanks in advance.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Congratulations! Crossing the border on a K-1 is usually pretty painless. Are you driving in or flying in? Either way, you arrive at the border or immigration and advise them you have a K-1 visa that you want to use. They will direct you to secondary inspection. Your visa will be physically attached inside your passport and you will also receive a large yellow envelope with the visa that contains instructions 'Do Not Open'. The yellow envelope contains your whole immigration file - you are actually couriering it back to the US (VBG). At Secondary inspection you will hand in the envelope and your passport with the visa. They will open the envelope, review the documents, ask you some questions, fingerprint you, then stamp your passport and staple a piece of cardstock into it called an I-94 (entry-exit visa). If you are driving they will charge you $6 for the I-94. If you are flying it will be included in your ticket price. They will write on both the stamp and the I-94 a date 90 days in the future - this is the day by which you need to get married. They will keep the envelope and hand you back the passport and visa. Be sure to hold on to the I-94 -you will need it for AOS.

You can apply for AOS as soon as you are married and have the State issued copy of the marriage certificate. Ideally you will also want to file for AOS before the I-94 expires so you are never out of status, but if there are delays in getting documents you need, a few days over aren't going to be a problem.

You can get the 3rd HPV shot wherever you like. I believe you don't need to have completed the series before you apply for AOS but you do need to have initiated it. So, whatever works best in your timeline should be fine.

Good luck.

[nathandace 0]

Congratulations! Crossing the border on a K-1 is usually pretty painless. Are you driving in or flying in? Either way, you arrive at the border or immigration and advise them you have a K-1 visa that you want to use. They will direct you to secondary inspection. Your visa will be physically attached inside your passport and you will also receive a large yellow envelope with the visa that contains instructions 'Do Not Open'. The yellow envelope contains your whole immigration file - you are actually couriering it back to the US (VBG). At Secondary inspection you will hand in the envelope and your passport with the visa. They will open the envelope, review the documents, ask you some questions, fingerprint you, then stamp your passport and staple a piece of cardstock into it called an I-94 (entry-exit visa). If you are driving they will charge you $6 for the I-94. If you are flying it will be included in your ticket price. They will write on both the stamp and the I-94 a date 90 days in the future - this is the day by which you need to get married. They will keep the envelope and hand you back the passport and visa. Be sure to hold on to the I-94 -you will need it for AOS.

You can apply for AOS as soon as you are married and have the State issued copy of the marriage certificate. Ideally you will also want to file for AOS before the I-94 expires so you are never out of status, but if there are delays in getting documents you need, a few days over aren't going to be a problem.

You can get the 3rd HPV shot wherever you like. I believe you don't need to have completed the series before you apply for AOS but you do need to have initiated it. So, whatever works best in your timeline should be fine.

Good luck.

I was thinking of flying in, it would be a lot easier for me to get to my destination by plane. Do you know if when I book my plane ticket if there is an option that I select (online booking?) or if I let the person at the desk know when I go to check in? I have both the envelope and passport, but what does VBG mean? While they are reviewing the documents, what kind of questions do they ask? and how long does it take? The 90 day date they write wont be an issue, because Im planning a wedding for the 18th of July right now. you mean the passport with the visa in it right?So basically find a safe place to keep the documents:)Great!Thank you, your information was very helpful! That all seems pretty straight forward, and painless like you said.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Basically if you are flying in you will go through US customs at the airport in Canada. You don't need to do anything different when you buy your ticket nor mention anything to anyone. When you go to board your flight you will be directed to US immigration. They are the ones you give your envelope and passport to. The questions they ask are general information ones - where are you going, is the address correct, when are you getting married, stuff like that. They may tell you that you can't leave the US until you get your AOS or your Advance Parole (AP) - some do, some don't.

VBG is a shortform way of writing "very big grin" - I always found it funny that they made us do the work to bring our own immigration files back to the US. After you turn in your file they will forward it to the USCIS office that has jurisdiction over where you will be living so it is waiting for you when you file for AOS.

[nathandace 0]

Basically if you are flying in you will go through US customs at the airport in Canada. You don't need to do anything different when you buy your ticket nor mention anything to anyone. When you go to board your flight you will be directed to US immigration. They are the ones you give your envelope and passport to. The questions they ask are general information ones - where are you going, is the address correct, when are you getting married, stuff like that. They may tell you that you can't leave the US until you get your AOS or your Advance Parole (AP) - some do, some don't.

VBG is a shortform way of writing "very big grin" - I always found it funny that they made us do the work to bring our own immigration files back to the US. After you turn in your file they will forward it to the USCIS office that has jurisdiction over where you will be living so it is waiting for you when you file for AOS.

Thats pretty straight forward. Thanks again! I'm just so full of questions today...If Where Im flying is going to be different than where I am staying will this become an issue? can i specify this to them? We want to marry in California, part of his family are there and the others are in kansas(which is the address used in our files)but will be at the wedding, and then after 2 months we will be relocating again to texas due to his job training for the militairy. so its kind of all over the place for us for the first little while.

[nathandace 0]

or would it directly go to the CSC because that is where everything else went through at the beginning of the K1 process? wait the CSC and the USCIS are different places right? im going to stop now before I really confuse myself. lol. it has been a long day!

Edited July 11, 2009 by canadian cutie

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Thats pretty straight forward. Thanks again! I'm just so full of questions today...If Where Im flying is going to be different than where I am staying will this become an issue? can i specify this to them? We want to marry in California, part of his family are there and the others are in kansas(which is the address used in our files)but will be at the wedding, and then after 2 months we will be relocating again to texas due to his job training for the militairy. so its kind of all over the place for us for the first little while.

You will need to provide them with an address where you will be residing and where you can get mail. It can be a different address than the one you had originally submitted for the K-1. When you file the AOS you should use the address where you will be staying at the time because they will send the receipts there as well as your appointment for fingerprinting (bioimetrics). You do your biometrics at a local office so it needs to be close to where you are living. If you move after filing AOS you have to notify USCIS of your new address so you receive your mail from USCIS. Your file doesn't generally go to the Service Centers like CSC - it is generally transferred to your local office for processing. The reason for this is if you need an interview it is done at your local office so they are considered the ones 'in charge' of the processing. Files can and do get transferred however to other service centers for processing, most notably CSC, and such applications are generally approved without an interview. It can get confusing. You do need to keep USCIS informed about where you are living at any given time, especially if you have an application pending.

Edited July 11, 2009 by Kathryn41

[nathandace 0]

Thats pretty straight forward. Thanks again! I'm just so full of questions today...If Where Im flying is going to be different than where I am staying will this become an issue? can i specify this to them? We want to marry in California, part of his family are there and the others are in kansas(which is the address used in our files)but will be at the wedding, and then after 2 months we will be relocating again to texas due to his job training for the militairy. so its kind of all over the place for us for the first little while.

You will need to provide them with an address where you will be residing and where you can get mail. It can be a different address than the one you had originally submitted for the K-1. When you file the AOS you should use the address where you will be staying at the time because they will send the receipts there as well as your appointment for fingerprinting (bioimetrics). You do your biometrics at a local office so it needs to be close to where you are living. If you move after filing AOS you have to notify USCIS of your new address so you receive your mail from USCIS. Your file doesn't generally go to the Service Centers like CSC - it is generally transferred to your local office for processing. The reason for this is if you need an interview it is done at your local office so they are considered the ones 'in charge' of the processing. Files can and do get transferred however to other service centers for processing, most notably CSC, and such applications are generally approved without an interview. It can get confusing. You do need to keep USCIS informed about where you are living at any given time, especially if you have an application pending.

Thank you, your information has been very helpful to me. It has also put my mind at ease so to speak. Im still full of questions though. While going through the secondary inspection do they ask similar questions as they do at customs? as well as the basic questions that you have already mentioned to me? like how much money I would bring, pleasure/business for example. Or would it strictly be reagrding the K1 Visa and documents?

[SapphireDreams 71]

^^ The questions in secondary will be about the K1 Visa - She opened my package and looked through it and quizzed me about things like, how did you meet? when did he propose? what city were his parents born in? (i had no idea haha), if I've ever been married before. I am one of the only person who had all these questions though. Most people don't get any questions so I wouldn't worry about!

[nathandace 0]

^^ The questions in secondary will be about the K1 Visa - She opened my package and looked through it and quizzed me about things like, how did you meet? when did he propose? what city were his parents born in? (i had no idea haha), if I've ever been married before. I am one of the only person who had all these questions though. Most people don't get any questions so I wouldn't worry about!

I was just more curious about if they would ask about money, because of the payments that have to be made before I leave I wont be going with a whole lot... therefore I wasnt sure if this would become an issue or not? Im just so excited that everything is finally happening that I over think things and worry. if that makes any sense?

[JillA 2]

^^ The questions in secondary will be about the K1 Visa - She opened my package and looked through it and quizzed me about things like, how did you meet? when did he propose? what city were his parents born in? (i had no idea haha), if I've ever been married before. I am one of the only person who had all these questions though. Most people don't get any questions so I wouldn't worry about!

I was just more curious about if they would ask about money, because of the payments that have to be made before I leave I wont be going with a whole lot... therefore I wasnt sure if this would become an issue or not? Im just so excited that everything is finally happening that I over think things and worry. if that makes any sense?

They don't care about the money, if you don't have much They just care that your fiance has money and he can support you during the immigration process LOL

[SapphireDreams 71]

Yeah they could care less about how much money you have. But make sure YOU have enough money for yourself!

I've been here a month and I have already used up a lot of my stash!! It's amazing how fast the money goes without a pay cheque, LOL.

[Hugglebuggles 60]

Nah, you don't need any money... that's what your fiance is for (hehehe)

Honestly, I drained my account tying off lose ends before I left. As a full time student paying her own way, there wasn't much left over after graduation, that's for sure.

The only question I was asked at the POE is if my fiance and I had married before trying to cross on the K-1. The guard flipped through the packet briefly but didn't really pay much attention to anything inside.

[nathandace 0]

Nah, you don't need any money... that's what your fiance is for (hehehe)

Honestly, I drained my account tying off lose ends before I left. As a full time student paying her own way, there wasn't much left over after graduation, that's for sure.

The only question I was asked at the POE is if my fiance and I had married before trying to cross on the K-1. The guard flipped through the packet briefly but didn't really pay much attention to anything inside.

Thanks so much everyone! I know what you mean Hugglebuggles, Im almost at that point as well. It does become quite costly to take care of everything in order to take the next step in life. In the end it's well worth it though. Thats how I am looking at it! Its a relief knowing that Im not alone, and that there are others willing to help. And that some of you can relate to me or vice versa. I really appreciate it.