So, I'm thinking ahead post receiving my visa

[M613 6]

Some questions:

1-the minute I get my visa, I intend on flying out to the States to be with the Monsieur. Is an airport do-able on a K-1? i always see anecdotes about people driving through a POE...

2-this AOS stuff... sigh. What do I start with after my wedding? AOS? EAD? Applying for a SSN (almost wrote SIN there... lol)... Yes, i intend on living in the US. And yes, I intend to work. My only concern is being able to visit Canada early next year... is this possible when waiting on the AOS stuff (if that is indeed the next step)?

I'm confused in advance (as usual)-any light shed on the above would be super helpful so that I know what to do and when to do it...

Thanks.

[Danu 19]

Some questions:

1-the minute I get my visa, I intend on flying out to the States to be with the Monsieur. Is an airport do-able on a K-1? i always see anecdotes about people driving through a POE...

2-this AOS stuff... sigh. What do I start with after my wedding? AOS? EAD? Applying for a SSN (almost wrote SIN there... lol)... Yes, i intend on living in the US. And yes, I intend to work. My only concern is being able to visit Canada early next year... is this possible when waiting on the AOS stuff (if that is indeed the next step)?

I'm confused in advance (as usual)-any light shed on the above would be super helpful so that I know what to do and when to do it...

Thanks.

You can apply for your AOS, EAD and AP all at the same time (its all included in the AOS fee). It usually takes 2-3 months to get your EAD and AP, once you have AP you can visit home. For your SSN you can apply right away, but most people seem to recommend waiting about 2-3 weeks after you POE so that they have the updated data from USCIS. Eitherwise they will say they have to do some kind of check into your status and that it could take up to 12 weeks to get your card, blah blah blah.

You can definately do K1 at an airport. If you're doing it at one with pre-clearance to the US (most if not all of the Canadian ones are like this) you can get there about 2 hours earlier than normal to do the immigration process. If you are leaving from one that doesnt prescreen and you have a stop in the middle, make sure you leave enough layover time between flights because the airport you fly into is your POE (ex..chicago) so you need to make sure you have 1.5-2 hours of layover time AT LEAST to POE, more for busy airports just incase, so that you dont miss your flight.

Hopefully that helps

[M613 6]

Thanks!

re: the time it takes at the airport--what do they do? yoink you into a small room...? Do I hand over the visa/sealed envelope the Embassy zooms my way if approved...?

[trailmix 77]

Thanks!

re: the time it takes at the airport--what do they do? yoink you into a small room...? Do I hand over the visa/sealed envelope the Embassy zooms my way if approved...?

They basically make you wait.

And yes, you hand over the envelope and your passport.

[M613 6]

Thanks TS... Excellent-more waiting. I'm contemplating getting "no more waiting' engraved into the inside of my ring... seriously.

[ashenflowers 5]

I've been wanting to use that all day.

[Krikit 1,165]

Make sure you apply for your SSN no later than 75 days after entry. They will not issue one if your I-94 is within two weeks of expiry. Best to read up on SSN's by the member "I Quit" over in the Working & Travelling forum. An awful lot of SSA offices don't have the expertise when it comes to K-1 visas so they can be problematic.

[Carlawarla 1]

While it's recommended you have a good 1.5 to 2 hours to get through things at the airport, that's just a general timeline so that you won't miss a connecting flight, or if someone is new that's processing your K-1. It might not be that long at all. I activated my K-1 at Minneapolis. Saskatoon doesn't have pre-clearance. I notified the flight attendant prior to our landing, and she mentioned something to the ground crew, and I was escorted to the line that flight crews go through. It took me all of 5 minutes to activate my K-1. They took my package, opened it up, had me scan my finger on the pad there, stapled my I-94 to my passport, and stamped my passport and wrote in my A number and expiry date. I was then let through. Really quick! I then had about an hour and 15 minutes to just hang around the airport.

[Krikit 1,165]

Holy mackerel. Now that's service! If it had happened at any of the preclearance centres or along the major land crossings they'd have made sure you missed your flight. lol