Got questioned at Ottawa airport while visiting

[Tim and Erin 3]

Thought I'd share my story about the Ottawa airport July 30...

So I get through security, and the next person (woman) takes my passport and asks the usual questions..."Where you going? for how long? why so soon after the last visit? (April-June)who are you staying with? when did you meet? how often have you visited each other? how will you support yourself during your lengthy visit? (told her "I have enough money.") got a job to go back to? return ticket?"...

I expected all those questions and was prepared (return ticket for October 23, letter from my place of employment giving me time off, had my bank book handy in case I was asked, had a copy of everything we've submitted for my visa application from day one). As she's looking through my passport she suddenly said "I don't know if I can let you stay any longer than..." and I'm thinking "NOOOOOOOOOOOO! PLEASE DON'T SAY ONLY ONE MONTH!" ...then she says "...October 17." I'm like ??? So calmly I said "My return flight is for October 23...why the difference of a few days?" She said "Well, you were already in the U.S. from April 20-June 17...(long pause as she continues looking at my passport)...then...."Ya know what? I'm just going to send you over here to talk to another officer." .........

So I silently said a prayer as I waited about 10 minutes to talk to a carbon copy of a young Sylvester Stallone He was very polite and talked with a "New Yoke" accent He asked me a few of the same questions the woman had asked. I answered them as briefly as possible, and made sure I didn't elaborate on anything for fear of maybe talking TOO much and making myself look suspicious. There were agonizingly long pauses between questions as he navigated on his computer. He asked "How did you meet?" "Playing Yahoo pool." "You can play pool online? How does that work?" Who DOESN'T know about online games? lol I think he was trying to trip me up. Another long pause...another question..."What's your boyfriend's middle name?" Easy one of course because I've written it enough times on forms!

Another long pause..."When's his birthdate?" Well I SCREWED UP BIG TIME! I said May 28 '55, but then I realized my mistake and said "Oh sorry, May 28th was my ex's birthdate" and I giggled nervously. "Easy mistake" he said, and he grinned. THEN I realized I had given him the wrong year too! "Oh and it's 1957, not 55." He said "So they're the same zodiac sign then?" "More or less." "So do they have the same type of personality?" "Gosh NO!" and I giggled again. He said "I suppose that's why you divorced, huh?" "Uh huh."

I forget how we finally got to this point, but when I mentioned I was visiting Tim to kill some time while we waited for my visa, he said "Oh so you're married?" "Nope...this is a K-1 visa." "What's that?" At this point I realized what he was doing, and even though I KNEW that he knew what I was talking about, I launched into a brief description of the different types of visas He asked "How did you learn all this stuff?" I told him that visajourney.com was a great website and has been very helpful..."Don't even need an immigration lawyer" I said. Would you believe he went online and found VJ?? I told him "My name on VJ is Erin G. in case you want to see some of the messages I've left." "No, that's not necessary" he said.

I told him we had recently received packet 3 from Montreal. He played dumb again and asked what that was. I offered to show him some stuff I'd brought with me, and he flipped through it. Then he finished the interview by saying "Well it looks like you know your stuff and you're not doing anything illegal...blah blah blah...Have a good trip." I could have hugged him! I have to admit that even though this gentleman was very thorough, he was always polite and never really intimidating like some officers are, and he smiled often during the questioning. But his long periods of silence drove me absolutely crazy!

As I walked out I said to Mr. Stallone "Enjoy your day, and God bless you." as I tried not to dance my way out of there.

[brightskte 18]

I'm so happy you got let through! You really kept your cool and handled yourself well.

I'm the same way. Long silences make me want to cry, lol.

Now have a fun trip!

[Kimbear 53]

Wow that went better than some stories i've read. hehe ah man i woulda been soo nervous if i messed up a name or birthdate. Glad he was nice with you and kept smiling, that makes a while lotta difference! Enjoy your time together!

[JeannieL 44]

Congrats! Enjoy your visit! I am trying to convince myself to go for a visit. Your success story made my day! Thanks for sharing!

[canadian_wife 1,829]

Excellent! You kept calm, had ties to Canada AND your packet! Couldn't have presented a better case

Enjoy your time in the US

Good luck

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Well done