Passport not being swiped or stamped

[JFH 12,190]

We are getting married in 6 weeks and will be starting the CR1 process then.

He is currently in Seattle but will be returning to Colorado next year when he has finished school. When I go to Seattle I often, for cost reasons, fly to Vancouver and then take the Boltbus across the border and enter by land at Blaine.

In March of this year I went for 12 days. My passport was stamped and swiped through the reader at Blaine, fingerprints and photo taken, standard questions asked, etc. I'm from a VWP country so he stamped the standard 90 days as WT. I went home as planned after 12 days.

At the airport on the way home the flight was oversold and I volunteered to take a later connection in return for a $600 voucher from the airline. As soon as I got home I exchanged the voucher for another ticket to go in late April for a long weekend.

This time at Blaine he looked at my passport and said "you were here just last month". I explained I had been given a quasi free ticket so I came back to see him. The officer smiled and said "Good job!" And handed me my passport without swiping it, stamping it, taking my picture or fingerprints. I asked him why he didn't and he said my stamp from before was still valid. I carried on with my journey.

5 days later I came back through Blaine with my very small carry on bag - I travel light and have a lot of things at my fiancé's place anyway - and Canadian border patrol asked what I had been doing since the beginning of March with just a small bag and how I had supported myself for so long. I explained I had only been in Washington for 5 days but my passport wasn't stamped because the previous stamp was still valid and the officer had said there was no need to re-stamp. I was called a liar and was told that this "does not happen". I was questioned further and when I showed that I only wanted to enter Canada to take a flight to London and showed my ticket booked for that very night I was eventually allowed to continue.

I went back to Washington for a week in June. This time at the border the officer swiped my passport and asked how long I was there for when I arrived in March. I told him 12 days. He said he had a record of me leaving in April and that this was longer than 12 days. I told him the saga of the April visit and no stamp and again he called me a liar and questioned me further. He said he couldn't be sure I was only going to stay for a week in June based on my previous "conflicting story". I showed my return ticket and I had also printed off a copy of the office rota which showed my annual leave for a week and then the shifts I was working when I returned.

Is this April drama likely to haunt me forever and cause problems for my CR1? I left in June on the exact flight I had booked, exactly as I said I would. I'm going back next month for our wedding.

Anyone else had any problems with passport stamps/entry records not being correct?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Apparently it is unusual according to the Canadian guys. Do you have a boarding pass showing you boarded a flight out of Canada to corroborate your story?

[JFH 12,190]

Unfortunately I had a mobile boarding pass because I have been known to lose passports and boarding passes before. Lesson learned, I'll use paper boarding passes from now on.

I have kept itineraries and booking confirmations from the travel agent. And the bus tickets for the Vancouver - Seattle Boltbus.

[Boiler 45,467]

Seems the problem is with the Canadian side not knowing US practice.

[mtempelaar 190]

I had mobile etickets and I was still able to retrieve them and print them out depending on the airline. If you had it sent to email, maybe it's still in there? If you have an iPhone did you put it in Passport so you can screenshot it?

[Ryan H 3,812]

***Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to Working & Traveling During US Immigration; topic is more related to travel than the immigration process itself.***

**Moderator hat off**

Is this April drama likely to haunt me forever and cause problems for my CR1? I left in June on the exact flight I had booked, exactly as I said I would. I'm going back next month for our wedding.

This will not cause problems for the CR-1 process.

[JFH 12,190]

I had mobile etickets and I was still able to retrieve them and print them out depending on the airline. If you had it sent to email, maybe it's still in there? If you have an iPhone did you put it in Passport so you can screenshot it?

The tickets I have. But the ticket just shows you bought a ticket, not that you actually got on the plane. The boarding pass shows you checked in (and one would normally assume you subsequently boarded the flight although that's not always the case) and is the closest to proof that you actually travelled, apart from getting hold of the flight manifest.

[Kiwinyc 62]

The tickets I have. But the ticket just shows you bought a ticket, not that you actually got on the plane. The boarding pass shows you checked in (and one would normally assume you subsequently boarded the flight although that's not always the case) and is the closest to proof that you actually travelled, apart from getting hold of the flight manifest.

Frequent Flier records would show you traveled on the dates you said you did? Can you print those out? We used my Frequent Flier records to show dates of visits as evidence of meeting for our i-129f.