K1 Denied at POE, However Visa Expires 02/04/2016

[TBoneTX 45,289]

Several posts have been removed -- one written by someone who hadn't read the thread, and subsequent replies or references to the removed material.

VJ Moderation

[moemac59 192]

The fact that this happened is really bothering me, I am waiting for my visa to arrive and I thought about using pearson airport, I was worrying about this EXACT issue.

My NOA2 is also expired. How could they allow this to happen? why would the US consulate write a petition expiry date on the visa after it has been approved???? Dont they realise this might cause confusion with the retarded CBP officers?

Im thinking about going through billy bishop in downtown toronto, maybe avoiding US pre-clearance at pearson may solve this, they seem really incompetent

I am really sorry this happened to you, its unfortunate the montreal consulate dosent take phone calls regarding immigrant visas

Ninja,

Did you call Billy Bishop to see if there is someone there that can activate your K1 Visa?

If you want to avoid trying to activate at YYZ maybe drive through Lewiston or Niagara Falls and activate it there and then fly out of Buffalo?

Lewiston has IO's there that can activate. That is where crossed I crossed over when I did mine and it took all of 30 mins processing time.

[moemac59 192]

Hello everyone!

Thank you for all your kind words, support, and advice. I'm here with an update of what I've done so far.

I emailed Montreal-IV-DV@state.gov last night about the issue and provided a copy of my passport photo page and K1 visa. They responded at 9:30AM this morning saying I could mail back my envelope for re-sealing or return to Montreal in person. I informed them I would come in person tomorrow morning to get it re-sealed because I have my wedding to attend to on Friday.

Soon after I booked a bus ticket to Montreal and after 7.5 hours on the road, I've finally arrived! I was able to rearrange the flight I missed with American Airlines last night to one leaving out of Montreal tomorrow evening instead so I not only avoid the trip back to Toronto, but potentially another round of the petition/NOA2 expiry vs. visa expiry dates fiasco. Thank you to those to urged me to POE somewhere else, I hope to have better luck out of Montreal.

I'll be at the consulate for 8AM tomorrow. I hope things will work out this time and that no one else here has to suffer what I did.

Oh thank god that you were able to get to Montreal and that they can resolve this for you.

Fingers crossed that you had a smooth POE at YUL.

[NinjaMax 14]

Ninja,

Did you call Billy Bishop to see if there is someone there that can activate your K1 Visa?

If you want to avoid trying to activate at YYZ maybe drive through Lewiston or Niagara Falls and activate it there and then fly out of Buffalo?

Lewiston has IO's there that can activate. That is where crossed I crossed over when I did mine and it took all of 30 mins processing time.

they do not have pre-clearance there, im assuming its better to land on US soil and do it like that?

the other thing I was thinking of doing was taking the Bus to new york and going through the buffalo bridge.

Did you also have an expired NOA2 when you crossed?

[moemac59 192]

Im re-reading and you said you were denied at Toronto Airport... Thats not even the POE. That just makes it more strange. I might be confused but why would they open your packet while you're still in Canada? Should open it when you land in California.

Tyson I know that someone has already informed you of this but when traveling to the US from Canada you usually go thru US Customs at the Canadian airports.

[Hypnos 6,576]

what I'm saying is that CBP officer has every right to refuse entry. And he/she can come up with whatever reason he/she wants to as an explanation...

CBP officers, whilst having wide discretion and latitude, do have have infinite discretion and latitude. They must follow the law and established procedures, and that was clearly not done in this case.

No one should be defending him here; he was clearly wrong.

[heatheve 40]

Hello everyone,

I returned to the Montreal consulate at noon and received a new sealed envelope and a reissued visa. They made the petition/NOA2 expiry and visa expiry dates match, and now they are both shown as expiring on 04FEB2016. While they did not offer much sympathy, they said I did nothing wrong on my end and nor did they. The person I briefly spoke to said they "can't predict how the CBP officers at the border will interpret things."

My fiancé already contacted his congressman about this (he actually emailed him yesterday morning before we received a response from the Montreal consulate). It's still aggravating that I had to spend a great sum of time, money and energy all because of a CBP officer who had a "cold heart" (as his coworker jokingly said when I was denied entry at YYZ).

Now the next thing on my plate is making sure I can catch my connecting flight out of Chicago this evening. Hopefully there will not be any flight delays, but who knows it is O'Hare after all...

Anyways I understand that many of the repliers on this thread are confused, and so was I when I was told I was being denied for having an expired NOA2/petition. The Montreal Consulate said they did nothing wrong on their end, and I did my research beforehand on people entering with K-1's with expired petitions. Who knows. I just got very unlucky and I hope this doesn't happen to anyone else in the future.

Thanks to everyone who gave us words of encouragement and sympathy. We truly appreciate it.

Edited September 24, 2015 by heatheve

[NinjaMax 14]

Hello everyone,

I returned to the Montreal consulate at noon and received a new sealed envelope and a reissued visa. They made the petition/NOA2 expiry and visa expiry dates match, and now they are both shown as expiring on 04FEB2016. While they did not offer much sympathy, they said I did nothing wrong on my end and nor did they. The person I briefly spoke to said they "can't predict how the CBP officers at the border will interpret things."

My fiancé already contacted his congressman about this (he actually emailed him yesterday morning before we received a response from the Montreal consulate). It's still aggravating that I had to spend a great sum of time, money and energy all because of a CBP officer who had a "cold heart" (as his coworker jokingly said when I was denied entry at YYZ).

Now the next thing on my plate is making sure I can catch my connecting flight out of Chicago this evening. Hopefully there will not be any flight delays, but who knows it is O'Hare after all...

Anyways I understand that many of the repliers on this thread are confused, and so was I when I was told I was being denied for having an expired NOA2/petition. The Montreal Consulate said they did nothing wrong on their end, and I did my research beforehand on people entering with K-1's with expired petitions. Who knows. I just got very unlucky and I hope this doesn't happen to anyone else in the future.

Thanks to everyone who gave us words of encouragement and sympathy. We truly appreciate it.

good luck, glad to hear they helped you.

do you think its worth emailing the montreal consulate and asking them to renew my NOA2 expiry date because mine has already passed? they have not issued my visa yet though, still waiting on sending them docs.

[CanadianYinzer 31]

"can't predict how the CBP officers at the border will interpret things."

This irritates me. It's not something to interpret. It's knowing how to do your job properly.

​Congrats on getting this all straightened out! I'm glad I didn't see this before Tuesday. My fiance crossed the border (land) on the 22nd and his NOA2 exp was Sept 11. Luckily, he got an officer that knew what she was doing.

[heatheve 40]

NinjaMax, the Montreal consulate from my experience answers emails quickly so it wouldn't hurt to try. To be honest, it shouldn't have been an issue but it was for me unfortunately.

CanadianYinzer, I agree when he told me that it annoyed me too. But I am glad to hear that things went well with you.

Now for another update, I'm currently at YUL waiting for flight 1 of 2 tonight. I went through the Nexus line and informed the agent I was activating a K1 visa, then handed over my passport, Nexus card, U.S. customs declaration card, and the sealed envelope. He walked me to secondary where another CBP agent went through my documents. I was asked to take a seat and 10-15 minutes later I was given my passport back without any hassle or questioning.

[tbearz 22]

I'm lost for words. And hope all goes well now. My fiancee and here daughter come from China next week. POE Seattle. My NOA2 Expiry date is 8-14-15, PET Expiry date 12-11-15 and visa Expiry date 1-22-16. Is there anyway to assure this wouldn't happened again or anything I can do to make sure it wouldn't happen?

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

NinjaMax, the Montreal consulate from my experience answers emails quickly so it wouldn't hurt to try. To be honest, it shouldn't have been an issue but it was for me unfortunately.

CanadianYinzer, I agree when he told me that it annoyed me too. But I am glad to hear that things went well with you.

Now for another update, I'm currently at YUL waiting for flight 1 of 2 tonight. I went through the Nexus line and informed the agent I was activating a K1 visa, then handed over my passport, Nexus card, U.S. customs declaration card, and the sealed envelope. He walked me to secondary where another CBP agent went through my documents. I was asked to take a seat and 10-15 minutes later I was given my passport back without any hassle or questioning.

Glad to hear! That is how it should have been the first time.

[aruadha 58]

NinjaMax, the Montreal consulate from my experience answers emails quickly so it wouldn't hurt to try. To be honest, it shouldn't have been an issue but it was for me unfortunately.

CanadianYinzer, I agree when he told me that it annoyed me too. But I am glad to hear that things went well with you.

Now for another update, I'm currently at YUL waiting for flight 1 of 2 tonight. I went through the Nexus line and informed the agent I was activating a K1 visa, then handed over my passport, Nexus card, U.S. customs declaration card, and the sealed envelope. He walked me to secondary where another CBP agent went through my documents. I was asked to take a seat and 10-15 minutes later I was given my passport back without any hassle or questioning.

Been following your story and I must say I am glad you are having better treatment at this POE.

You have appeared to handle yourself well throughout this ordeal and your Embassy was also very helpful.

I hope you have a wonderful wedding tomorrow!! Best of Luck!

[CvM & LPC 0]

This is all good feedback. I am sorry this has happend to you, but good thing I checked mine. I bought the plane tickets to go pick up my fiance and fly with her back to the USA the other day, and my NOA2 'expires' October 16, 2015 and our flight is scheduled for October 14, 2015.

[TBoneTX 45,289]

*** Thread moved from K-1 Process forum to the K-1 Case Progress subforum. ***

OP, come back to wrap up the story when you can. You're welcome to leave the thread open as long as you want, or to request its closure at any point (hit the "report" button).