Confused about POE?

[canadafiance 4]

My visa is being mailed out at the moment but I was wondering, after reading some reviews on here, about the POE.

I fly 3 weeks from now from the toronto airport with one stop, to florida. How early should I show up before the flight? Where exactly is the POE in the airport... where do I go? Am I suppose to go to a separate building of some sort? I'm very confused about this Point of Entry.

When I would visit US with my canadian passport, i just waited in line for customs....can anyone shed some light on this POE thing? Do they reinterview me, should i have any particular documents ready, how early should i really be there?

Thanks everyone in advance

[Sarahnick 19]

When you land all you do is the normal thing - walk to customs, give them your passport and envelope and they will mayby ask you a question or two and then send you to a different room where they will enter some information into the system, might get a question here too (I didn't, just got my passport back and was free to go) it really isn't that different from entering with a visitor visa. (At least it wasn't for me coming in to JFK) there might be a line in this second room btw, my entry took about 2,5hrs (2hrs waiting in line to get to customs then other half hour waiting in this other room)

[k_stacky 65]

Go here; http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/poereviews.php?poe=Toronto&dfilter=0

It's reviews from people on the forum who have entered by Toronto. Very helpful to give you an idea of what you can expect

[Mo+Sara 2]

If you are flying from Pearson in Toronto you will be doing your immigration in Toronto. The same place you did your customs is where they take care of the visa activation. My spouse had a 9am flight and arrived at airport at 6am but the wait time at the customs was very long she ended up missing her flight because it took the immigration people 50 mins to activate her visa and that was after he waiting in a long customs line. So avoid travelling early in morning and avoid Mondays was what the Immigration officer told my spouse. The process was easy just go up the to immigration officer tell them about your immigrating to the USA and they will do it right there or take you to secondary area to activate the visa. But be prepared by having your documents given to you with your passport and be prepared to wait and arrive early.

[canadafiance 4]

If you are flying from Pearson in Toronto you will be doing your immigration in Toronto. The same place you did your customs is where they take care of the visa activation. My spouse had a 9am flight and arrived at airport at 6am but the wait time at the customs was very long she ended up missing her flight because it took the immigration people 50 mins to activate her visa and that was after he waiting in a long customs line. So avoid travelling early in morning and avoid Mondays was what the Immigration officer told my spouse. The process was easy just go up the to immigration officer tell them about your immigrating to the USA and they will do it right there or take you to secondary area to activate the visa. But be prepared by having your documents given to you with your passport and be prepared to wait and arrive early.

thanks for the tips and clearing up my confusion! My flight is on a wednesday at 6 pm. I know you are suppose to be at the airport 2 hours before a domestic flight and 3 hours before an international flight, i'll be sure to be 4 hours before the flight just in case!

[Pennycat 880]

POE is "port of entry". You've passed through POE many times--- this time you're going through with a more complicated visa so you need to allot extra time.

Your circumstance is a bit different because Pearson airport has the US immigration in Canada so I suppose that's your "POE".

Please read this thread about a recent negative experience at Pearson and what you may be able to do to avoid/prepare for it:

Long story short-- the visa was valid but the I-129f was expired and they gave her hassle at Pearson and had to get the i-129f extended at the consulate etc. Basically, check that expiration date because apparently these guys can be wrong/picky/whatever and see if you can address it or at least prepare for them to do this to you.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/567308-k1-denied-at-poe-however-visa-expires-02042016/

[canadafiance 4]

POE is "port of entry". You've passed through POE many times--- this time you're going through with a more complicated visa so you need to allot extra time.

Your circumstance is a bit different because Pearson airport has the US immigration in Canada so I suppose that's your "POE".

Please read this thread about a recent negative experience at Pearson and what you may be able to do to avoid/prepare for it:

Long story short-- the visa was valid but the I-129f was expired and they gave her hassle at Pearson and had to get the i-129f extended at the consulate etc. Basically, check that expiration date because apparently these guys can be wrong/picky/whatever and see if you can address it or at least prepare for them to do this to you.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/567308-k1-denied-at-poe-however-visa-expires-02042016/

oh my god thats awful. thats insanely unfair. my petition expired on the 19th of nov and my flight is on the 25th. I just got my visa issued and i will pick it up tomorrow. I read that even though the petition expires, you can still use the visa for 6 months (its valid)! I cannot believe they did that. It makes it nearly impossible leave in time.

[JusticeWarrior67 3]

The port of entry is the gate through which you get inspected by an immigration officer (called a CBP officer) this is the guy/woman you need to show your K-1 visa, and visa package to. When you are granted entry, you have 90 days to get married AND apply for adjustment of status. When you received your first Notice of Action (form I-797) in the mail, you may stay in the states up until the decision about your case is decided upon (whether you are approved or denied)

In the meantime, you can apply for work authorization (form I-764) and advance patrol (form I-301) card if you wish.

[Pennycat 880]

oh my god thats awful. thats insanely unfair. my petition expired on the 19th of nov and my flight is on the 25th. I just got my visa issued and i will pick it up tomorrow. I read that even though the petition expires, you can still use the visa for 6 months (its valid)! I cannot believe they did that. It makes it nearly impossible leave in time.

Right. Those CPB officers were wrong (as you can see reading the thread) but unfortunately, they have all the power right or wrong. Now, I really really really hope for your and everyone else's sake that these officers have been educated (and hopefully punished) over this issue. But, just in case.... when you pick up your visa, ask if they did or could they extend your petition as well. In fact, can you call them now to ask to do this? You could also private message the member this happened to or more active users who were helping her to get some tips. I'm sorry I don't have any beyond calling or asking while you're there. Now, just because this happened to her doesn't mean it will happen to you. It was clearly a fluke. I just thought it would be good to be prepared just in case.

[canadafiance 4]

Right. Those CPB officers were wrong (as you can see reading the thread) but unfortunately, they have all the power right or wrong. Now, I really really really hope for your and everyone else's sake that these officers have been educated (and hopefully punished) over this issue. But, just in case.... when you pick up your visa, ask if they did or could they extend your petition as well. In fact, can you call them now to ask to do this? You could also private message the member this happened to or more active users who were helping her to get some tips. I'm sorry I don't have any beyond calling or asking while you're there. Now, just because this happened to her doesn't mean it will happen to you. It was clearly a fluke. I just thought it would be good to be prepared just in case.

thanks for letting me know.trying to get someone on the phone is torturing me right now;.. no one is picking up. I hope they solved the problem with her. I will have NO home, no job, no family if they deny me entrance.

also I read on travel.state.gov that you can extend the petition BEFORE a visa is issued- but now that my visa is issued... i dont need the petition. I have no idea who to talk to about this. I keep feeling like no matter how much i stress and finally get things done, it will be taken from me. I could get denied simply because my flight is 6 days after my expiry date on the stupid petition. I am so nervous now.

[Pennycat 880]

thanks for letting me know.trying to get someone on the phone is torturing me right now;.. no one is picking up. I hope they solved the problem with her. I will have NO home, no job, no family if they deny me entrance.

also I read on travel.state.gov that you can extend the petition BEFORE a visa is issued- but now that my visa is issued... i dont need the petition. I have no idea who to talk to about this. I keep feeling like no matter how much i stress and finally get things done, it will be taken from me. I could get denied simply because my flight is 6 days after my expiry date on the stupid petition. I am so nervous now.

Don't worry, seriously, this will all be fine. I didn't mention this to scare you, so please don't get nervous. Just trying to give you information!

So, try again with the consulate. They should be open, I think. Or ask when you pick it up. For all you know, they've started automatically extending petitions (some consulates do) after this situation.

Read the thread-- it turned out fine for the OP (and this happened to her Tuesday, her wedding was Friday!). If your worst-case scenario looks like her scenario, you'll be fine (and honestly it's better than it happening at a US airport--- you'd have to fly back to wherever you came from to go to the consulate there). If they didn't/won't/can't extend the validity of the petition, just go to POE and if they bring it up, show where it shows the visa validity and go from there.

[Pennycat 880]

They seem to respond to emails if you want to try that:

"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."

[Vicky&Fritz 33]

You can't call the Montreal consulate. You can only email them. They can be slow to respond (took them 3 business days to respond to us once *Iwantedtoscream*) so I would recommend emailing them as soon as possible. You'll pick up your passport from Loomis, not from the Consulate, so Loomis won't be able to help much.

Best wishes.

[canadafiance 4]

They seem to respond to emails if you want to try that:

"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."

I read that :/ I just emailed them. Hopefully I will get a response soon. I would scream if they denied me. I know their email will say that the petition wont matter. I dont know what I'm going to do. This is terrifying now.

[Pennycat 880]

I read that :/ I just emailed them. Hopefully I will get a response soon. I would scream if they denied me. I know their email will say that the petition wont matter. I dont know what I'm going to do. This is terrifying now.

Again, seriously don't worry. The likelihood that you're even going to encounter the same officer is low, and the chances that that man has been reprimanded are high. This was only intended to give you *information* so that you could try to cross every i and dot every t just in case you encounter some idiot, and IF you encounter some idiot, know what to do and know that above all, everything is going to be ok.

I am seriously regretting trying to help now.