Traveling to Canada (by car), with green card

[Danielle and Jake 24]

Hello all,

My wife came here on a K1 visa, we got married, did the AOS, got EAD/AP combo card, and in early May she got her green card (the 2 year conditional one).

This next week we are planning on driving back to Canada to visit some of her family and we are just wondering what to expect at the border and what she will need to present. Will the green card be sufficient? Of course she will have her Canadian passport, EAD/AP combo card, and a copy of our marriage certificate (I've been told it can't hurt, and just because her passport is in her maiden name, but her EAD/AP and GC are in her married name, so this "connects the dots"). I just don't know if when we cross (either away) if we just hand all the to them at once, or give them her passport and GC if asked, or just the GC, etc.? Just don't want to look foolish at the border and mess something up.

Thanks,

Jake

Edited July 17, 2016 by Danielle and Jake

[Idy Fdez 34]

Hi!!

Just passport and GC of course take the copy of your marriage certificate just in case, all it depends on the officer at the border.

Have fun and enjoy your trip. the worse part (all the immigration process) is already in the past!!

[arken 4,197]

Your EAD/AP card is now useless so don't bother to carry that. Other than that, you give them what they ask for.

[Dashinka 24,781]

Agreed, you can frame the EAD/AP, take the passport, GC and marriage certificate. From what I heard, land crossings are fairly easy especially since she is a Canadian citizen, but they may ask a few more questions since you will have a US passport. Just be honest and you should be fine.

Good Luck and have a safe journey!

[Danielle and Jake 24]

So we just got back from our trip and I figure I'd share how the border crossing went.

The lady at the border didn't ask for anything specific, so we gave them just our passports (my American one, and her Canadian), the border guard asks both our citizenship statuses, residency status, and Danielle notes she has a green card, and the guard let out an enormous sigh before berating us on how we need to present that first because with her GC, her passport is "null and void", and "we should have been told this during processing". We apologized, she continued to lay it own thick, pointed out the visa page in Danielle's passport, mentioned how it's expired, so she ripped it out and disposed of that piece of paper because it's worthless now. She kind of continued berating us on and off as she asked the other questions ("Where did you go?", "Who did you see?", "Got anything besides your luggage?", etc.), then told us to have a nice day.

So I guess according to this guard, Danielle only needs to present her GC? I guess for future trips, we'll just hand them both. Should we be worried how the guard just ripped out the expired visa page and threw it away? We've completed the AOS for 2 year conditional GC, our next step will be ROC.

Thanks!

[Dashinka 24,781]

So we just got back from our trip and I figure I'd share how the border crossing went.

The lady at the border didn't ask for anything specific, so we gave them just our passports (my American one, and her Canadian), the border guard asks both our citizenship statuses, residency status, and Danielle notes she has a green card, and the guard let out an enormous sigh before berating us on how we need to present that first because with her GC, her passport is "null and void", and "we should have been told this during processing". We apologized, she continued to lay it own thick, pointed out the visa page in Danielle's passport, mentioned how it's expired, so she ripped it out and disposed of that piece of paper because it's worthless now. She kind of continued berating us on and off as she asked the other questions ("Where did you go?", "Who did you see?", "Got anything besides your luggage?", etc.), then told us to have a nice day.

So I guess according to this guard, Danielle only needs to present her GC? I guess for future trips, we'll just hand them both. Should we be worried how the guard just ripped out the expired visa page and threw it away? We've completed the AOS for 2 year conditional GC, our next step will be ROC.

Thanks!

Just a question of clarification. Was this when re-entering the US, or when you entered Canada? It sounds like the US re-entry point, and if so, I think they are right, you just need to present the GC. I don't think her passport is now null and void, maybe they were referring to the visa itself.

Anyway, glad to hear you had a safe trip.

Edited July 27, 2016 by Bill & Katya

[arken 4,197]

While she was right on telling you that GC had to be given while entering US, she shouldn't have ripped the page out of your wife's passport. While it will have no problem in itself, if your wife is travelling to a country which requires a visa or needs stamping upon arrival at that country, they sometime flip through all pages of the passport to see if everything is good. If a page is ripped off, they might suspect something is OFF and might create a fuss.

[Danielle and Jake 24]

While she was right on telling you that GC had to be given while entering US, she shouldn't have ripped the page out of your wife's passport. While it will have no problem in itself, if your wife is travelling to a country which requires a visa or needs stamping upon arrival at that country, they sometime flip through all pages of the passport to see if everything is good. If a page is ripped off, they might suspect something is OFF and might create a fuss.

Technically it was just the paper that was stapled to the visa page, but yeah, I agree.

[Danielle and Jake 24]

Just a question of clarification. Was this when re-entering the US, or when you entered Canada? It sounds like the US re-entry point, and if so, I think they are right, you just need to present the GC. I don't think her passport is now null and void, maybe they were referring to the visa itself.

Anyway, glad to hear you had a safe trip.

Thanks! And yes, it was upon returning to the US. We just weren't sure what to do, as I have heard multiple things from various people, mainly just saying give passport first, then whatever they ask for. But yeah, it's just a little demeaning to be treated like that and it takes a lot to bite your tongue when someone is talking to you like an idiot. It wasn't like we wasted her time, it took an additional 20 seconds, and we were actually one of the faster passages at that border during the that time. What's so difficult about saying "Sir/Madam, you should provide the green card first", rather than acting like a grumpy teenager?

Sorry, just got to vent. During this entire immigration process, I have encountered some workers with the worst attitudes.

Edited July 27, 2016 by Danielle and Jake

[arken 4,197]

Technically it was just the paper that was stapled to the visa page, but yeah, I agree.

It's cool then. That paper has no meaning now that she is a GC holder. Anyway she was definitely rude though.