Sam and Ben
Difficulty:  | Review Topic: Port of Entry Review
We crossed at the Ambassador Bridge early morning on Sunday, December 27th (about 6:45am). My fiance and I drove in his truck, with all of my things dispersed amongst eight large totes in the bed of the truck and the rest within suitcases in the cab (including his luggage for the visit prior to our moving). My totes were covered my a large tarp and fastened with heavy ratchet ties.
When we approached the booth, we told the officer that we were activating my K1 Visa and that we were headed down to Florida. He asked what was in the truck - to which I handed him a copy of my inventory list - and how much money (US and Canadian) I was traveling with. He took down my fiance's plates and then handed back everything we had given him and told us to drive on up to where some officers were standing.
These officers told us to get out, asked us what was in the truck (handed them the list again) and told us to head inside. We were two of only six people in there, so I was real glad about that. We were called up right away and after telling the officer that we were activating my Visa, I handed him the sealed envelope. He asked Ben's address, took our passports and told us to sit down.
This guy had clearly not dealt with K1s very often, as he called me up a couple of minutes later and asked which office I had filed my visa at. I was confused, so I asked if he meant where we had filed the petition at (Vermont) or where I interviewed for the visa (Montreal). He said he meant the office near Ben's address where we would've filed the petition. I politely explained that only Vermont handles our type of petition, however everything filed after this will be done through the Orlando USCIS office. This answer seemed to satisfy him, so he said he was almost done and we could sit for a couple more minutes.
After about ten minutes (mostly watching him socialize with the other officers), he called us up once again and we watched him staple the I-94 to the second page of my passport. I paid him the money ($6) for the stamp and he asked when we were getting married, wished us good luck and congratulations. He then reminded me to file "the rest of this stuff" asap after getting married.
We took our things and went outside. The officers had definitely gone through the truck - all of our ties were undone and to the side, the tarp was moved and two of the totes were cut open (I had to tape down the lids to keep them shut). The suitcases in the cab were rearranged, but it didn't look as if anything there had been opened.
All in all, took about 45 minutes, the majority of which was waiting. Very painless.
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Port of Entry Member Review #14577
Entry Date: 2009-12-27