Place of Last Entry into United States on I-485

[YourHumboldtBud 2]

Part 3. Processing Information has a required line to fill in{Place of Last Entry into United States which asks for (City/State)} The question is if we had POE into Guam and Customs in Honolulu, HA which do we use as the proper information for the Line?

Edited January 17, 2013 by YourHumboldtBud

[Hank_ 9,174]

Honolulu, Hawaii is correct.

Guam is a territory of the USA, not a state.

[Mogambi 96]

I would put Honolulu. And then I would just write a simple additional that explains you had your POE in Guam, but didn't process until Honolulu. But I would say where you did customs and were processed is your real 'entry' into the USA.

[Hank_ 9,174]

There is zero reason to list Guam, even as a footnote, 3A of the I-485 is extremely clear - Place of last entry INTO the United States (City/State)... Guam is neither a city nor a state, nor is it IN the United States, its simply a territory.

Don't DO-DO when DO will DO.

Edited January 18, 2013 by Hank_

[Mogambi 96]

Not sure it's always so clear. It IS part of the United States in that it is a territory, it's citizens are US Citizens. And for instance in Puerto Rico, they pay US Taxes. So it's not quite right to say it's not part of the United States. It depends on 'how' you mean. In some ways yes, in some no. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask since many people going through Guam, go through a United States Point of Entry, as far as it seems.

[Hank_ 9,174]

Is it a state? Nope.

Is it a city in a state? Nope

Question on the I-485 is CITY and STATE.... Guam is neither, its a territory. Yes the citizens there are US citizens, I have family there, but that doesn't suddenly make Guam a state or a city within a state, its just a territory.

The questions is crystal clear. USCIS wants to know the STATE and CITY of entry into the United States... so that makes the answer extremely simple, unless you try to make a territory a state without following the Constitutional process.

[spearcy 2]

Guam is a "port of entry" into the United States. see http://www.cbp.gov/contact/ports/hagatna-guam

The fact that Guam is not a state is irrelevant. Entry into the U.S. occurs at Guam. It sounds like Guam was the first place you entered the U.S. and that Honolulu was perhaps the last. Arguably, however, since you entered the U.S. at Guam, you remained in the U.S. throughout your flight to Honolulu, and that, therefore, Guam was also the last place you entered the U.S. (since you never left the U.S. after Guam). The USCIS should, but does not, have readily available instructions to address this issue.

[Elf 146]

What does it say on the entry stamp in your passport?

[newacct 688]

In the context of immigration law, the "United States" is defined in INA 101(a)(38) (aka 8 USC 1101(a)(38)) to mean the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

For immigration law purposes, the OP entered the "United States" at Guam, and travel to Hawaii was an internal trip.

[JL818 18]

Bravo, newacct!

[spearcy 2]

Yep, that makes sense. Also, I like the suggestion that the answer lies with where the OP was when her passport was last stamped.

The OP's reference to going through customs in Honolulu after coming from Guam as a POE threw me off. On a single trip to the US involving multiple flights, I thought people went through US customs only once and at the applicable POE. So if Guam was really the POE for the OP, then it seems that customs would not have been necessary in HI. Do they ever land in Guam first, then transfer flights in Guam deferring formal customs "entry" until after landing in HI?

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

**** Closing almost 3 year old thread. Please check the date of the Op and last reply before replying to threads ******