This is my first poll, so I hope I've done it right... and hope the questions make sense! I'm undecided about whether to fly into JFK especially, or if it will end up being more hassle than it's worth in the long run when I'll be able to fly direct for less money...

Lovely poll. I'm anxiously awaiting the results!

yes and yes! It was actually cheaper for me to fly from LHR - JFK - LAX, it was the cheapest option on opodo.com, so it was very worth it! I did miss my connecting flight though...

No we didn't. No particular reason, we just didn't.

We went through JFK because it was the cheapest route. We did not ask for or recieve an EAD. After clearing customs and immigration we had about 30 minute before our flight out of the 1hr 30 min scheduled layover. Part of this was because Delta was late.

She didn't plan on working so having an EAD wasn't important. We later got her SSN without a problem.

Good poll. I was thinking about having my guy fly into JFK just for the EAD stamp. It might even be cheaper (as people have written here) than going direct to LAX!

I flew into JFK with a K1 in 2005. I didn't ask for an EAD stamp but got one anyway. The officer who stamped my passport was in training and the other officer training him told him that people with K1s received the EAD stamp. It was cheaper for me to fly into JFK and take a couple of connecting flights to NC. It worked out well for me as I started waiting tables a couple of weeks after I arrived!

*bump*

Hopefully more people catch this today and reply.

Thanks for bumping! And thanks to everyone who's answered so far... I've been thinking all along that I'll definitely make sure JFK is my POE (although after looking at how expensive/awkward it's likely to be to find seats on flights at very short notice when the time comes, I've been kind of in two minds....) but thought the best people to ask whether it's worth doing are the ones who've already done it - or not, as the case may be!

Hmm, looks like JFK has the edge, just about, so far... I hope more people vote, 'cos I'm really interested in what everyone thinks.

Yes my fiance entered through JFK and got the EAD stamp.

This is our plan - we will be living in NYC and I think most of the connecting flights from KTM go to JFK, unless you fly Continental from Delhi, which goes to Newark. So he will definitely be getting the temp. EA stamp, if they are still offering it there then.

No, we didn't get the temp EAD stamp. A trip to pick her up from JFK would have taken more than 1 day to complete (I've never driven inside NYC, and don't want to start anytime), and she was panicky (justifiably) about going through customs and then transferring. Added to that, our spiritual father didn't like the idea of us getting a certificate (from MD or VA) and then proceeding to the retreat (before church wedding) as a couple.

Basically, way too much hassle for a document valid only 90 days--so no regrets!

He'll be flying into JFK when he moves here, though we're hoping for the EAD stamp that's not the primary reason. I (the USC) live about 50 miles east of the city and am not big on driving long distance. JFK has the "train to the plane" setup so all I do is hop on a train in my town, hop on a shuttle, pick him up, hop on the shuttle, hop on the train, and we're home. LaGuardia doesn't have that. Newark is too far for me to travel to and we want me to be there when he gets off the plane.

We're reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally hoping for that temp EAD stamp though lol - we could really use the extra money coming in!

Rey was just there last week and he got it without asking, so I bet you guys will get it too

That's the part I'm curious about. I don't see how it benefits you if it expires after 90 days, meaning you'd have to get the 'regular' EAD at that point. So then you'd have to stop working after the 90 days but while you wait for the new EAD to come in. What employer would be okay with that?

Apparently a lot of them are OK with it, if VJ is any indication. But I think an employer like a large store or something is going to be more likely to be ok with it...

I guess you're right. I just find it odd - but maybe I'm the odd person out on that!

I think A) you juuuuuust might get your EAD at 90 days if you're veeeery lucky, and I've heard that some employers will allow the employee to stay on while waiting for the EAD.

or even getting a job that's just primarily transient & labor-intensive...like a server, bartender, etc. You could work that for a few months just to not go stir-crazy

No- we didn't fly; we crossed at a land border. I debated about asking for it but my husband wanted me to take some time off of work and just get used to being here - and I had no problems with that having worked all of my adult life. I doubt I would have been able to find an employer within those 90 days anyway and I was busy enough with things to do here that I certainly didn't miss working. When my first EAD came through, it took me quite a few months before I did find a job that I wanted to do anyway - and had to wait for my EAD to be renewed before I could actually start.

D will get stuck in immediately here...he already has his own network of peeps here. And the ppl in my town make such a fuss over D whenever he's here that he feels like a superstar, lol.

One day last visit, I had been quit smoking for 3 mos. He had only quit 3 days before. As you can imagine, we were both very irritable & kinda fighting that behavioral habit of smoking together (even tho we're smokin together! ba dum ching!) Anyways, my family's home is on 6 acres and gated....my friends' call it a gated community, hahah. The front entrance gates are 8 feet high, these wrought iron electric gates which have to be opened up from a transmitter.

D took the huff, went storming out...then realized he couldn't get anywhere, so he was walking the perimeter. I thought it was funny and sat there with a transmitter not pressing the button so I could aggrivate him, hahahahah. I see him go thru a patch of trees and I'm waitin for him on the other side, and he's not comin out. So I get in the golf cart & go check....appparantly he scaled the fence! hahahahhahahahah

long story short (too late, I know)....I huff off inside the house for a bit, then get in my car and go get a pack of cigs (seemed like the perf excuse at the time), then I go looking for him....I finally find him in the notoriously meanest biker bar ever. I open the door and there he is...smokin and havin a laugh with everyone in there. I'm like in shock cos this place is supposedly all mean and nasty, and everyone's all 'HEY DAVE! is that your woman?' and *he's* introducing *me* to people in my own town.

Lol, good times....I totally went off topic there, but my main point was, that in my position, he'll get stuck in right away and I think a temp EAD may save him from going completely insane.

I can't fathom most employers being OK with sitting out a period of waiting between employment documents. At least not employers in one's chosen career. It might be ok for Wallyworld or MickeyDees, but the employer you want to STAY WITH probably wants you because he has a JOB he needs you to do. Personally I think it's a great way to get off on the wrong foot by telling the HR department - oh by the way - I'm gonna have to be off work for an indefinate amount of time while the government processes my paperwork........

I remember reading one member (long ago) post that her husband was going to go to work for a family member in construction. With a temp EAD he could start working immediately, quit if he had an employment gap, and return to work when he was authorized. This worked for both parties because the employer wasn't drastically inconvenienced by the employees absence - nature of the business so to speak. In those kind of cases then yeah, temp EAD can be great.

That being said, I do see the value in being able to work some sort of 'transient' job both for picking up some extra cash, eliminating the 'stir crazies', and meeting people.

But by and large I just don't see re-routing your trip around JFK for a 90-day work stamp to be worth MOST peoples bother. For us, living several states away from the area drove the cost WAY up, not to mention the huge inconvenience factor.

If flying into JFK only costs you an extra hundred or so, and doesn't wreck your week, then there's probably no harm in getting the stamp. A little 90 day side job will give you pocket money and you might meet your next employer whilst serving them a burger!

I think the EAD upon arrival is a VERY practical thing! The reasons:

1. Who among us gets an instant, well paying job we love? It takes lots of time (weeks and months) to search & giving lots of job applications. In the meantime, the SO can keep busy & earn money (after getting the EAD at POE) with disposable jobs like data entry, restaurants, manual labor, whatever suits them.

2. The SO may need time to adjust to American English and work routines here in USA (especially if coming from a non-English speaking country). Working at part time temporary jobs for those 90 days is perfect to get used to everything and again, help out the USC by bringing in some much needed extra CASH!

3. Any amount of small work experience, even for 90 days, will look good on resumes when the longer-term EAD comes in.

and that is the exact line of thought I had when choosing flight routes. I couldn't see the benefit of bothering with the hassle of a temp EAD. So instead of going Halifax-JFK-Dallas-Tulsa (which I could have done since Halifax wasn't a PFI at that point), I went the cheaper route (at the time) of Halifax-Calgary-Denver-Tulsa. Worked out for me.

You make a valid point, but also factor in that some people have to wait ages for their SSN card (for a variety of reasons), so some of the 90 days gets chewed up dealing with that. So if you make a special effort (and perhaps spend extra to do it) to go through JFK, it's wasted.

Haha... excellent story! And yeah, it sounds like he'll have no trouble finding a job (or several of them!) as soon as he wants one. What you said before about high-turnover kinds of job, like working in a bar or whatever... that's what I'd been thinking, that even if I got something like that just to bring in a bit of money and stop myself going totally insane... at least if I had the temp EA stamp, I'd have the option to do that. Or maybe a temp agency wouldn't mind signing up someone who's only work authorised for 90 days, because they could always just stop giving their work in the gap between the temp EA expiring and their EAD coming through... hmm.

Glad this has been bumped up again - was going to try and find it today and do it myself, then found it had made its way back to page 1 again. Although as soon as I'd posted it, I thought I should have done it differently - it really needs an option for people who already knew they weren't going to be looking for work, and therefore had no interest in getting employment authorisation at any point - as opposed to people who did want to work, but thought the hassle of getting the stamp wasn't worth only being authorised to work for 90 days...

Anyway. Will stop rambling... just got out of bed (night shifts... ugh) a while ago and am not at my most coherent! Hope the votes & answers keep coming... very interesting! Thank you.

Just found out my interview date today (rang the Embassy expecting them to say they hadn't even received my Packet 3 back, and was promptly informed my interview is on March 15th!! ), so am bumping this in anticipation of actually having to make a decision about flights sometime soon! I'm still thinking JFK will be worth the extra hassle (and most likely expense), but looks like a lot of other people would say otherwise! I'm quite surprised... more votes, anyone?

You need to think in percentage.

If the "extra hundred" is on a $350 ticket, it's much nastier than if it's on a $950 one.

(plus, there is lots of potential for missing flights at JFK and having to swap to LGA for a connexion--which adds another $30 typically for the bus-shuttle).

Hmm... I need to do some reading - I have just spotted (rather embarrassingly!) that there are some posts on here I've not even seen - I think my login has gone a bit insane recently and that threads with posts I've not read yet haven't been showing up. I thought I must be imagining it... but when it's my own thread, that I have (for obvious reasons) been keeping an eye on, I think it's unlikely! Sorry everyone... and thank you for the previously unacknowledged replies! I haven't been ignoring them, I just hadn't realised there were new responses!

Yup, there's no way I'm getting a connecting flight from Newark or La Guardia - there's realistically one (maybe two) connections I'd be able to get from JFK to Cincinnati that would leave enough time to clear immigration beforehand... re-checking baggage in the same airport is stressy enough, but lugging the stuff to a totally different airport..... hm, no thank you!

All things considered, I think I'd like to know that the option of signing up with a temp agency, or getting a bar job is open to me if I want one... worth the bit of extra hassle involved in not flying direct.

I'll be living with my fiance out of the country until his visa is approved and can come (we both are very grateful for being together while waiting)
anyway, we will both fly into JFK, it is kinda on the way home anyway (we are going to Maine) we will have to stop somewhere for the night since we can't get from Grenada to Maine in a single day. Sooo, we decided to stop of there, and hope for an EAD....we can use all the cash we can.
Sue

This topic is quite interesting to me as I'm about six weeks away from making the JFK or not Choice. Not to throw a spanner in the works but I flew into Newark on 2-21-07, from the UK.

I asked the POE officer if its true that only JFK issues EAD stamps on K1 visas. He replied "Thats not true, all POE are supposed to process K1 visas in the same manner, I have seen many EADs issued here on K1 visas"

This statement has my brain in a spin, I am searching this site and USCIS sites for the truth, Its out there somewhere!

We won't get it because I live in Orlando, Fl and going through JFK would be completely out of our way.
However, I do plan on mentioning it at the POE in Miami to see what happens....

Good idea!

Am even more confused now after reading what Buxton Babe was told at Newark...

In hindsight, are you glad you did it that way?

Yes - got the EA stamp, and No, it wasn't useful

We have used the temp EAD at JFK as an excuse to change our plans.

I'm going to take the train up there, he'll fly in to JFK and I'm takin him to the Statue of Liberty & we'll do a few days in the city before taking the train home. Not the most convenient of trips, but it'll be fun!

Plus, as a Kev Smith Freak, he wants to go to the secret stash in Red Bank & visit the stupid effing Kwik Stop, lol

Ongoing research:

http://www.k1poelist.com/

I will have J do the poll when she arrives, but we are having her go through JFK. It is a primary flight route from Dubai anyway, although flights through London and Frankfurt were also options, which would have left JFK out of the picture. We wanted to find J a flight through JFK and try to get the temp work permit, because I believe she will dedicate herself to finding some sort of temporary work, she really wants to work, and hey... I won't lie, with all the expense of the K-1 process, why not have extra income? There were no cheaper options by any other route anyway so why the heck not?

And if she does get the stamp and can't find work, we are out nothing... For us it was a no brainer.

As of right now, the plan is for Dave to fly through JFK in hopes of getting the temp EAD stamp. I've looked at flights and the prices are about the same (but this is a month away and could change drastically!) Sure he'll have to hit a few more airports, but if the price stays about the same, I believe it'll be worth it!

I know that it'll probably be a month before he could even get a job, seeing how they say to wait 2 weeks before going to the SS office and it takes about 2 weeks to get your card. But if it takes 3 or more months before he can get approved for his EAD, this is still going to be less time for him to just be sitting around. I live in a really really small town, so there wouldn't be much to do besides watch tv and play his PSP, which he said he'd be fine with lol But I think after a month of this, he'll be itching to get out of the house more.

The extra money definitely won't hurt either. We've both been trying to save so we won't be hurting during this waiting time, but it doesn't leave much room for extras, especially not knowing how long it might take to get the EAD approval.

Yep, got Temp EAD on the way i and got my EAD application approved before the 90 days was up.