QUOTE(the.ronin @ Oct 3 2007, 02:17 PM)

All the research I had done on the interwebs prior to our crossing into the U.S. under her K1 fiance visa consistently suggested that the Employment Authorization Document (EAD) is not issues at the POE (although some instances report EAD issuance at the JFK airport POE).
For kicks and giggles, I went ahead and asked the border official processing our I-94 whether you could go ahead and issue us an EAD. His immediate reaction was to inform us that the K1 automatically authorizes employment!! Then he asks if I would feel better if he stamped the I-94 ... “EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZED”.
Have I been misunderstanding this whole time???
A k-1 is automatically employment authorized but you need the document (ie.. the stamp on the I-94) in order to work and in particular to fulfill the I-9 requirement.... So no, you have not been misunderstanding this whole time...