sheeshkabelle
Difficulty:  | Review Topic: Port of Entry Review
FINALLY!
Early in the morning we arrived at the Emerson, Manitoba/Pembina, North Dakota border crossing. We handed over our passports and my husband stated he was there to activate his permanent resident visa.
Oh holy cow. The CBP officer asked more questions than the CO did at our interview in Montreal. Asked how we met, how long we have known each other, how long we were married, when was the interview...Then asked "What kind of marriage is it that you have spent two years apart in different countries?" "Well, sir the kind that was loving and the best we could do legally, given the circumstances" (jerk) He finally asked for our 'do not open envelope' and told us where to go inside.
We parked our SUV and trailer where we were told and went inside. A different CBP officer had Mr. Sheeshka's envelope open and was going through it. He told us to have a seat. It seemed to take forever before he moved, he kept flipping through the manual and I thought to myself 'Great, he's new.'
He then got on the phone and had a senior officer come out, from what I could hear, the first guy wanted to deny entry because the original I-130 was not in the package. The older, senior officer explained to him that everything is electronic now, all that will be in the envelope is copies and the originals have already been shipped off to USCIS. Whew..
He then calls my husband up for finger prints and has him sit back down. Then calls him back up a few minutes later to sign some things and asks about anything that needs to be imported.
Hubby told him his personal stuff in the trailer and his motorcycle. We handed over the Certificate of Origin and the compliance letter from Triumph (which he really didn't look at) and had us fill out the paperwork. He made sure the VIN number we wrote matched the Certificate, stamped it and then stamped hubby's passport.
The officer then asked about importing the truck and we explained it was bought and is licensed in Tennessee already. (We were told by the CBP officer that the trailer did not need any paper work because it was not a motorized vehicle.We haven't tried to register either the motorcycle or the trailer yet, so not sure if that's true)
I saw the dreaded CR-1 stamp on his visa and I pointed out he was eligible for IR-1, not CR-1 since it was over two months since our second anniversary. The officer said that he will get an unconditional IR-1 and if it comes as a CR-1, what to do about it. I still have my doubts that he will get the correct card in the mail.
We thanked him and headed out the door, to find the doggy sniffing down our truck and trailer. That officer said everything was okay and to drive safe.
At Midnight Thursday the 9th, two and a half days and 3,200 miles later, we finally arrived home. (we also had a stop in South Dakota and had supper with Saylin!)
Today (August 14th) Mr. Sheeshka's Social Security Card arrived in the mail. We still haven't received his welcome to the USA letter yet! That was surprisingly FAST!
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Port of Entry Member Review #15247
Entry Date: 2012-08-07