POE @ Sweet Grass, MT

[Dan and Ali 3]

Sorry I have been MIA for the past little while but it's been a crazy busy past couple of weeks! On Saturday Dan and I were married and it was amazing Now that everyone has gone home I've finally got some spare time to share my POE experience and read up AOS and all that fun stuff!

Our POE was Sweet Grass, Montana as we were driving down from Edmonton. We left semi-early on Thursday, May 13th and made it to the border by about 4 pm. There were about 5 cars ahead of us. Unlike my last few trips to the US, I wasn't nervous about crossing the border at all though Dan had some last-minute jitters. When it was our turn to go up, I handed our passports to the officer and told him I would be activating my K-1 visa. He seemed REALLY unimpressed with this for whatever reason and kind of yelled at me (not cool!) to go park and come inside. After this I was a bit nervous, but on our way into the building we met another officer who seemed really interested in us (he made a lot of small talk with us about where we'd be living and what we did for a living etc). We waited around for about 5 minutes before we were called to the counter and another officer (whose name escapes me) said it would be a few minutes before he could get everything sorted and gave me the forms required to import my car (and the cheat sheets! Thank goodness for those). I just barely finished the import forms when the officer called us up to the counter again and asked for me to pay the fee for the I-94 (I was so stoked I didn't have to ask for it!) He took the import forms and my original compliance letter (after making me a copy) and then gave us a spiel on how it was imperative that we get married within the next 90 days and then also told me to apply for AP/EAD when I adjust status. I think the whole thing took about half an hour, including the time we were waiting in the car ... it was seriously the most painless border crossing experience I've had!

After that, we went into the town of Sweet Grass and used the fax machine at a local customs brokerage (Derringer) to fax my stamped visa to ABF U-pack and our belongings were dispatched the next day We stayed in Helena, Montana that night and the next day we arrived in Salt Lake City! Our belongings arrived on the 19th which I was really pleased with, I'd definitely highly recommend UPack! Our stuff was in great condition, nothing was ruined and it wasn't even particularly dusty. All in all I'd give the Sweet Grass, MT POE a 5/5 and U-Pack a 5/5 as well

Well, that's about it ... now onto AOS eh? Oh, the joys of US immigration I hope everyone is well ... even though today was a particularly sad day (boo Flyers! hehe).

[Rhiannercakes 14]

Welcome to the US

[HeatDeath 430]

Congratulations on your wedding and welcome to the Salt Lake City area

[mandaNchris 3]

Congrats on your painless POE and A big Congrats on getting married!! hope your AOS doesnt give you a headache

[grooveman 0]

Glad you had a good experience overall at Sweet Grass. I live and work there so it's always good to read about the positive experiences.

Congrats!

[lgg 2]

Ali! Congats, lady! So glad to hear from you and hear that all went well! Welcome to the USA, sistah!

[Married2009 32]

Grats on your POE and your wedding! Have fun in this new chapter in your lives!

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

Congrats! So glad everything worked out for the two of you!

[Missa 0]

wow such a fast POE. lucky you lol

and gratz on your marriage.

[Kimbear 53]

congrats on the successful poe, the marriage, and welcome to the us! Glad it all went smoothly for you!

[lilacvioletiris 11]

After that, we went into the town of Sweet Grass and used the fax machine at a local customs brokerage (Derringer) to fax my stamped visa to ABF U-pack and our belongings were dispatched the next day We stayed in Helena, Montana that night and the next day we arrived in Salt Lake City! Our belongings arrived on the 19th which I was really pleased with, I'd definitely highly recommend UPack! Our stuff was in great condition, nothing was ruined and it wasn't even particularly dusty. All in all I'd give the Sweet Grass, MT POE a 5/5 and U-Pack a 5/5 as well

Glad to hear the the U-Pack experience went well. My fiance' is using them as well. We will definitelly be faxing the information ASAP to get his stuff on its way once he activates his K-1.

[OBX 51]

Welcome to America! Congratulations on a smooth POE and your wedding.

[slider100 8]

Congratulations!!!

KnR aka slider100

[Bern. 3]

Congrats on your move. Welcome to the USA.

[trailmix 77]

Guess you can't go through the POE at sweetgrass without someone yelling at you!

Edited May 25, 2010 by trailmix