The dreaded EA stamp

[ARNGWFE 0]

I crossed over at Blaine a year ago. I called the immigration number given for that POE *twice* before I crossed (one month and two months beforehand) to see if they'd issue the EAD stamp when activating the K1. *Both* times they assured me they did.

On Feb 12/06 I brought my U-Haul, USC fiance and a couple of cars with a few friends through Blaine and lo and behold, NO EAD STAMP!!!! I even asked for the supervisor who was kind enough, but quite adamant that they don't give out the stamp...sorry for the misunderstanding, and all that.

I'd say you can probably count on not getting one at Blaine.

Good luck!

Jen

*Edited to add we went through Peace Arch (not the truck crossing) with the U-Haul no problem.

Edited February 7, 2007 by ARNGWFE

[Jersey Girl 2]

The sands are shifting. At the border, they used to deal with immigration issues. But post 911, they seem to be dealing increasingly with border crossing issues only. Homeland Security and the FBI seem to be in control of immigration now. Hence, the evaporation of EADs at the border.

We are all legal immigrants being put through all kinds of hoops. It makes me wonder what kinds of hoops they may have in store for illegal immigrants.

[george1 0]

I asked the border guard last week at Peace Arch (after waiting for an hour and a half. The lineup was backed up past the duty free) and he said you can cross at either with a rental truck. Only commercial trucks have to pass through the truck crossing.

BTW, I'm renting a truck in Bellingham from Budget and crossing into Canada to pick up Amy's stuff and driving back to Portland. The price is much more reasonable than Uhaul from Vancouver to Portland. Plus I've heard nothing but bad things about Uhaul's service.

After my conversation calling the crossing in Blaine I don't expect Amy to get a stamp. There is some pretty interesting debate about the temp. EAD stamp in the "Working prior to getting your green card" forum.

From the SSA website here - https://s044a90.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx...33;opendocument "The following sections list nonimmigrants, by alien class of admission codes, who are authorized to work in the U.S. without specific authorization from DHS. The person’s I-94 will not have the DHS employment authorization stamp and the alien will generally not have an EAD." K1 falls under this classification. Very interesting indeed.