Got my visa!! Thanks Nichole

[JKS]

My visa arrived today!!!! Thanks for all the advice. It has been a great help.

What should I know about going across the border? I'll be driving across with my American fiancee.

[nichole]

Oh good! Didn't take too long and the wedding can go on. I haven't been on here in a while, so glad I saw your update. Almost all talk I see about border crossings is that they go real easy. You should have gotten a brown "do not open" envelope to turn in at the border. Be sure you have that. They will open it, process your visa, write your 90 days on an I-94 form and give you the tear off part. Don't lose that. You need it for various things, including sending a photocopy with applications for AOS/EAD/AP. If you are bringing stuff with you, like a U-Haul of belongings, you won't be charged anything because immigrants can bring their household goods. Most say they never even look at contents of things like that, but they can search.

Hopefully the crossing you use is big enough that they know what to do with your brown envelope. Your entry needs to be recorded in an immigration database by them and the packet forwarded to the right place. Later when you file for AOS, the brown envelope is supposed to meet up with your application so they have your medical results and you won't have to take another exam in the states.

About 10-14 days after you enter, go down to a Social Security office and apply for a SSN. K1s are allowed to do that (but not K3s). Don't let them tell you that you aren't eligible. It's in their rules that K1s are "work authorized" by nature of their admission. You wait that long to make sure entry has been recorded. Some POEs are slow. If Social Security doesn't find your name in the database, they have to manually verify your entry which can take many weeks. If your name is there, the card is ordered and you should have it shortly. (You can't work with it until you get EAD, but at least you've got your number for bank accounts, etc.) If they don't find your name, I would say "nevermind" and go back in a week because the manual verification they send off drags on and on. You can't get a SSN if you are too close to the expiration of your I-94, so get it done in a timely fashion or you have to wait until you get your EAD card or green card.

Edit: Forgot to say---Do Not go back to Canada (or out of the US) until you get your AP (Advance Parole) approved or a green card. Your K1 is a one time visa and becomes invalid the day you use it. You would not be allowed to re-enter the US and would have to start over.

[JKS]

Very informative... thank you Nichole. I'll be sure to leave that envelope untouched.

I actually already have a social security number. I was issued one as a child while living with my parents who had R-1 visas. Would I need to apply for another one?

[nichole]

You shouldn't need to apply for a new one. The number is yours for a lifetime. The point of going right after arrival is a get the number so you can use it to get a bank account. Perhaps in your case, wait until you get the EAD work authorization card, then go down with the SSN number and ask to reactivate the number showing your new status as work authorized so you could be employed. Otherwise an employer may not find your number in the online way they can check your SSN for legal employment.