nettlebed wrote:
> Errm, my understanding is that nothing GUARANTEES entry: isn't that a
Of course not! If the person in question calls and says "what
documentation do I require to cross", gets their answer, and then shows
up with contraband, or has a criminal record, or lies, then whatever
they were told to do is moot point. The issue at hand was her boyfriend
needs to meet the burden of proof of intentions to return to his home
country and not remain in the US.
> matter for the individual officer that you meet when you present
> yourself at immigration? I would guess it's more likely you will be
> granted entry if you are a green card holder or citizen than if you are,
> say ,somebody who holds a single-entry, limited time-visa that required
> a waiver to obtain, but even then I have heard of green card holders who
> have been denied entry (though not any citizens).
They're always going to tell you that it's up to the officer
interrogating you, and that they can't pre-clear you or tell you they
will let you in. Some will leave it at that (individual officers),
others might be able to give suggestions. I'm not going to go into too
much detail on this, it's not relevant. However, one officer did
suggest that if agents have difficulty understanding my job, when they
ask what I do, that a letter from my employer will help confirm what
they want to know. That worked fine, and usually leads to questions
that I regard as curious like, "is this everywhere in Canada, or just
where you live?" They probably do that to relax people so they can ask
what they really want to know.
> That's interesting: I never heard of POEs doing that before. Thanks.
Like I said, it varies on who answers, and how many other people call
to ask "immigration questions". Some POEs might only give the main
switchboard for that 1-800 number. They probably didn't try that on me
because I was not calling from the US, and I identified myself as
"outside of the US with this particular citizenship" in my call. So
telling me to use their internal number which does not work outside the
US isn't going to assist me in the least. Some airports will not
publish or provide the extension or number to Immigration. This
includes Airports in Canada, but I do know that the Edmonton and
Vancouver Airports have a separate line for US Immigration and you can
probably get that from the switchboard/information. I've never
attempted to call a US Airport since I'd never be clearing in one. I
know about Edmonton and Vancouver because a relative of mine is a
Canadian POE Officer who's done both Primary and Secondary Inspection.
In all fairness, she can ask her US counterparts who have lunch in the
same airport anything I want to know, within reason.
> Which POEs do offer this sort of advice?
It's not a 1-800 number or open service for everyone in the world to
call and ask a question.
With one experience, I was told some things by the primary inspection
officer that didn't seem to make sense, and I called that particular
POE and asked to speak to a supervisor. (I wasn't complaining, I just
told him my situation, told him that I was given a hard time about
that, is that usual? What can I do differently in future? The fact that
I have never been denied entry plays in my favour, but it is really
exhausting for me in my condition to repeat myself in attempt to prove
something someone else just chooses not to believe.) So I got advice
there.
Rooting from the same situation, when it came close to my fairly
lengthy holiday, I called where I would be passing, asked the person
answering, "can you pass me to someone who can answer an Immigration
question?" I told the person who took the call I plan to travel to the
US for x amount of time, and was prewarned in a previous crossing that
I needed plenty of proof for my trip. I asked what that meant, since
most of us don't go around carrying tons of things to prove we live
somewhere. When I go to and from my job, I only carry a driver's
license and bank/credit cards. So I don't tend to think about carrying
every ID I own in my wallet.
The lady who spoke with me told me that an apartment lease would do for
rental, or failing that, utility bills and property tax bills (to prove
home ties). Pay stubs are nice, but letters from employers are better
(so they can see I didn't just get the job two weeks ago). Failing a
long term employment history, tax return receipt from last year works
well. Proof of enrollment in school or proof of income works well. Bank
statements (although not suggested by them) are something I would think
of, but that can burn you if they think you are spending none of your
earnings on regular "life" stuff. For whatever reason, the POE officers
think married people need a joint account and joint expenses. They
don't accept separate accounting practices by people who are "married".
Aside from that information, I'd really rather not disclose who I spoke
to in a public forum. I'm pretty sure though that I'm not the only
person who ever thought of calling to find out information.
S.
|