what to expect at Port of entry for a family visa?
Jul 29th 2005, 1:06 am
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 213
what to expect at Port of entry for a family visa?
Hi All,
What happens at the port of entry for someone who is immigrating to the US on the basis of a family visa (in this case my mom sponsored her sister to come to the US)? What type of stamp gets put in the passport? Does that person get an I-94 put in their passport? How long until greencard comes? Can they apply for a SSN?
Thanks!
What happens at the port of entry for someone who is immigrating to the US on the basis of a family visa (in this case my mom sponsored her sister to come to the US)? What type of stamp gets put in the passport? Does that person get an I-94 put in their passport? How long until greencard comes? Can they apply for a SSN?
Thanks!
Jul 29th 2005, 2:02 am
#2
BE Site Lead
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: MA, USA
Posts: 92,170
Re: what to expect at Port of entry for a family visa?
Depends, if they have the visa in hand, normally isn't a problem, though it does all depend on the officer at POE at the end of the day, and if they have the greencard, they can apply for the SSN, but it's normally best to wait a few days so that they show up in the system, unless they have the ssn issued automatically.
Jul 29th 2005, 4:22 pm
#3
Concierge
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,388
Re: what to expect at Port of entry for a family visa?
Originally Posted by khabibiuf
Hi All,
What happens at the port of entry for someone who is immigrating to the US on the basis of a family visa (in this case my mom sponsored her sister to come to the US)? What type of stamp gets put in the passport? Does that person get an I-94 put in their passport? How long until greencard comes? Can they apply for a SSN?
Thanks!
What happens at the port of entry for someone who is immigrating to the US on the basis of a family visa (in this case my mom sponsored her sister to come to the US)? What type of stamp gets put in the passport? Does that person get an I-94 put in their passport? How long until greencard comes? Can they apply for a SSN?
Thanks!
The green card is mailed by the service center who will receive the brown envelope contents from the POE agent.
Jul 30th 2005, 5:06 pm
#4
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 213
Re: what to expect at Port of entry for a family visa?
Originally Posted by Rete
At the POE they will hand over their passport and brown envelope and will be taken to secondary for inspection. The envelope will be opened, the documents looked over, they will be asked a few questions and the passport will be given an I-94 on which they will stamp the I-551 which is the paper version of the green card and write their Alien Registration Number. They will complete the I-89 which will be used for their green card. They will then be told, welcome to America, and will be free to leaave.
The green card is mailed by the service center who will receive the brown envelope contents from the POE agent.
The green card is mailed by the service center who will receive the brown envelope contents from the POE agent.
- They handed in the I-94 forms... they didn't get anything back though.
- They got a small stamp in their passport that is barely readable (something about customs).
- They got fingerprints done.
- At the bottom of their Immigrant Visa in their passport is says something about the visa being a substitute for I-551 for 1 year after entry (dont' remember the exact wording). This was preprinted and already on the immigrant visa even before they came to POE.
- I'm not sure if they completed an I-89. I will have to ask.
This is worrying me. Looks like there arrival was not handled properly.
Any idea on what they can do to get this fixed if there is indeed a problem?
Jul 30th 2005, 6:07 pm
#5
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: what to expect at Port of entry for a family visa?
khabibiuf wrote on 07/30/05 10:06:
>>At the POE they will hand over their passport and brown envelope and
>>will be taken to secondary for inspection. The envelope will be
>>opened, the documents looked over, they will be asked a few questions
>>and the passport will be given an I-94 on which they will stamp the
>>I-551 which is the paper version of the green card and write their
>>Alien Registration Number. They will complete the I-89 which will be
>>used for their green card. They will then be told, welcome to
>>America, and will be free to leaave.
>>The green card is mailed by the service center who will receive the
>>brown envelope contents from the POE agent.
>
>
> Well it didnt' quite go that way...
> - They handed in the I-94 forms... they didn't get anything back though.
> - They got a small stamp in their passport that is barely readable
> (something about customs).
> - They got fingerprints done.
> - At the bottom of their Immigrant Visa in their passport is says
> something about the visa being a substitute for I-551 for 1 year after
> entry (dont' remember the exact wording). This was preprinted and
> already on the immigrant visa even before they came to POE.
> - I'm not sure if they completed an I-89. I will have to ask.
>
> This is worrying me. Looks like there arrival was not handled properly.
Looks normal to me.
The I-551 stamp was put in the passport. That is normal procedure. It is rare
that it is put on the arrival portion of an I-94.
The I-551 stamp is the legal equivalent of the actual Greencard. It has the same
legal power.
If their fingerprints were taken, then an I-89 was completed. The fingerprints
go on the I-89.
So, relax. Everything is ok.
-Joe
--
I am not a lawyer.
For reliable advice, consult a competent immigration attorney.
>>At the POE they will hand over their passport and brown envelope and
>>will be taken to secondary for inspection. The envelope will be
>>opened, the documents looked over, they will be asked a few questions
>>and the passport will be given an I-94 on which they will stamp the
>>I-551 which is the paper version of the green card and write their
>>Alien Registration Number. They will complete the I-89 which will be
>>used for their green card. They will then be told, welcome to
>>America, and will be free to leaave.
>>The green card is mailed by the service center who will receive the
>>brown envelope contents from the POE agent.
>
>
> Well it didnt' quite go that way...
> - They handed in the I-94 forms... they didn't get anything back though.
> - They got a small stamp in their passport that is barely readable
> (something about customs).
> - They got fingerprints done.
> - At the bottom of their Immigrant Visa in their passport is says
> something about the visa being a substitute for I-551 for 1 year after
> entry (dont' remember the exact wording). This was preprinted and
> already on the immigrant visa even before they came to POE.
> - I'm not sure if they completed an I-89. I will have to ask.
>
> This is worrying me. Looks like there arrival was not handled properly.
Looks normal to me.
The I-551 stamp was put in the passport. That is normal procedure. It is rare
that it is put on the arrival portion of an I-94.
The I-551 stamp is the legal equivalent of the actual Greencard. It has the same
legal power.
If their fingerprints were taken, then an I-89 was completed. The fingerprints
go on the I-89.
So, relax. Everything is ok.
-Joe
--
I am not a lawyer.
For reliable advice, consult a competent immigration attorney.
Jul 31st 2005, 1:57 pm
#6
Forum Regular
Joined: Dec 2003
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Posts: 110
Re: what to expect at Port of entry for a family visa?
Yep, just relax ... all seems fine to me too and was exactly as we experienced last year at POE; Greencards arrived a few weeks later.
Our only worry, at the time, was although we had automatically applied for SSN's they took longer to arrive than was indicated on the paperwork we had been given. We ended up going to the local SS office and applied in person. SSN's arrived about 2 weeks later.
See timeline below ...
Heather
Our only worry, at the time, was although we had automatically applied for SSN's they took longer to arrive than was indicated on the paperwork we had been given. We ended up going to the local SS office and applied in person. SSN's arrived about 2 weeks later.
See timeline below ...
Heather
