What questions are asked at POE for GC holder?

A

Avalon

Registered Users (C)
Has anyone asked question at Port of Entry (POE) when you enter US as a GC holder? If you do, what are those?

The list that you provide here will be helpful for all GC holders retruning US. This way, the GC holders will be well prepared to answer any kind of question at POE. Secondly, they would know the diplomatically correct way to answer the question.

Please provide your experience.
 
One Airport experience after getting my PR:
Q&A (Cincinnati, OH)
1. How long were you out of the US? 3 weeks
2. Purpose of your visit? Visit family
3. What do you do for a living? Engineer
4. Where do you work? None of your business (actually I told him the company's name).

One Border crossing experience (from Canada)
1. No questions except if we had anything to declare. The guy looked at my PR card for less than 30 seconds.

If you’ve been gone for less than 6 months: (if you’ve been gone longer, you may need a re-entry permit).
1. Answer the question honestly
2. Do not volunteer any information. As you can see I used as few words as possible.

Have fun,
sadiq
 
Are you still working for <name of I-140's sponsor>?

This question was asked to my friend. The surprising thing was that the officer properly named the company.
 
My experience at POE.
I was out on vecation for 5 months and 2 weeks.
Carrying GC.
questions were like this.
Officer:How long did go?
me: around 5 months!
Officer:What did u do to your house/aparment?
me:I gave it to my friend to stay!
after verification in the computer,he stamped (arrival stamp) and wrote '6 months' on my passport and let me go.

thats it.
 
Entered via SFO last week:

1. How long did you stay abroad? (12 days)
2. What was purpose of trip? (visit relatives)
3. Was the trip business-related in any sense? (no)
 
Entered via LA last week

One Question.

"How long did you stay outside"
My reply - 39 days.

"Have a good day"... Total time - 2 minute and 45 secs..
 
After reading these posts, one thing is clear that officer does ask one question, "How long were you abroad or what was the length (duration) of your trip?"

I have also noticed that for stays abroad of more than 3 months, the officer makes an entry on passport. Has anyone experienced anything contradicting to this?
 
Avalon said:
I have also noticed that for stays abroad of more than 3 months, the officer makes an entry on passport. Has anyone experienced anything contradicting to this?
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "entry"? Officer is going to put an entry-stamp on passport anyway (any country does that) whether you stay less than 3 months or more, right?
 
pralay,

refer to the post by GC-mama. It says that his PP was stamped and an entry was made that he was out for 6 months.
 
Newark POE

I just came back from the UK on a business trip (2 days out of US). At Newark, I (and another PR in front of me) were asked the following questions:

1. How did you get your greencard?
2. Hold up your index finger. He then examined my fingerprint with a flashlight and compared it to the one on the card, which he was also holding up at the time ( :rolleyes:)
3. Was the trip business related or personal?
4. What line of business are you in?
5. Where do you live in the US?
6. What is the nearest highway?
7. What exit?

None of the US citizens got these questions :mad:

Oh well, I guess these border agents need to feel important....
 
Are they not allowed to ask your address to confirm it? We do have to fill out an AR-11 every time we change our place of residence, so I would have thought it was legitimate (i.e. checking to see if your records are updated). In either case, I would think it should be in a CIS database.

The nearest exit/highway question is just retarded. I agree that a complaint is warranted. Maybe noting done the officers name after your documents are handed back.

sadiq
 
22nd June

I arrived from India after a short trip of 2 weeks. At POE(Chicago), no questions asked.
 
UK Visa

Hi,
I have I-551 stamping in my passport. I am travelling to India via London.
Is it possible for me to stay in UK for 1 or 2 days without a VISA.

Please advice any experienced person. I am a citizen of India.
I couldn't find that in UK's website.

Thanks
SK
 
UK requires transit visa for those who do not have a US visa in their passport. I-551 temporary stamp is NOT considered a valid US visa.
 
I have entered the U.S. by air three times since I got my green card in March, 2002. AFAIK, I have only been asked the following questions:
  1. Have long have you been away from the U.S.?
  2. What was the purpose of the trip?
  3. What do you do for a living?
  4. How much money do you have with you?
They asked the last question only on my last entry in the U.S., in January this year. The officer explained that the U.S. customs were cracking down on money laundering and asked them to ask that question randomly.
 
nkm-oct23 said:
UK requires transit visa for those who do not have a US visa in their passport. I-551 temporary stamp is NOT considered a valid US visa.
Click to expand...
The I-551 temporary stamp is the proof that you do have a valid U.S. immigrant visa, though. Or does the UK government not recognise the "physical" green card as a valid U.S. visa, either?
 
JoeF said:
No. The GC is not a visa... neither is the I-551 stamp. Both only have validity within the US.
To get around the fact that a GC is not a visa, US immigration law defines the term "special immigrant" for people who enter the US with a GC.
Click to expand...
Why does the USCIS refer to permanent residency as "immigrant visa," then? Temporary visa's such as H-1B and F-1 are labelled as "non-immigrant visa."
 
JoeF said:
There is an immgrant visa: When you do CP (like I did), you get an Immigrant Visa. You enter the US with that visa, and get the I-551 stamp right at the border.
Permanent Residency is not referred to as IV...
Click to expand...
I need your help understanding this issue. First, I got my green card through employment. I never left the country during the process. I simply filed I-485 and went to the local INS office to get the I-551 stamp when it was approved after 10 months. Second, if the immigrant visa is necessary to get one's green card, does it not mean that having a green card is the proof that you have that visa? After all, you can re-enter the U.S. freely with a green card, much like with the other types of entry visa's.
 
JoeF said:
Yeah, but the GC is not a visa. That's why there is the term "special immigrant" in the immigration law (see INA 101).
"(27) The term "special immigrant" means-
(A) an immigrant, lawfully admitted for permanent residence, who is returning from a temporary visit abroad;"

INA 101 also defines the term "immigrant visa":
"(16) The term "immigrant visa" means an immigrant visa required by this Act and properly issued by a consular officer at his office outside of the United States to an eligible immigrant under the provisions of this Act."
From that you can see that it can't apply to a GC, since a GC is issued by CIS inside the US, not by a consular officer outside the US.
Click to expand...
Ah, that clears it up for me. Thanks for the quote. I saved it on my computer for my own reference. :)
 
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