Wow. If only we could have been so lucky. My husband and I drove up from Florida together and they wouldn't let him through at the border despite having our marriage certificate, receipt of payment for application fees and our almost entirely completed application with us. He essentially told us how dare we try to cross the border without having SENT our application already and without solid proof (such as a letter of employment or from a landlord) that my husband would return to the US. My husband is a freelance musician... he doesn't have solid, full time employment and he was living with his mother (we did have a letter from her stating that the majority of his belongings were still in Florida) at the time. They bascially told us that's not their problem, we should know better than to try to cross the border with such insufficient evidence and how "disappointed" they were that we couldn't follow protocol (??? he was coming for a visit... he wasn't trying to move).
We were there for hours while they searched his van, luggage, computer and questioned him about his life in the US until they finally offered to let us through if we paid a $4000 bond, and only for 3 months during which time our application MUST be sent. My husband has to return to the border crossing August 7th with proof that our app has been filed, at which point they will decide whether or not he can stay. We're still waiting going on 8 weeks for his FBI clearance and I'm terrified it won't get here and we won't be able to send the on time without it
Your story was great and I wish that could happen to all of us, but to people getting their hopes up PLEASE be warned that it can go very, very differently. Showing you have ties to the US is apparently very important to the border officials coming through Ogdensburg.
