Clearing US Immigration after embarking in Vancouver?

[kaisatsu]

From what I've gleaned searching the boards, it seems that we'll be clearing US Immigration at the cruise terminal in Vancouver. Is that correct?

 

Also, who actually performs the immigration duties? Is it just cruise personnel checking visas (like we've experienced on European cruises) or is there a team of US Immigrations officials there checking and stamping passports as passengers embark? If it's the former, does anyone happen to know if it would be possible to meet an immigration official (either there or in our first port at Ketchikan) and go through a standard US entry procedures?

 

The reason I ask is that my husband has a green card, but we've been out of the country for a few months. It's very important that his re-entry to the US is recorded, since there are limits to how long he can stay abroad without jeopardizing his green card status. Since we're flying directly to Vancouver from overseas, we want to be certain that his entry into Alaska (and thus his return to the US) is properly documented. If nothing else, we definitely want the stamp in his passport to prove that he was back in the country.

[Budget Queen]

Yes, it is by US immigration officials.

[kaisatsu]

Any idea how they process this? Do they have full networked computer terminals or just the paperwork?

 

(We had a bad experience when we cruised the Caribbean 5 years ago, because they didn't bring all the equipment on board, and DH was subject to "special registration" at the time. The immigration officials were very friendly about it and shared their breakfast with us, but we had to sit around for about 3 hours while they tried to figure out what to do.)

[Putterdude]

It is by US immigration officers and I have now had my Canadian passport stamped on the last two occasion that I have entered the US (something they didn' used to do) so getting a stamp won't be an issue.:)

[kaisatsu]

Thanks a lot! This is a relief. At least if we can speak to an official and get the stamp as proof of entry, we have pretty good grounds to argue if the government decides to try to take away his green card. :rolleyes: