Date: Wed, 31 Dec 1997 21:17:38 GMT Server: Stronghold/2.1.1 Apache/1.2.4 Last-Modified: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 23:54:13 GMT ETag: "dff74-4cf0-34440625" Content-Length: 19696 Accept-Ranges: bytes Connection: close Content-Type: text/html X-Pad: avoid browser bug The Peace Bridge Unofficial Home Page-Buffalo NY USA/Ft. Erie Ontario Canada

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Law Office of Joseph C. Grasmick --Business Immigration--
Established in 1979

The Peace Bridge Unofficial Home Page - Buffalo NY USA/Ft. Erie Ontario Canada


Print Booklet Turn this page into a double-sided digest size booklet. Give to other decision makers in your company or to your prospective employer. Link will take you to an independent Website for a software download. (10 minutes at 14.4k)

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Some Lawyers Go to Court. We Go to the Bridge!

The I-94: On the spot, at the Peace Bridge
Photo of a Sample I-94 Work Permit

Thanks to NAFTA Canadians get most of their work permits right at the border. With a carefully prepared application, INS grants the L-1, TN or B-1 I-94 permits on the spot. There are no time-consuming mail-in application procedures.

Thanks to NAFTA Canadians get most of their work permits right at the border.

Timing is everything in today's business climate. NAFTA allows our clients to quickly fill job openings or take advantage of fleeting business opportunities. NAFTA immigration provisions have dramatically cut the time to get multinational managers into the U.S.

The historic Peace Bridge is in Southern Ontario near the homes and businesses of most NAFTA applicants. The US Immigration and Naturalization Service Office at the Bridge is one of the busiest and best-equipped NAFTA immigration locations.

Because of the expertise concentrated here, many Canadians outside of Ontario also use these NAFTA facilities. These people can often conveniently schedule a NAFTA appointment with other business or personal matters in the Toronto area.

Photograph of the Federal Building in Buffalo New York
The Federal Building, Buffalo, New York: We accompany our clients to the 12th floor to get a Social Security Card.

Our Buffalo location at the nearby Cyclorama Building allows us to walk our clients through the NAFTA immigration interview. We first meet in Fort Erie, Ontario, to go over the applications. We then help our clients navigate over the bridge, through the booth and into the INS office for our appointment. We can then personally accompany our clients to the Social Security Administration Office to get Social Security Cards.

Obtaining a social security card is a part of our service.

Your employee will need a special working version of this card. You will need the "working" social security number for payroll purposes. The employer will need it for many other purposes.

Getting it now can save time later. The Federal Building is close to our office. We prepare the SS-5 form in advance and escort your employee to the Social Security office. The freshly minted form I-94 will be the required proof of employment status, required for a working social security number.

This trip to the Federal Building also helps make the border entry an entry for "employment purposes" further justifying your employee's eligibility for the NAFTA permit.

Our clients can then take advantage of our personal assistance to speed up acquisition of items for future applications. This can include photographs and fingerprints for future Green Card applications.

Consider the services our office provides. Our goal is to make the procedure as quick and trouble-free as possible. We help our clients get the application right...the first time

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NAFTA Border Interview Steps

We personally accompany all of our clients to the border interviews.

This information is for our clients. Our goal is to use the Internet for client support. This information will assist Canadian citizen L-1, TN and B-1 applicants. These applicants can receive their permits using the streamlined NAFTA border procedure. (Canadian landed immigrants cannot use these procedures, and do not qualify for the TN. Landed Immigrants can qualify for the L-1 and B-1 using standard procedures.)

We personally accompany all of our clients to the border interviews. This is to assure that:

  • the process does not take longer than it should
  • stress is minimized for your key employees and their families
  • you receive the approval the first time
  • we are there for any unforeseen need for information or documents.
  • both the company and the employee proceed in the correct, legal fashion

Here are the steps for the NAFTA interview:

Step #1: Pre-interview Meeting

Remind your employee to bring all family members, passports for everyone, and any items we still need for the application. Only children under 21 and the employee's spouse can get derivative status.

Your application is based on your employee's status as a professional or business person. Business attire is highly recommended.

We will meet at Hardy's Family Restaurant, at the corner of Garrison Road and King, Fort Erie. (Telephone: 905-871-5150). For your convenient reference, we will be happy to send you a map with the restaurant location marked.

This meeting will be one hour prior to the INS interview appointment.

The purpose of the meeting is to:

  • Go over the paperwork we will submit to the INS. We want to make sure there are no errors or misrepresentations.
  • Conduct a verbal "dry run" of the forthcoming events.
  • Take a break between the drive to Fort Erie and the appointment. The employee and family can freshen up, eat something and minimize the travel stress. This rest is particularly useful for employees with small children

Step #2: The Drive to the U.S.A.

Your employee will follow us through the inspection booth into the Peace Bridge parking lot. We will go in two cars. We will give the passports to the inspector at the booth and advise the inspector as to our purpose.

Step #3: Into the INS Office

We will escort your employee into the INS border office. We will present the paperwork to the Free Trade Officer.

Step #4: The Examination and Interview

The proceeding usually takes from twenty to forty minutes.

The Officer will review the paperwork, establish eligibility for the permit and will check computer records for relevant information. Without exception to date, the Officers have shown a high degree of courtesy and efficiency to our clients.

Our goal is to provide complete documentation to show that your employee qualifies for the permit. We will often take other corporate paperwork with us in case we need to show it.

We strive to present complete and honest information to the authorities.

We strive to present complete and honest information to the authorities. We will not represent a client who we feel does not clearly qualify for the permit. Our goal is to establish a good reputation for ourselves and our clients.

While this is not necessary, we always remind our clients to always tell the truth. There are severe sanctions for misrepresentation.

Step #5: Approval

The Officer will insert the permit (a form I-94 card, and a stamp) into the passports.

Step #6: The Drive to Our Office

We will be pleased to host your employee at our office---minutes from the Peace Bridge. Our building is a Buffalo landmark---the Cyclorama Building. It is part of the Historic Walking Tour of Buffalo. We hope the visit will be interesting as well as useful.

While at our office, we will give your employee information relating to the new permit. This is to make sure that the employee is aware of the rights and obligations of the permit. We will discuss any issues raised at the border interview, and answer the invariable questions. We feel this is a significant benefit of outsourcing the immigration work to our office. It should save you the time and expense of dealing with these issues yourself.

We will plan options for the future, which can include renewals and/or permanent residency. Employees will often appreciate information about moving household goods, tax planning or other relocation issues. They will often wish to call you from our office to share the good news!

The more motivated applicants will be eager to start U.S. work immediately and will make business calls from our office!

We will be pleased to arrange introductions to any of the area Canada/U.S. Business experts including Mr. Grasmick's key contacts. We have both small and large conference facilities in our office. As members of the nearby Buffalo Club, we can host business meetings at this time, in optimal surroundings.

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The Bridge's History

The Peace bridge was opened in 1927 to commemorate 100 years of peace between the U.S. and Canada. It made Buffalo the chief port of entry to Canada from the U.S. At the time, it was the only vehicular bridge on the Great Lakes from Niagara Falls to Duluth. The cost was $4.5 million.

The Bridge is one of North America's most important commercial Ports. Four thousand trucks cross the Peace Bridge daily. One million commercial vehicles use it yearly. These vehicles carry almost $7 billion worth of merchandise each year.

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Peace Bridge Memorabilia

We enjoy showing our visitors a framed collection of period Peace Bridge memorabilia. Until you are able to visit our office here is a sample from our collection of pre-war period post cards. We invite you to visit this page again; we change these samples regularly.

PRE-WAR ERA COLOR POSTCARD1. At Canadian Customs(200K GIF file)
PRE-WAR ERA COLOR POST CARD2. At Night(150K)
PRE-WAR ERA COLOR POST CARD3. Sunset (160K)
PRE-WAR ERA COLOR POSTCARD4. In Spring
(180K)
PRE-WAR ERA COLOR POST CARD5. The Black Rock Shipping Canal(194K)
6. Aerial View From Ft. Erie(190K)


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©1997 Law Office of Joseph C. Grasmick
Law Office of Joseph C. Grasmick, Business Immigration
Cyclorama Building, 369 Franklin Street, Suite 300
Buffalo, New York 14202-1725 USA
Tel: 716/842-3104 Fax: 716/842-3105 jgrasmick@grasmick.com

This Internet Web page is http://www.grasmick.com/peacepoe.htm