Port of entry interview and delays?

[Firstenburg 0]

I've been hearing horror stories about port of entry interviews, in some cases taking up to 10 hours!! I thought the Consular interview was the last big hurdle before entering the US. But I also heard that the immigration officer at the airport has the power to revoke the visa??!

Is this true? We only have 2 hours in our port-of-entry airport before our connection. If they interview us and we lose our connection, do they put us on another flight? It wouldn't surprise me in the least to find out that they don't hold themselves responsible for that.

Speaking of which I've heard that it's best to get in line together in the line for "US Citizens" at the immigration port of entry, and play dumb. That going through the line as spouses and with me being an american citizen, my wife will have less troubles.

Does anyone know if THAT is true?

[pushbrk 12,898]

I've been hearing horror stories about port of entry interviews, in some cases taking up to 10 hours!! I thought the Consular interview was the last big hurdle before entering the US. But I also heard that the immigration officer at the airport has the power to revoke the visa??!

Is this true? We only have 2 hours in our port-of-entry airport before our connection. If they interview us and we lose our connection, do they put us on another flight? It wouldn't surprise me in the least to find out that they don't hold themselves responsible for that.

Speaking of which I've heard that it's best to get in line together in the line for "US Citizens" at the immigration port of entry, and play dumb. That going through the line as spouses and with me being an american citizen, my wife will have less troubles.

Does anyone know if THAT is true?

Usually, somebody entering on a fiance(e) or spouse visa is delayed only a few minutes more than other passengers but I generally recommend at least a three hour layover between planes at POE on any international flight. You never know when several jumbo jets will arrive at the same time, making the lines long at immigration, or when your incoming flight will be a bit late.

Even with no immigration issues, I've had to overnight with a 24 hour delay in Guangzhou because my incoming China domestic flight arrived late for the last flight out of Guangzhou for LA, then had the LAX incoming flight arrive too late to catch the last flight out of LAX to Seattle resulting in another overnight in LA. With available itineraries, this kind of thing can be almost impossible to avoid, but I do it when I can. Our daugher had a 2:10 layover time in Beijing just last month and missed her continuing flight. The result was a about a 9 hour wait for the next available flight. No immigration issues there either, just a flight arriving 30 minutes late.