POE & Immigration Stuff

[Created 6]

Hi Guys & Gals.............Can I please have your experieinces of transfer flights into the US travelling for the 1st time on K visa. How long did it take you to report in to immigration, was it an easy process. Did you miss you flight, or did you have bags of time???

Edited June 7, 2006 by RMHurd

[Euro 3]

Hi Guys & Gals.............Can I please have your experieinces of transfer flights into the US travelling for the 1st time on K visa. How long did it take you to report in to immigration, was it an easy process. Did you miss you flight, or did you have bags of time???

When i came on my K3 my POE was Philly, they were slow about 30 minutes in secondary, they were busy though processing other "Brown envelopes"..........second time with CR1 visa POE was Chicago & it took 5 minutes, no problems at all with either, caught connecting flights & managed to transfer bags too

[Lou Lou 1]

Probably depends on what airport you're going through. Philly appears to one of the worse with time delays and courteous immigration staff. Personally I would avoid it like the plague if I could. I would say leaving a 2 hour window between flights would be safe enough. Longer if you want to relax a little and walk around before the next connection.

[HuffyTheSlayer 22]

I went through Newark and it took no time at all. Barely 10 minutes. But it was very quiet when we got in (it was New Years Day). It was totally easy. The only thing is they forgot to stamp my customs form, so I had to go back and get it done. But that was only a little blip.

[TracyTN 237]

rebeccajo and Wes went via Dublin, where Wes cleared immigration. They then had to clear customs once they actually hit the states. If I recall, she said it was a breeze. That way you'd get the 'stressful' part out of the way early on in your journey!

[Angelica 0]

Minneapolis St Paul.....5-10 minutes, it was a breeze !!

Kim

[Created 6]

A great big "THANKS" for your replies......I'm transferring at Detroit, with 90mins in between. Huffy, what customs form are you talking about?

[HuffyTheSlayer 22]

Just the regular white and blue customs form that everyone has to fill out, USC and non-USCs alike. Just says you're not doing anything like bringing foreign species in or foods or anything.

[Euro 3]

A great big "THANKS" for your replies......I'm transferring at Detroit, with 90mins in between. Huffy, what customs form are you talking about?

Well all i can tell you about Detroit is, My son & my friend came in last week POE Detroit, & it took them an hour from getting off the flight to walking through the doors, BUT they had about 3 international flights all being processed at the same time, so i would say 90 minutes is still good

But dont worry as even if you miss your connecting flight, they will put you on the next 1 no problem

[TracyTN 237]

Just the regular white and blue customs form that everyone has to fill out, USC and non-USCs alike. Just says you're not doing anything like bringing foreign species in or foods or anything.

Its called the I 94. Be sure that you keep your portion of it in your passport (don't let the immigration officer take all of it, as some of them try to do!) as you will need it for AOS.

[Lou Lou 1]

Just the regular white and blue customs form that everyone has to fill out, USC and non-USCs alike. Just says you're not doing anything like bringing foreign species in or foods or anything.

Its called the I 94. Be sure that you keep your portion of it in your passport (don't let the immigration officer take all of it, as some of them try to do!) as you will need it for AOS.

No, the blue and white form is the customs form which has to be stamped before getting through. They glance at it and then take the whole thing away from you. The I-94 is the other form that you rightly said they must not take all of it away.

[TracyTN 237]

Whoops, you're right. It would help if I could READ.

I saw 'white' and thought immediately of the I 94. Sorry for any confusion!

[luv2teach77 41]

I came through Chicago O'hare and apart from waiting about 10 minutes in line, I was only actually being questioned by the POE officer for about 5 minutes. I think I had about an hour or so before my connecting flight to St. Louis left and I had plenty of time to make my way to the gate.

Obviously each airport is different and you have to bear in mind how far apart your arrival and departure gates actually are.

I think a couple of hours is normally long enough for most people !!

Mark

[martinleach 0]

I went through Cincinnati, Oh (well, really kentucky..).

From what I can remember, it was a busy flight, so had to wait in line for roughly 30 mins.

I handed the infamous envelope over, and was jokingly asked if I was sure I wanted to go through this; an immigration officerwith a sense of humour ! The papers and passport where taken from me and looked over all within a couple of minutes. After that, I was told to go and get my luggage and come back after that.

You could see the baggage collection from the Immigration booths, and my bags where already there.

I walked back, sat down in a corner office, and started the wait. I was the only person there.

From what I can remember, I was only sitting down around 5-10 minutes when my passport was handed back to me, I was welcomed to the US, and I could go on my way.

I had left a good three hours between the International and connecting flight, just incase things were delayed.

All in all, it was very smooth and hassle free.

Martin