Chicago O'Hare - Non-English Speaking

[Other 0]

So now my mom is flipping out saying that my fiancée is going to get stuck in customs at O'Hare because she doesn't know English. Then even if she does get out she won't know how to get to the next airplane and that no one will help her. Granted I believe that she will find friends on the airplane and get where she needs to be, especially since the flight attendants will be speaking in her language, but just in case I have a question.

Does anyone have experience of being a non-English speaking person going through O'Hare on a K1 and having to catch a connecting flight? I hear customs is easy, but this doesn't mean a non-English speaking person will have the same experience.

Other

[evilmonkey 2]

So now my mom is flipping out saying that my fiancée is going to get stuck in customs at O'Hare because she doesn't know English. Then even if she does get out she won't know how to get to the next airplane and that no one will help her. Granted I believe that she will find friends on the airplane and get where she needs to be, especially since the flight attendants will be speaking in her language, but just in case I have a question.

Does anyone have experience of being a non-English speaking person going through O'Hare on a K1 and having to catch a connecting flight? I hear customs is easy, but this doesn't mean a non-English speaking person will have the same experience.

Other

If she can read numbers and letters, she will have no problems, teach her some basic words such as

Terminal

Gate

Boarding Time

Connections

Luggage

By the way, depending on the Immigration officer she will have a tough time. Expect to get grilled and if they cannot find someone who speaks her language, you can very well expect a call to your phone.

Best thing to do is have someone travel with her if you can. Airport does not provide translators.

Also, how do you guys communicate if she does not speak English?

Edited March 30, 2010 by evilmonkey

[evilmonkey 2]

So now my mom is flipping out saying that my fiancée is going to get stuck in customs at O'Hare because she doesn't know English. Then even if she does get out she won't know how to get to the next airplane and that no one will help her. Granted I believe that she will find friends on the airplane and get where she needs to be, especially since the flight attendants will be speaking in her language, but just in case I have a question.

Does anyone have experience of being a non-English speaking person going through O'Hare on a K1 and having to catch a connecting flight? I hear customs is easy, but this doesn't mean a non-English speaking person will have the same experience.

Other

You just got very lucky lol

After doing some research online, it appears ORD provides assistance to people who does not speak English, check out the below link and contact them for further details

http://www.flychicago.com/customerservices/TravelersAid.shtm

Edited March 30, 2010 by evilmonkey

[Other 0]

Best thing to do is have someone travel with her if you can. Airport does not provide translators.

Also, how do you guys communicate if she does not speak English?

Like I said the international flight she is taking typically is 80% Turkish speaking and might meet someone that can help with the customs agent.

I would travel with her, but I don't have that luxury at this time. I just got back from Turkey at the beginning of the year. I have been told that typically there isn't an issue even non-English speaking people. Which is why I would like to know what people have experienced when being non-English speaking. I haven't heard of anyone being grilled with a K1 visa, but plenty of visitor visa grillings.

I speak a decent amount of Turkish and we can communicate with the help of communication aids.

Other

[ErikaAndHamit 73]

Like I said the international flight she is taking typically is 80% Turkish speaking and might meet someone that can help with the customs agent.

I would travel with her, but I don't have that luxury at this time. I just got back from Turkey at the beginning of the year. I have been told that typically there isn't an issue even non-English speaking people. Which is why I would like to know what people have experienced when being non-English speaking. I haven't heard of anyone being grilled with a K1 visa, but plenty of visitor visa grillings.

I speak a decent amount of Turkish and we can communicate with the help of communication aids.

Other

My hubby went though Chicago, but I was with him and everyone was very nice. Check out the visa-entry point reviews here on VJ for different airports and see what people had to say. It may help you help her. I think there would not be a huge problem as they deal with non-English speaking people all the time. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule.

[ErikaAndHamit 73]

Here's the reviews for Chicago point-of-entry...hope it helps!

http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/poereviews.php?poe=Chicago&dfilter=0

[Darnell 8,478]

Once out of customs/immigration - there's a human outside the door wearing a nametag. SHOW the ticket, ask for directions to the next flight. If the mother is really flipping out - then have the fiance get concierge service through the stewardesses - ya gotta ask, but someone will be waiting for the fiance outside of customs.

Edited April 6, 2010 by Darnell

[Nik+Heather 121]

I would travel with her, but I don't have that luxury at this time. I just got back from Turkey at the beginning of the year.

I think she'll be fine through customs, but if she doesn't fly much, then going through a big international airport may be confusing. Is there a middle ground where you might go and meet her at ORD? You could see her straight out of customs, and join her on the connecting flight back - help her with re-checking and everything.

That's what I did with Nik. He didn't need help, but I was in the same boat as you, not enough time/excess money to make the whole trip just to turn around again. Plus, we wanted to spend a weekend in NYC. The other bonus was that I could help with the baggage allowance - more was allowed on the international flight than domestic.

I also wonder how your fiancee feels about all this - if she's comfortable/confident and there's a lot of lay over time, maybe it's much ado over nothing.