Moroccan & Customs

[blessedblessed 1]

hey everyone!

it's me again.

i would like to hear about the experience your MENA fiance/spouse had at the airport upon arrival in the US. how will Abdelhay's (my fiance) experience upon arrival be different than mine, as a US citizen? i know he needs to bring his vaccination sheet...will he be given a small interview?

all that being said, how much time will he need to go through customs?? 3 hours? 5 hours? i don't want him to feel stressed out or rushed!

any personal tips, ideas or stories are welcomed.

Jessica

[KittyPollitt 284]

hey everyone!

it's me again.

i would like to hear about the experience your MENA fiance/spouse had at the airport upon arrival in the US. how will Abdelhay's (my fiance) experience upon arrival be different than mine, as a US citizen? i know he needs to bring his vaccination sheet...will he be given a small interview?

all that being said, how much time will he need to go through customs?? 3 hours? 5 hours? i don't want him to feel stressed out or rushed!

any personal tips, ideas or stories are welcomed.

Jessica

I was with my husband when came through customs at JFK. We all waited together in the visa holder's line. When we got to the CBP agent, they opened his brown envelope from the consulate and went through the contents (making sure to block my view of them), and took his I 94 and passport. Then he asked my husband what his intent was in the US, how long he intended to stay. My husband told them his intent was to marry my (he had a K1), and that he intended to remain in the US indefinitely. They asked him when we intended to marry, and he told them within 90 days, whenever we get the time. The CBP agent then took his photo and fingerprints and told us we needed to go wait in a staging area. We waited there for about 10 minutes, I have no clue what they were doing, then they called us over and handed my husband back his passport with the I 94 stapled in it, and told us we were free to go.

The whole process, including waiting in line, took about 45-50 minutes and was pretty painless.

Sarah

[msheesha 548]

I did what Squeaky did. We flew in from Morocco together and I waited in the same line with my husband. When we went thru the line they took his fingerprints; don't think they asked him questions there, but told us to go to the area/office off to the side. We waited there a little while and then were called up. They asked a couple questions about our visa process, and then we went on our way.

It didn't take long, and I thought it was nice that I was allowed to go with him at every step along the way.

We came through JFK as well. It all took well under an hour, from my memory.

Edited February 25, 2011 by msheesha

[lindaishak 0]

I haven't been on here for awhile but I read your post and thought I would respond. My hubby came on K1 visa 4 years ago and I was with him when we entered JFK airport. We handed our envelope to the guy and was told to wait in the waiting room. We waited 3 hours and then was handed his passport back and told everything was good to go. We missed our connecting flight and had to stay overnight in a hotel. Thank god i was with him because he would have been lost on what to do. I would recommend giving him 3 to 5 hours because depending on what flights are coming in there may be many entering the country and the waiting area could be awhile or he may be only a few minutes as another person here had said. I think it depends on the day but to be on the safe side I would give it a couple of hours just in case. Good luck and congrats!!

[peenkhartz 1]

my husband came on a k-1 visa sept 2010. His port of entry was JFK and he waiting about 20 minutes in line, he then gave the officer the brown envelope given to him at the consulate and the officer went through it page by page then he got finger prints done. The officer took his passport and all papers and took my husband to a small room and waited about 15 minutes untill they returned his passport stamped back to him and the officer told my husband he can go pick up his luggage and he was free to go.

[Vanessa1 7]

hey everyone!

it's me again.

i would like to hear about the experience your MENA fiance/spouse had at the airport upon arrival in the US. how will Abdelhay's (my fiance) experience upon arrival be different than mine, as a US citizen? i know he needs to bring his vaccination sheet...will he be given a small interview?

all that being said, how much time will he need to go through customs?? 3 hours? 5 hours? i don't want him to feel stressed out or rushed!

any personal tips, ideas or stories are welcomed.

Jessica

I came through JFK with my husband and it was easy. Actually the most difficult part was that the airline didn't have the customs forms we all have to fill out in English and then neither did the airport. We had a Korean form and our entire flight was crowded over the large English example on the wall so we could figure out what information to fill into the blanks. Now it's a hilarious story but then we were more than annoyed. LOL! Anyway, we were lucky because we were the only flight in the lines so it went quickly. We went through the line for permanent residents and they did the fingerprints, picture, and then they stamped our passports and asked us to go to a room, where my husband waited his turn. They asked my husband a couple of questions. It was all pretty routine and we went to get our luggage and then it was welcome to New York! It took less than an hour but I believe it all depends on how many flights are arriving at the same time because that will determine how long the lines are and therefore how long you have to wait.

Edited February 27, 2011 by Vanessa1

[Vanessa1 7]

I thought I'd pass on one more thing...when you do get to the point that you're going to book a flight, if you need a connecting flight out of New York be sure to put several hours between flights. That airport is HUGE!!! We think it's bigger than my husband's home town. Also, prepare your fiance for the possibility of having to stay overnight. Every time I've flown out of Casablanca there's been a delay with the flight which has resulted in an extra night's stay. The year we got married I got stuck in Amsterdam because the flight out of Casa was something like 3 hours delayed and then last year when my husband and I traveled together our original flight was canceled and we were bumped to a later flight which resulted again in a missed connection. Just be aware so it doesn't stress you out or surprise you. I don't think it happens each and every time, obviously, but that was just my luck! But if you're not going to fly with him be sure he's got a way to call you just in case. Also, I'd suggest flying into New York or another domestic city and not connecting anywhere international so that he's at least in the United States, should a delay happen.

Good luck!!

Edited February 27, 2011 by Vanessa1

[Resha 1]

My husband came over by himself through JFK.. He said the line was fairly short and when he got up the the customs they took like 5 minutes and let him through.. He said it was super fast.. I guess it just depends on how much they want to do lol

On the other hand I have a friends whos husband from Morocco just came over.. He missed his flight I think it was like 3-4 hours in between the flight time.. So it just depends really...

[CasandraYounes 0]

My husband came through MIA over a year ago. I met him at MIA and had to wait 6 hours for him. Granted, I got there like 2 hours early because I thought his plan was supposed to arrive at 2, but it was late one hour and I didn't get to see him until about 6:30 or 7:00pm. I did not know what a big custom hotspot MIA is otherwise I would have arranged everything for JFK. I was a total worried mess by the time he got to me. My husband was the last person to leave out of customs, but thank God I was prepared because we did not miss our flight.

Edited February 28, 2011 by CasandraYounes

[Teffah 5]

Bijad had a great experience going through JFK!! He was out in under 15 minutes, he joked and talked with the customs officers and a warm "Welcome to America" was given. I wish your loved one the same experience!

[msheesha 548]

I also thought the officers at JFK were very nice to us- allowing me to accompany him throughout & explaining when we should be getting green card & what to do if we had a change of address etc. No complaints from me about JFK!

[aminah 6]

My husbands POE was Detroit. It took about 30 min total. He said they were very nice, took his packet and asked him a few questions.