Preparing POE

[Y & Y 0]

Dear VJ Members. I need your help.

Finally, My visa has been approved 25th Oct, 2011.

I am going to move as soon as possible. I worry about POE and flight so that what should I prepare to bring with me?

Please give me good advices and I would like to find a good flight booking website for my flight ticket.

How long does it take the processing time at US custom?

What kind of custom declaration form is there?

What should we fill in there?

Thank you. I am looking forward your good informations asap.

[Barbara J 115]

Dear VJ Members. I need your help.

Finally, My visa has been approved 25th Oct, 2011.

I am going to move as soon as possible. I worry about POE and flight so that what should I prepare to bring with me?

Please give me good advices and I would like to find a good flight booking website for my flight ticket.

How long does it take the processing time at US custom?

What kind of custom declaration form is there?

What should we fill in there?

Thank you. I am looking forward your good informations asap.

Not sure what you are worried about? If you are ready to leave then you can book your tickets on line by looking up the cheapest if that's what you want to do. I flew Delta as I did not want to have to change airlines at LA again as I did that on my first trip. Where are you flying into? I had to change at LA to fly to Atlanta. LA is fine and you will carry with you in your carry on luggage your envelope sealed and your passport with visa inside and when you land you hand that over to customs officer. They will take finger prints and a photo.

The only form you will fill in is on the plane a I-94 a white card and you hand that over in your passport and they will stamp it and return it to you. It will give a date of how long your visit is valid for 90 days.

Tha's it nothing to it really and hopefully your fiancee is waiting for you when you arrive. Have a safe trip

Edited October 26, 2011 by Barbara J

[bigdog 376]

Leave at least 3 hours at LAX, for customs immigration, then time to switch terminals and get to your next flight.

[Y & Y 0]

Not sure what you are worried about? If you are ready to leave then you can book your tickets on line by looking up the cheapest if that's what you want to do. I flew Delta as I did not want to have to change airlines at LA again as I did that on my first trip. Where are you flying into? I had to change at LA to fly to Atlanta. LA is fine and you will carry with you in your carry on luggage your envelope sealed and your passport with visa inside and when you land you hand that over to customs officer. They will take finger prints and a photo.

The only form you will fill in is on the plane a I-94 a white card and you hand that over in your passport and they will stamp it and return it to you. It will give a date of how long your visit is valid for 90 days.

Tha's it nothing to it really and hopefully your fiancee is waiting for you when you arrive. Have a safe trip

THank you so much for your responding. Barbara. I could get my interview with your advice last time.

My destination is Syracuse, NY. I will fly to Syracuse via Chicago.

I appreciate your good information again.

[paul_kay 31]

Dear VJ Members. I need your help.

Finally, My visa has been approved 25th Oct, 2011.

I am going to move as soon as possible. I worry about POE and flight so that what should I prepare to bring with me?

Please give me good advices and I would like to find a good flight booking website for my flight ticket.

How long does it take the processing time at US custom?

What kind of custom declaration form is there?

What should we fill in there?

Thank you. I am looking forward your good informations asap.

Hi! My POE was O'Hare Airport in Chicago. We used Expedia to book my flight. I had a 50 min layover in Japan which wasn't a problem.

There are 2 queues at O'Hare customs, one for US Citizens and LPRs and one for the Visitors, you fall in line in the visitors lane.

US customs at O'Hare took about 15 mins falling in line and 10 mins interview with the officer but most of it was spent with him looking at the computer and typing information. You need to submit the documents from the embassy to the officer and do some fingerprinting. That's it.

They will give you the I-94 and Declaration form in the plane so don't forget to bring a pen because I had to borrow one from my seatmate. For the declaration form you write what kind of items you are bringing such as food then you write an estimation of how much all your stuff are worth (I think it's optional, not sure. but if you have over $10,000 you have to declare it)

[Lainie B 465]

The time spent getting through immigration can vary depending on how busy they are. It took me an hour and a half to get through LAX immigration because they were so busy, but it only took me 5 minutes processing once I got to the counter. I would recommend a layover of at least 3 hours just to be safe - I nearly missed my connecting flight. You will most likely only take 10 minutes at most for processing once you get to the counter, as long as there are no issues. Just remember you won't have your checked bags with you when you go through immigration, so you must take everything you need (including the sealed envelope from the consulate) in your cabin baggage. As stated above you will fill in two forms: the white I-94 and the customs declaration form, they will give these to you on the plane. You don't have to do the ESTA online as this is for the VWP, so don't worry if they talk about that.

There are lots of different websites, expedia, cheaptickets, etc etc, or you could book direct with the airline you choose. Are you flying from Australia? If sour first stop in the US will be your POE. Usually that is LAX but it depends on your route and airline. There are only a few airlines that fly between Australia and the US so your choice will be limited.

As Barbara stated, if all your flights are the same airline or they are partner airlines you won't have to worry about rechecking your bags. If your baggage gets checked all the way through to your destination then you will pick them up at your first stop in the US then take them through customs, quarantine, then there will be a drop-off place for connecting flights. If your connecting flight is not the same as your original flight, or is not a partner airline, you might have to recheck them (you will have to go get a new boarding pass too).