when my fiance arrives arrives at airport

[vap 0]

Hello everyone. first i want to say thanks to everyone who helped me here. I just want to say that i did everything on my own to obtain a k-1 visa for my brazilian fiance. It was not hard. All you have to do is follow all of the steps and show to then that you have in fact a relationship. Thats all. a lot of proof is not necessary, the quality is what counts. Anyway, she will be comming here in 2 weeks. I will be going down to Brazil to pick her up. My question is: what should we expect when she arrives customs at the airport in brasil and america. She has a large envelope that can't be opened until she arrives at customes. I am american. When we arrive should i get in the line with her for non citizens. What will happen at customs. Will they open her envelope which she is called in line or will she have to go to a seperate area. I have only brought a one ticket for her as many have said that proof of a rould way ticket is not necessary because she is coming on a k-1 visa. will we be delayed at customs. Oh.. i am american and we will be arriving at dulles airport in washington d. c. thanks in advance.

[carton025 38]

Hello everyone. first i want to say thanks to everyone who helped me here. I just want to say that i did everything on my own to obtain a k-1 visa for my brazilian fiance. It was not hard. All you have to do is follow all of the steps and show to then that you have in fact a relationship. Thats all. a lot of proof is not necessary, the quality is what counts. Anyway, she will be comming here in 2 weeks. I will be going down to Brazil to pick her up. My question is: what should we expect when she arrives customs at the airport in brasil and america. She has a large envelope that can't be opened until she arrives at customes. I am american. When we arrive should i get in the line with her for non citizens. What will happen at customs. Will they open her envelope which she is called in line or will she have to go to a seperate area. I have only brought a one ticket for her as many have said that proof of a rould way ticket is not necessary because she is coming on a k-1 visa. will we be delayed at customs. Oh.. i am american and we will be arriving at dulles airport in washington d. c. thanks in advance.

I only speak from my own personal experience with my gal entering the USA. Typically, when you and her get to the airport in Brasilia you will do the american process and she will do the brazilian process. When you guys get to your poe in the USA you can enter the USA in the line for "non-citizens" along with your gal or you can re-enter the USA in the "returning USA citizens" line. She will have to jump through a few hoops, immigration and customs. The "envelope" she has will probably never be opened unless there is a problem down the line via the AOS or ROC petitions. Don't worry about the "envelope," just don't open it. Relax, kick back, and enjoy... What you are about to experience is, for most, a once-in-a lifetime experience!

Best of luck!

Sid

Hello everyone. first i want to say thanks to everyone who helped me here. I just want to say that i did everything on my own to obtain a k-1 visa for my brazilian fiance. It was not hard. All you have to do is follow all of the steps and show to then that you have in fact a relationship. Thats all. a lot of proof is not necessary, the quality is what counts. Anyway, she will be comming here in 2 weeks. I will be going down to Brazil to pick her up. My question is: what should we expect when she arrives customs at the airport in brasil and america. She has a large envelope that can't be opened until she arrives at customes. I am american. When we arrive should i get in the line with her for non citizens. What will happen at customs. Will they open her envelope which she is called in line or will she have to go to a seperate area. I have only brought a one ticket for her as many have said that proof of a rould way ticket is not necessary because she is coming on a k-1 visa. will we be delayed at customs. Oh.. i am american and we will be arriving at dulles airport in washington d. c. thanks in advance.

I only speak from my own personal experience with my gal entering the USA. Typically, when you and her get to the airport in Brasilia you will do the american process and she will do the brazilian process. When you guys get to your poe in the USA you can enter the USA in the line for "non-citizens" along with your gal or you can re-enter the USA in the "returning USA citizens" line. She will have to jump through a few hoops, immigration and customs. The "envelope" she has will probably never be opened unless there is a problem down the line via the AOS or ROC petitions. Don't worry about the "envelope," just don't open it. Relax, kick back, and enjoy... What you are about to experience is, for most, a once-in-a lifetime experience!

Best of luck!

Sid

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I only speak from my own personal experience with my gal entering the USA. Typically, when you and her get to the airport in Brasilia you will do the american process and she will do the brazilian process. When you guys get to your poe in the USA you can enter the USA in the line for "non-citizens" along with your gal or you can re-enter the USA in the "returning USA citizens" line. She will have to jump through a few hoops, immigration and customs. The "envelope" she has will probably never be opened unless there is a problem down the line via the AOS or ROC petitions. Don't worry about the "envelope," just don't open it. Relax, kick back, and enjoy... What you are about to experience is, for most, a once-in-a lifetime experience!

Best of luck!

Sid

I don't know about you, but the envelopes my wife and step-kids got was opened by the customs officer in front of us. He went through each envelope, separated documents into different stacks, and put each stack into a different bin, presumably because the documents are sent to different places.

@Vap, there is usually a CBP officer "directing traffic" at the customs counters. Go to whichever counter he/she directs you to. The CBP officer sent me, my wife (fiancee at the time) and step-kids to the US citizens line because it was the shortest. We all went to the same counter at the same time.

Each incoming alien will hand the CBP officer their unopened envelope, passport, and the I-94 card they previously filled out (usually on the plane). The officer will go through the contents of the envelope and sort them, but I don't recall them giving any of the documents from the envelope back to my wife. They'll scan their fingerprints. They'll separate the top and bottom portions of the I-94, they'll put the top portion in a bin, and they'll stamp the bottom portion and staple it into the passport. They'll write the date of expiration and class of entry in the spaces provided on the I-94 stamp. They'll also stamp the visa itself, effectively canceling it. They may ask a few questions. Obviously, you'll answer them. For most people, that's about it. It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes. Ours took a little longer, but there were three aliens to process.

[vap 0]

I don't know about you, but the envelopes my wife and step-kids got was opened by the customs officer in front of us. He went through each envelope, separated documents into different stacks, and put each stack into a different bin, presumably because the documents are sent to different places.

@Vap, there is usually a CBP officer "directing traffic" at the customs counters. Go to whichever counter he/she directs you to. The CBP officer sent me, my wife (fiancee at the time) and step-kids to the US citizens line because it was the shortest. We all went to the same counter at the same time.

Each incoming alien will hand the CBP officer their unopened envelope, passport, and the I-94 card they previously filled out (usually on the plane). The officer will go through the contents of the envelope and sort them, but I don't recall them giving any of the documents from the envelope back to my wife. They'll scan their fingerprints. They'll separate the top and bottom portions of the I-94, they'll put the top portion in a bin, and they'll stamp the bottom portion and staple it into the passport. They'll write the date of expiration and class of entry in the spaces provided on the I-94 stamp. They'll also stamp the visa itself, effectively canceling it. They may ask a few questions. Obviously, you'll answer them. For most people, that's about it. It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes. Ours took a little longer, but there were three aliens to process.

thanks for your response. so i am assuming you had just one way airlines tickets for her and the children?

Thanks for your response. I'm assuming you only had one way ticket for your fiance and her children?

[nessmj77 6]

You can read some of the POE reviews, it might help get an idea of what to expect:

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

[Krikit 1,165]

The envelope definitely gets opened. They need to open it to endorse the visa.

Moving from K-1 Process to the Moving Here forum.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Krikit

[EminTX 131]

I've got a link in my signature where you can check out the averages for each POE as far as the time it takes to go through customs based on what time your flight arrives.

My husband was alone and was delayed because of one guy getting arrested as he stepped off the aircraft. It freaked him out a little bit.

Do try to stay together. The person questioning your beloved probably doesn't speak any of her language and will butcher any written version of the questions. My (now) husband was asked several questions in a redneck-reading-of-Spanish. He couldn't understand the guy at all. The jerk was condescending and asked Carlos, "Don't you speak Spanish?" Carlos replied, "Yes, but you don't." He said they guy was obviously hated his job but that there are people like that everywhere. He didn't take it personally but the nervousness of the situation was certainly not made better by that guy.

If you can remember, take pictures as your exit the aircraft and go through the airport to customs. I did that for Carlos on my last trip to visit him and being able to see beforehand what the place looked like was reassuring to him. I put the pix into a slide show and posted it on YouTube for others and have gotten many thank-you's from others who are flying in to our same POE.