Can my port of entry be a port (Fort Lauderdale)

[Jviddy 1]

We're in the process of applying for our visa and hoping to move to the states in November this year.

Our idea is to Cruise across from Southampton, arriving in Fort Lauderdale and then drive to our new home in Orlando, the benefits being

• It's cheaper than flying
• You can take masses of luggage
• It will be a nice holiday as well.

The question I have is can anyone see this as being a problem from an immigration point of view.

I'm guessing the majority of people enter by Air. Will the port be setup to process me (actually i have no idea what the process is when i get there)

[VirginiaMaria 3]

That's a great question. My thinking is that you should probably contact the port in Ft. Lauderdale and ask someone that works there. I would ask more than one person too. You could always get a person that just wants to get you off the phone. Good luck!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Yes of course you can come by boat. They have immigration controls for people coming on boats. What a huge loophole it would be if they didn't!

[lost_at_sea 995]

Yes, that's fine. They may not do that sort of processing as often as airports (or the land points of entry like at Canada/Mexico), so it might take longer when you get to the port to be processed, is all.

[lost_at_sea 995]

...now I'm looking at cruises. What an amazing way to enter the country for a new life. Not super convenient for San Francisco, though.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

That's the way everyone used to start their new life in the US!

Boats used to go from Europe all around South America to get to San Francisco. It was a time tested route.

[Jviddy 1]

Thanks for the feedback

I knew that there was immigration at the ports i just didn't know if they were set up to cope with new immigrants. I will give them a call when I'm closer to the time.

Lost_at_sea - We thought it was a great idea. we're hoping to load up all the possesions we want to keep so we won't have to pay to ship anything. (Most cruise lines have say a max of 4 suitcases each and a weight limit of 200kg, which should be more than enough for all our stuff).

We're hoping to head to Fort Lauderdale as there are two cruises in the first couple of days in november.

Closer to San Fran (although still not that close), there are cruises at a similar time Galvestone (tx) and New Orleans.

[lost_at_sea 995]

Thanks for the feedback

I knew that there was immigration at the ports i just didn't know if they were set up to cope with new immigrants. I will give them a call when I'm closer to the time.

Lost_at_sea - We thought it was a great idea. we're hoping to load up all the possesions we want to keep so we won't have to pay to ship anything. (Most cruise lines have say a max of 4 suitcases each and a weight limit of 200kg, which should be more than enough for all our stuff).

We're hoping to head to Fort Lauderdale as there are two cruises in the first couple of days in november.

Closer to San Fran (although still not that close), there are cruises at a similar time Galvestone (tx) and New Orleans.

That would be amazing. Anyway - do let the thread know when you call them - the info might come in handy for others.

[HK12 273]

I came on a cruise ship to the U.S. in January using my K1 visa. I know it is hard to find information on people who have immigrated by cruise ship (I did a lot of research before my cruise), so I thought I'd comment even though I did not arrive in Fort Lauderdale, but at New York Seaport.

I have written a POE review in my timeline, if you'd like to check it out: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=126144 (at the end of the page).

I had written to CBP prior to booking the cruise and asked them about the procedure when entering by ship, and they replied that there would be no problems and that my visa would be processed at the first port that I was entering in the U.S. My husband (then-fiancé) also called immigration at the New York seaport, and they too assured us that everything would be alright. Maybe that is one thing that you could do, call immigration in Fort Lauderdale, just to make sure and for your peace of mind.

There are at least two other members on here who have also immigrated by cruise ship, broma25 and EmigratingSwede. From what I have read from other members, the only problem that some ran into were that a few immigration officers were not proficient with immigrant visas and had to consult their manuals or supervisors. I personally did not have any problems whatsoever, and my visa was processed very efficiently and professionally.

I can only recommend going by cruise ship. It is such an incredible and unforgettable experience! Good luck!

Edited May 23, 2013 by HK12

[Stressed Out 81]

Are there any sites similar to farecompare/kayak that you could recommend to search for deals on cruises? My husband and I think it's a cool idea for him to enter via ship. All the ones I've found are ridiculously expensive...about 3 times as much as it costs to fly.

Edited May 28, 2013 by Stressed Out

[Jviddy 1]

@stressed out

two of my favourites are

vacationstogo.com

and

cruise.co.uk

I normally use the first one to find out when the cruises are going and then try a bunch of other sites to find the best deal.

For us it's working our about £200 cheaper to cruise and thats before you take into account excess luggage and shipping savings.

Fingers crossed you find a deal.

[Jviddy 1]

Forgot to mention. You need to try and find repositioning cruises when the move the cruise ships to a new home port. The med season finishes in October/November and then some if the ships move to sail the Caribbean over the winter.

It's that time period when you'll find the deals

[HK12 273]

Are there any sites similar to farecompare/kayak that you could recommend to search for deals on cruises? My husband and I think it's a cool idea for him to enter via ship. All the ones I've found are ridiculously expensive...about 3 times as much as it costs to fly.

I used several comparison websites to find the cruise that I was looking for, but I ended up booking directly via the cruise line's telephone number. It was easier for me that way, especially since this was my first cruise and I had quite a few questions.

Also, don't forget to check out cruise lines' website - sometimes they have great offers if you book a couple of months in advance.

To be fair, I have to say that my cruise actually was more expensive than the flight would have been. That was because I used one of the more expensive cruise lines (Cunard) though, and it wasn't a repositioning cruise but part of their world tour. Being allowed to take as much baggage with me as I wanted to and just the pure experience offse it all though! You could also try to find a cheaper cruise line though. Royal Carribean sometimes has good offers.

[HK12 273]

To be fair, I have to say that my cruise actually was more expensive than the flight would have been. That was because I used one of the more expensive cruise lines (Cunard) though, and it wasn't a repositioning cruise but part of their world tour. Being allowed to take as much baggage with me as I wanted to and just the pure experience offset it all though! You could also try to find a cheaper cruise line though. Royal Caribbean sometimes has good offers.

Ugh, sorry for all the mistakes in my post... I was in a hurry to get done.

[Stressed Out 81]

Thanks for the site recommendations, Jviddy! I'm not needing to go on the Queen Mary or anything, but we're also not wanting to go with some pirate trawler like in the newest King Kong movie, haha. I just wouldn't be too surprised if the prices of airfare pretty much force people to cruise more often and that causing cruiselines to drop their prices a bit since they have a higher demand for tickets. Orrrr they both just get more expensive, hehe...we'll have to see how it plays out. Either way I went on a short cruise to Mexico with my parents when I was young and I thought it was very fun, so a week at sea would be even better I'd think.