Last minute checklist before departure tomorrow!

[Darnell 8,478]

She's flying Ulaanbaatar -> Beijing -> Los Angeles. While Ulaanbaatar -> Beijing will not be a problem, I seriously doubt they have anyone fluent in Mongolian for Beijing -> Los Angeles. Would they just look at her passport and fill stuff in for her, without communication, in that case?

For secondary, I'll be giving her a home-made phrasebook for her to point to stuff, and an explanation to call me if they need an interpreter, especially if they have trouble getting one for Mongolian (it's not a very common language, obviously). I am concerned, though, that they won't know what to do with her, and that she will be freaked out, having never left Mongolia before.

'doing with her' will be very obvious, as she's hand-carrying the visa packet for the Department of State, acting as a high-paid (ticket paid by you) courier for the Department of State.

Don't sweat the customs form. Is rare an immigrant uses it, anyway. Mostly that's for tourists.

[Andrew83 0]

Yeah I still don't really get the I-94 thing. Her departure date would be when her return ticket is? Except we are not going to use that obviously, and our wedding will be after that. On the FAQ it seems that they stamp that date on her passport and she must leave by that date if I understood correctly. Sorry, I'm trying to do a million things at the moment, if someone could just tell me instead of referring to a link (if they already know the answer) that would be VERY appreciated.

[Kelli/Ozzy 8]

my husband came from Turkey to JFK and he was in customs for almost 3 hours before I saw him, but he has a paper I-94 form stapled in his passport, maybe with this new electronic version it will speed it up, Good Luck

[jen_vb 2]

Ok, sorry to post 2 similar posts back to back but, my fiancee comes TOMORROW (woohoo!), so if there ever was a time to make sure we have everything straight, it's now right?

So we are planning on a pretty normal departure from her city (Madrid)...

-she'll show her passport and visa at time of check-in, and make sure they are aware that she is entering the U.S. using the K-1 visa.

-she will inform security as well as she passes through security

-she'll arrive at her POE (JFK airport) and go to the immigration line at which time she'll show her passport and sealed envelope (medical envelope too??)

-they'll escort her to a interview room where she'll fill out the I-94...or give it to her? Or some blue piece of paper I've read about? I'm obviously not entirely sure about this part of the process.

-then she'll go collect her baggage and go through security and customs

-then drop off her baggage with Delta to put on her connecting flight (it's that way in Atlanta at least, but do all airports make you collect baggage and then re-submit it even when you have a connecting flight?)

-hurries to the next terminal to make her connection and all is good!

Is this more or less correct? Can anyone clarify some of the areas that I wasn't sure about? Thanks so much for input!!

The customs area at JFK is atrocious!! I lucked out when I had a connection through there last year and my connection was less than 3 hours. I was given a "fast pass" and got to use the line for the diplomats. I was in and out in 20 minutes. Since your fiancee's layover is less than 3 hours she should be able to do the same thing. They announced the fast pass option on my flight and there was someone standing in the terminal as we got off the plane handing out the passes. All I had to do was show my ticket. If there's not someone there in the terminal, have her walk over to the diplomat area, it's right in the middle. There should be someone holding a sign that says "Fast Pass" or something like that. A few people who weren't given the pass, but showed their ticket and short connecting time were able to get in the line. Congratulations!

[saphina 7]

Has anybody used the electronic I94 successfully? I just remember when ESTA started, even though people were filling it out online it took almost a whole year until it wasn't mantatory anymore to fill out the green forms that were replaced by ESTA. Therefore my guess is the white I94 form will probably still be handed out (done by the airline).

Tell your fiancé to keep the medical letter! That stays with her and needs to stay sealed!

I went through CLT and there you actually go to immigration, they take the envelope and passport and gave you a number, then I had to pick up my bags go to the customs officer and from there to secondary inspection which is like a short interview, they didn't check my bags though.

Is she flying on a us carrier or Spanish? I worked for an airline that's why I ask. If its a European carrier, they have in 95% of the time a representative standing by the immigration line simply to assist. If the line is super long and she is worried to miss her connection, tell her to go talk to that person, chances are the will help her move up in line or make sure she gets rebooked ASAP.

Enjoy tomorrow!!

[Darnell 8,478]

hey ! that's super news about the 'fast pass' and/or using the consular line at JFK!

[bigdog 376]

I am wishing her the best and hoping for great results and a quick trip through immigration.

[Jawaree 717]

Duraaraa, Dude relax she'll be ok

you been stressing, don't even see U

at the games no more ) congrats bro

Duraaraa, Dude relax she'll be ok

you been stressing, don't even see U

at the games no more ) congrats bro

[Darnell 8,478]

Oh Holy ####### - I forgot one bit.

are all of the kids coming over, this trip?

and

did each kid get a visa packet from the IV Unit, or no ?

or are they going to seperate K-2 interviews later on?

What I hope you can avoid:

1. all visa paperwork on all humans is in one sealed visa packet and

2. the kids are coming over by plane later .

This will be a problem, as THEIR visa packets might be inside the mom's visa packet. The only way to be certain is by visibly counting the number of visa packets - so if there be 3 humans, there should be 3 visa packets.

Was some problem with Guangzhou IV on this, late last year, and the petitioner went through h3ll with CBP and USCIS to get it sorted. His K-2 child came through without a visa packet - his stuff was in his Mom's visa packet, and she came in months earlier.

So, when you get a moment, do a quick visa packet count. If all she has is ONE - is OK IF all the kids are travelling with her at the same time. It's not ok if they are coming later, if just one visa packet - she'll need to get back to UB IV and have them rework the packet into a number of packets, asap.

EDIT - nevermind - I just studied the comments in yer timeline in the Embassy review section - looks like the kids will interview later , so they'll get their own visa packet back. yay !

Edited May 29, 2013 by Darnell

[duraaraa 203]

Oh Holy ####### - I forgot one bit.

are all of the kids coming over, this trip?

and

did each kid get a visa packet from the IV Unit, or no ?

or are they going to seperate K-2 interviews later on?

What I hope you can avoid:

1. all visa paperwork on all humans is in one sealed visa packet and

2. the kids are coming over by plane later .

This will be a problem, as THEIR visa packets might be inside the mom's visa packet. The only way to be certain is by visibly counting the number of visa packets - so if there be 3 humans, there should be 3 visa packets.

Was some problem with Guangzhou IV on this, late last year, and the petitioner went through h3ll with CBP and USCIS to get it sorted. His K-2 child came through without a visa packet - his stuff was in his Mom's visa packet, and she came in months earlier.

So, when you get a moment, do a quick visa packet count. If all she has is ONE - is OK IF all the kids are travelling with her at the same time. It's not ok if they are coming later, if just one visa packet - she'll need to get back to UB IV and have them rework the packet into a number of packets, asap.

Thanks for the heads up.

Of course, everyone will be coming together. I would be extremely worried if the kids had to navigate two countries' airports alone. The interview, however, for the kids will be later -- I needed my fiancee to have her interview first so that I could find a job in Mongolia quickly enough in the case of denial.

I don't know how many packets or how that will go, but she hasn't even gotten her packet yet (still needs to get the medical check done), so I'll make sure to ask the embassy if I'm confused about it. They're usually cool about responding to personal case queries from me by e-mail.

She also won't be coming for another month or more... If she can sort out everything there by the end of June, she'll come on the 25th. If not, ticket prices are too high until September.

Edited May 29, 2013 by duraaraa

[Darnell 8,478]

ya, there's another edit in there.... seems we crossed paths at some ungodly hour.

[MKA092211 4]

Best of luck!

I will say I travel thru JFK on a fairly regular basis. I am concerned about the lay over time. Last two trips I ended up staying in New York because the 2 hours were eaten up on waiting in lines to re-enter and then waiting on luggage to only end up waiting to re-check my bags with the airlines which was a short line but individuals working behind the counters painfuly slow.

Good Luck!

.

[chaine1 116]

She's flying Ulaanbaatar -> Beijing -> Los Angeles. While Ulaanbaatar -> Beijing will not be a problem, I seriously doubt they have anyone fluent in Mongolian for Beijing -> Los Angeles. Would they just look at her passport and fill stuff in for her, without communication, in that case?

For secondary, I'll be giving her a home-made phrasebook for her to point to stuff, and an explanation to call me if they need an interpreter, especially if they have trouble getting one for Mongolian (it's not a very common language, obviously). I am concerned, though, that they won't know what to do with her, and that she will be freaked out, having never left Mongolia before.

Hey duraaraa-

Having spent an ungodly amount of time in airports and airplanes - she'll be fine. I was once on a flight from Kuwait to Beirut, and I guess, being the friendly-looking white girl, I was approached by an Ethiopian woman who gave me her passport and customs card. I eventually figured out what she wanted, and then discovered there was an entire group of them who needed the same help. The flight crew eventually discovered and said to me - 'oh don't worry about doing that, we'll take care of it.' So the flight crews are obviously familiar with this and used to helping out.

I was also approached one time in an airport by a couple who had a card written in English by their daughter saying: Our names are _____, we are on a flight to ______, can you help us find this flight? The phone number to our family is ___________ if you need it.

I think the phrasebook is a great idea, just reassure her she'll be okay! She will! There are friendly people all over the world, ready and willing to help!

[Maite&Osmar 9]

Hope she has enough time to catch the connecting flight. Entering the US for the first time usually takes 3 to 4 hours. For next time allow enough time between one flight and another, 4 to 5 hours is recommended.