Airport Arrival Question

[rjgacek 6]

My Fiancee is arriving here to the U.S. on 12/12 on a K-1 visa. She will be coming from Tokyo to L.A. then L.A. to Seattle, then on to Billings, MT where I live.

Now I have a friend in Seattle, WA who i want to meet my fiancee there to keep her company for the 4 hour layover before coming to Billings. I want my friend to take her out for dinner before her final flight here to Billings.

My questions is, seeing she is here on a K-1 Visa and is not an american citizen, will she be able to leave the secured area of the Airport to go with my friend for dinner. I do understand she would have to go back in and re screen all over, which is no problem. But, I want to be sure she can legally leave the secured area on her 4 hour layover in Seattle, without getting into any trouble with immigration or customs at the Seattle airport.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

[Zedayn 485]

Once your fiancee is done with immigration at her POE (which would be in LA), then she is here legally and if she wants to leave the airport she can. You will only deal with immigration and customs at the POE...not domestic airports after the POE.

[h13rma 35]

At SeaTac she will have no trouble doing this. She will be in the country once she clears immigration at LA, and then can come an go.

Edited November 22, 2013 by h13rma

[JayJayH 546]

My Fiancee is arriving here to the U.S. on 12/12 on a K-1 visa. She will be coming from Tokyo to L.A. then L.A. to Seattle, then on to Billings, MT where I live.

Now I have a friend in Seattle, WA who i want to meet my fiancee there to keep her company for the 4 hour layover before coming to Billings. I want my friend to take her out for dinner before her final flight here to Billings.

My questions is, seeing she is here on a K-1 Visa and is not an american citizen, will she be able to leave the secured area of the Airport to go with my friend for dinner. I do understand she would have to go back in and re screen all over, which is no problem. But, I want to be sure she can legally leave the secured area on her 4 hour layover in Seattle, without getting into any trouble with immigration or customs at the Seattle airport.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

She will be arriving from Los Angeles on a domestic flight, and will be flying to Billings on a domestic flight. There are no immigration lines in domestic terminals. The only Homeland Security employees she will encounter in Seattle are TSA agents and they have nothing to do with immigration.

Even if they did, she will be legally in the US.

Unless her friend decides to take her for a ride up to Vancouver for some Canadian cuisine, she will have no problems immigration wise what so ever.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Yang-Ja

[KayDeeCee 4,896]

She clears immigration in LA. The POE is the first place you enter the US. She will go through secondary inspection and hand over her sealed envelope in LA when you land there from Japan. She will automatically be given an I-94(https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/request.html) and be legally admitted into the US for 90 days(the length of the I-94). After that, she can travel normally throughout the US wherever she likes on all domestic flights.

[voltaire-er 0]

she will be free to go after she clears customs and immigration at lax. and a 4 hour stopover should give her enough time. however, keep in mind that she is expected to be at the gate when boarding starts AT THE LATEST. she will also have to go through security again. just make sure she leaves enough time to clear security and make her way to the gate. besides that, she'll be fine.

[bigdog 376]

Why don't you meet her in LA and then you can take her to dinner your self? If the roles were reversed you would like that I bet you wouldn't you? I know my wife still likes me to meet her at LAX, Nothing better than making a good impression.