How much time should I allow for secondary inspection in Detroit?

[rmarkwallace 7]

MY fiance's ultimate destination is New York, but Delta will clear her in Detroit. I don't want her to miss her connection because it might leave her overnight in the terminal. As you probably know, Secondary Inspection is standard procedure for someone Immigrating for the first time with the sealed envelope.

[B & G 200]

I would say at least 4 hours. Thats taking into consideration the secondary inspection and the fact that she needs to clear customs in Detroit before boarding her flight to New York.

[rmarkwallace 7]

Do you know what Delta does when someone misses a conection due to Immigration issues? Put her in a hotel? Put her on a later flight at no charge?

[Girl from Celebes 588]

MY fiance's ultimate destination is New York, but Delta will clear her in Detroit. I don't want her to miss her connection because it might leave her overnight in the terminal. As you probably know, Secondary Inspection is standard procedure for someone Immigrating for the first time with the sealed envelope.

I did not go to The secondary inspection for my PoE at Detroit International Airport. Not all people went to the secondary inspection. When I was there, it took less than 15 minutes at immigration lines and about an hour to went through custom line. Our layover was about 2 hours from another connecting flight.

[rmarkwallace 7]

I hope that no secondary inspection is now typical. What they used to do is pull you out of line and ask you some questions based on what is in the sealed envelope to make sure that you are the same person who was issued the visa.

[Sukie 1,465]

Do you know what Delta does when someone misses a conection due to Immigration issues? Put her in a hotel? Put her on a later flight at no charge?

Only Delta can tell you that. I'd leave 3 to 4 hours between connections, and hopefully her connecting flight to New York will NOT be the last one of the night - that could put her in a bind.

My advice is to go to www.flightstats.com and check the on-time status of her inbound flight, then look at the Detroit Airport's daily flights to see when and how many international flights arrive at a time similar to your traveler. If she's on the ONLY international flight to come in at a certain hour, she won't have too bad a time. But if three or four flights are dumping out at the same time, then you need to expand her transfer time.

In case of a screw up, make sure she has phone numbers for a local hotel, and she knows how to take a taxi or call for a hotel shuttle bus.

We just flew into JFK from Hong Kong - we were the only flight to arrive at the terminal, and we were through immigration (complete with packet and new I-551 stamp) in 15 minutes flat.

But...had we not been at the front of the plane, I'm thinking it could have taken much longer.

Best of luck!

Sukie

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Do you know what Delta does when someone misses a conection due to Immigration issues? Put her in a hotel? Put her on a later flight at no charge?

They wouldn't. It's not under their control. Airlines only do that if the flight itself was delayed or canceled such that no ohter flight is possible same day.

If you feel edgy about it, there are three avenues:

book her a hotel at the airport or nearby, depending how confident is she on navigating a shuttle to the hotel

you fly to Detroit and await for her

trust things will go ok and there would be no problem.

I think you might want to do the first, is money well spent, even if not used. And it is possible that you can cancel with real short notice.

Even better would be 2, nothing better than a really good surprise for her on her arrival and that shows how much you care. You just need to ensure you do not miss each other, but since she has to come out the international arrivals and go to the other gate, I think you could either wait outside the international area (usually only one way out) or at the gate in the following flight.

Edited July 19, 2014 by Gosia & Tito

[rmarkwallace 7]

Were you immigrating on the flight that only took 15 minutes? They used to do a final inspection in the secondary inspection area. Customs is also by a different set of rules because she is importing the contents of her suitcase.

Looking at the responses, it appears that they may no longer do a final inspection.

[Mike-eeh and Odie 193]

MY fiance's ultimate destination is New York, but Delta will clear her in Detroit. I don't want her to miss her connection because it might leave her overnight in the terminal. As you probably know, Secondary Inspection is standard procedure for someone Immigrating for the first time with the sealed envelope.

Hey @rmarkwallace,

I used Delta as well, but my wife went straight to JFK in NYC. Her flight went from Manila to Narita (Japan) to NYC. See if you can get a different flight that doesnt drop off in Detroit.

My wife landed in NYC around 12:15 PM but she did not get out of secondary until 4:15. I would choose a connecting flight in Detroit if it has a 4-5 hour layover, otherwise try to get one that goes right to JFK from Narita.

* FYI My wife came here Jan 27, 2014.

Good luck!

Edited July 23, 2014 by Mike-eeh and Odie

[JohnR! 5,495]

Do you know what Delta does when someone misses a conection due to Immigration issues? Put her in a hotel? Put her on a later flight at no charge?

If she misses her connection as a result of being held back by the USCIS, in most cases - if not all - the airline will rebook the ticket at no charge. However they will not pick up the tab for hotel and meals. As another poster indicated, 4 hours should be more than enough for her to clear immigration & customs and be on her way to Detroit.

[rmarkwallace 7]

My wife's ultimate destination would be Newburgh, NY where they might not have a customs and Immigration operation, meaning that they would clear her in Detroit because it is the only thing that they can do. It is probably cheaper to bring her into Kennedy on a foreign flag carrier anyway.

[kehills 217]

Were you immigrating on the flight that only took 15 minutes? They used to do a final inspection in the secondary inspection area. Customs is also by a different set of rules because she is importing the contents of her suitcase.

Looking at the responses, it appears that they may no longer do a final inspection.

My husband's fastest trip through immigration was when he flew over on his K1 VISA. *shrug* Took him less time to clear customs than for VWP, and there was no "secondary." (It took 5-10 minutes, total. There was one other person in front of him at immigration.) It seems to vary per person, per POE, and per officer on duty.

We took the advice to leave a four-hour layover; while it would have been nicer to have him arrive home a few hours earlier, having the security of knowing he wouldn't miss the flight if there was secondary inspection was worth it.

[N-o-l-a 7,168]

We had read reviews for our POE that there was no wait, but on the day we came it ended up being about 2 hours to clear customs and secondary. You never know what will happen.

[KayDeeCee 4,895]

~ Moved from K-1 Process to Working & Traveling During US Immigration - topic is travel ~