Visa Approved, traveling soon, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

[Hangernaid 1]

This is for anyone who has come through JFK on a Visa.

She is flying into JFK, New York in a couple weeks. She will have 6 bags and 2 boys with her. I will be waiting outside security to help with the boys and the luggage.

What happens? First Passport Control, then she claims her bags. Then probably she goes thru Customs. Then there is a Immigrations office???

I cannot go thru security to help because I am not a ticketed passenger.

What should she expect? And how will I find her or she find me? She has asked and I don't have answers. I could use some info from anyone who has been thru this airport coming in on a K-1 Visa.

[VOL 425]

Either send her a prepaid cellphone and let her use it when she arrives. Or have her contact you via Skype if they have free net in airport. Or have her get a roaming SIm Card in her fone.

Or just wait outside like most do.

[Ryan H 3,812]

She will be sent to secondary before she claims her luggage. After procedures are complete in secondary, she will claim her luggage and clear customs (by being waived through or sent to an agriculture inspection). After clearing customs is the exit.

Just wait near the passenger exit at the terminal she will be arriving at. Airport personnel should be able to direct you to where that is.

[Elleanor 10]

My point of entry was JFK too.

1ST Passport control (she should give the officer her visa packet)

2.they lead her into a small room of the immigrating officers (they stamp her visa/passport)

3.Bagage claim

4.exit thru costums

that's it . just tell her have her visa packet with her on her hand carry and ask for the officers they are nice

[usmsbow 801]

This is for anyone who has come through JFK on a Visa.

She is flying into JFK, New York in a couple weeks. She will have 6 bags and 2 boys with her. I will be waiting outside security to help with the boys and the luggage.

What happens? First Passport Control, then she claims her bags. Then probably she goes thru Customs. Then there is a Immigrations office???

I cannot go thru security to help because I am not a ticketed passenger.

What should she expect? And how will I find her or she find me? She has asked and I don't have answers. I could use some info from anyone who has been thru this airport coming in on a K-1 Visa.

You're close. 1. Passport Control 2. Immigration office 3. Pick up bags 4. Customs. 5. Comes out and hopefully sees you in waiting area.

She has your phone # right? If, for whatever reason, you two don't see/meet each other, I'm sure she can ask to borrow someone's phone to call you. And if she has her own smart phone with her, she might be able to get wi-fi and send you a message via whatsapp/viber/email. She shouldn't do that until after customs though since CBP has signs everywhere saying to NOT use a phone while in Immigration and Customs.

Edited March 13, 2015 by usmsbow

[shell20 746]

This is for anyone who has come through JFK on a Visa.

She is flying into JFK, New York in a couple weeks. She will have 6 bags and 2 boys with her. I will be waiting outside security to help with the boys and the luggage.

What happens? First Passport Control, then she claims her bags. Then probably she goes thru Customs. Then there is a Immigrations office???

I cannot go thru security to help because I am not a ticketed passenger.

What should she expect? And how will I find her or she find me? She has asked and I don't have answers. I could use some info from anyone who has been thru this airport coming in on a K-1 Visa.

Well firstly I had a prepaid phone to ring my fiance now husband. I came in via Philly. I queued up at border control, then went for secondary interview for about 10 mins or so. (not sure secondary is done everywhere but it is in Philly). Then I collected my bags, handed in my customs declaration form and straight through to the exit. There are boards at the airports to let you know the flight has come in and what gate they are coming from, so you should know where she will be. If you can't find her you can ask for them to do an announcement and let her know where you are in the airport, i.e Starbucks, at the entrance etc.

[Hangernaid 1]

Thanks, she has her Ukrainian cell phone that may work. .I sent this info to her.

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

You can read the reviews for entering at JFK here > http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/poereviews.php?poe=JFK&dfilter=0

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

Edited March 14, 2015 by KayDeeCee

[dhlunar 25]

JFK has several different terminals. The main international terminal is Terminal 4.

I had to pick up my in-laws (who were also coming with my wife who traveled overseas for a week to pick them up) in Terminal 1 about 3 months ago.

Personally my experience was as follows: I parked the car near the exit to the parking lot on the lower level of the garage in front of Terminal 1. I used the crosswalk and went into the arrivals level of the terminal. Right in front of me was were arriving passengers were coming out. Airport representatives told me that I had to go to the right or left and couldn't stand right in in the middle were people were coming out. On the arrival level there was some food places and a Hudson News (I think). There was an arrival board above were the arriving passengers were coming out with information about arriving planes (when they were do, if they were near by, landed, and at gate).

I called my wife (who has a US cell phone) about 5 minutes after the board said the plane was at the gate. She told me that they were still waiting for the wheelchair attendant. (Her father needed assistance.) She called me about 25 minutes later to say they were done with Immigration and where on to baggage claim and customs. They came out about 5 minutes after the phone call. They also had about 6 bags, and with them was the wheelchair attendant, with her dad in the wheelchair, and a baggage attendant with a flat baggage cart with all of their bags on them. Both of the attendants nicely escorted us to the parking lot, where I got the car and pulled it up to a passenger pick-up location in the garage. The baggage attendant nicely packed our car and both of them told us to have, a "safe trip home." My wife did tip both of them nicely.

My wife told me once the wheelchair agent came they were taken to the front of the primary passport control line. The CBP officer asked my wife one question, "Are these your parents?" She turned in the immigrant packets to the CBP officer on primary, who opened the packets stamped some forms, and stamped their IR-5 immigrant visas in their passports. The CBP officer then took all of them to another room to collect fingerprints and signatures from my in-laws for their permanent resident cards. My wife said there was no one else waiting in the other room and the wheelchair attendant said she has seen a dozen wheelchairs in here before at once waiting to be processed. Once they were done they went to baggage claim where their bags were already out, and got the attention of the baggage cart attendant who loaded their bags onto the cart. They turned in their customs form on the way out and came out of international arrivals. So from the time the plane arrived till the time they were out was about 35 to 40 minutes.

My wife made the request for the wheelchair through the airline. So someone could contact the airline and see if they can request baggage assistance at baggage claim in advance, or if it needs to be done in baggage claim. One of the concerns that my wife had was what line they had to go through in passport control (due to rumors that some airports have a third line for new immigrants that is not marked), and I told her if needed to just ask an airport representative that are usually located in passport control.

Edited March 15, 2015 by dhlunar

[dhlunar 25]

Either send her a prepaid cellphone and let her use it when she arrives. Or have her contact you via Skype if they have free net in airport. Or have her get a roaming SIm Card in her fone.

Or just wait outside like most do.

You can't use a phone or any recording device while going though Primary Passport Control (Immigration), Secondary Immigration, and while in the "Customs" area. The only place that you could use it is once the flight crew has given the clearance to use phone (usually while taxing or once the door is open) and along the walk to Primary Passport Control. You might be able to use the phone in baggage claim.

If she is going to have her foreign phone during this process, it might be easier and cheaper to have her send a text message instead of call. I have received text messages from my wife on her US phone while she was overseas. One time it was to tell me that they had made the plane and was waiting to leave Europe. I am glad that she decided to text then call because it was about 4:30am here at that time.