Will an airport let me into customs to assist my wife?

[kamw 93]

Speaking from expedience, they will not let you at FLL. My mom had a medical issues and they would not let me in to help. She actually ended up losing her green card somewhere between immigration and customs so they held on to her for about 3 hrs. The entire time we were right outside the door trying to find out what was happening cause we couldn't call her and everyone else from her flight had already come out.

They did use to let you meet domestic flights at the gate before 911 etc.

Never heard of that happening for International flights,imagine the chaos.

Assuming it is similar to every other US airport I have arrived at, she gets off the plane and first stop is Immigration so no bags etc. Then head for the baggage reclaim pick up a trolley and wait for the bags to arrive. There will be people there to help. Then push trolley through Customs and out into the arrival hall. So unless hse has some medical issues not a lot to do.

My mum needed a wheelchair and that gave her a pass to the front of the queue with her own driver.

It's exactly like this person said. She goes through immigration first and since she has a baby they will more than likely put her in a special line. It's not until after they do the paperwork that she would get the bags. There are always ppl milling around that work there and can help. If Colombians are anything like Jamaicans they will quickly jump to help too. No one will see her struggling and not offer to help.

The one thing I would advise is tell her not to bring any food stuff at all. If she doesn't, once her bag gets on the trolley she won't have to take them off until she gets to you. If she bring anything food she will have to unload the trolley and put them on a second scanner and wait for Customs to inspect. They will not help her with her bags there but it's a quiet little room off to the side so she can take her time. You need to ensure you park next to terminal four all the way at the end and come wait by the door. it's literally less than 20 steps from customs to where she would meet you. Give her about 30 mins to an hr to navigate immigration and customs. Try for a flight that gets in about mid morning (10am ish). Evening flights get crowded and the workers tend to get grumpy.

I don't know if Jet blue flies to Colombia but it they do try to go with them. They are really good with helping the customers with bag and special needs. Tell her to pack as light as possible and if possible not bring a carry on, just a backpack with the baby stuff. Oh and wear comfy shoes. It's a lot of walking and standing.

[B-2-Z 37]

In my experience, every time we've traveled, you hit customs in a really secure spot in the airport, so I don't think it's a possibility. That being said, it's still worth it to ask, like a previous poster said. If you live close to the airport I would go in to talk to someone at security/customs, instead of a phone call.

[novedsac 355]

If this is correct it may be possible to meet them at the gate. I have a feeling this would exclude U.S. as a final destination though. I would imagine someone tried to fly their child alone from the philippines, parenting today is shady. If U.S. doesn't allow kids to fly alone international I'm not sure why they would let them come in unsupervised.

Many airlines allow unaccompanied minors to fly international itineraries.

For a DOMESTIC flight, the parent meeting the child can obtain a gate pass from the airline that allows the parent to clear TSA without a boarding pass.

For an INTERNATIONAL flight, the parent meeting the child can obtain a gate pass from the airline that allows the parent to clear TSA without a boarding pass, BUT the gate pass does NOT allow clearance of the immigration and customs area.

Gate passes can also be obtained from the airline for other family members, but clearing the immigration and customs area is not allowed under any circumstances. In the case of an unaccompanied minor, the airline is responsibile for accompanying the minor through immigration and customs clearance and meeting the parent on the land side of the border.

For the OP, sadly, he won't be able to meet his wife/baby on the air side of the border; only after clearance of immigration and customs.

[Dean_De 61]

Wife just had Cr-1 approved and will be traveling soon with our 4 month old daughter. I am worried about her having to enter immigration/customs by herself with our baby daughter and 2 big suitcases.

Does anyone know if an airport, particularly Ft Lauderdale airport, would give me special permission to enter this secure area to help my wife with the baby/bags?

To clarify I will not be traveling with her. I will just be meeting her at the airport. At Ft Lauderdale airport, you must pass through immigration, go to baggage claim and (most of the time) wait in a very long line with your suitcases in a secured area before you re-check them.

From my experience with POE before, they actually offered to help me...not sure if it is a policy or if it is just the person being nice.

[Lauren and Kevin 55]

I don't know if this helps, and may only apply to Newark, but every time I've gone to pick up my baggage, I was astonished that there were old style porters with their own trolleys lurking around the baggage return carousels only too happy to help (for a fee)... Maybe she could grab one of those for $5 to $10 to help ?

[Cathi 5,771]

No, they absolutely will not allow you into customs. Period.

[ohmymy 2]

Wife just had Cr-1 approved and will be traveling soon with our 4 month old daughter. I am worried about her having to enter immigration/customs by herself with our baby daughter and 2 big suitcases.

Does anyone know if an airport, particularly Ft Lauderdale airport, would give me special permission to enter this secure area to help my wife with the baby/bags?

To clarify I will not be traveling with her. I will just be meeting her at the airport. At Ft Lauderdale airport, you must pass through immigration, go to baggage claim and (most of the time) wait in a very long line with your suitcases in a secured area before you re-check them.

Every airline carrier has a "MEET AND ASSIST" service to their passengers especially those with children, on wheelchair, etc. Basically, tell your wife/fiancee to call/ask the airline prior to taking a flight that she will need some assistance as she is travelling with an infant/baby. If she forgets, she can still make the request on board the aircraft. The aircraft staff will send a memo to the ground staff of such passenger need.

As to your desire to get into the customs and immigration area, that is doable but it is only extended to very very very people...maybe to Michelle Obama to meet the President Barrack Obama, if at all. But i know in other countries that you can do that if you have good "connection" inside the airport.

[tomriesgo 39]

No, never! An airport in the US will not allow you through to customs for any reason.

[Ning 619]

Thank you charro for your advice. Hypnos do you have experience in this area or are you just assuming? I ask because Ive had people respond negatively before on this board only to find out their advice us wrong.

Just follow any advise that you think is correct.

[Boiler 45,673]

The Obama comment made me think, Private Plane!

There was a web site I remember seeing where they broker seats on planes returning empty. A google should find it.

[TBoneTX 45,543]

International flights won't let children fly alone

On a flight from Houston to Guayaquil, I was seated next to an unaccompanied 9-year-old banshee who had nothing to occupy her. I actually got up halfway through, approached the head flight attendant, and said, "Shoot me now -- please." By the end of the flight, the banshee had ripped every page of our row's in-flight magazines into small confetti, and that was only a small part of the occurrences.

OP, you won't be allowed in, but your wife can get assistance in the manners described.

[kamw 93]

On a flight from Houston to Guayaquil, I was seated next to an unaccompanied 9-year-old banshee who had nothing to occupy her. I actually got up halfway through, approached the head flight attendant, and said, "Shoot me now -- please." By the end of the flight, the banshee had ripped every page of our row's in-flight magazines into small confetti, and that was only a small part of the occurrences.

OP, you won't be allowed in, but your wife can get assistance in the manners described.

I would have requested to be moved....or dared her how to say bomb really loud.

I don't particularly like children.

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

I flew into Ft Lauderdale with my fiancé in December because I didn't want him by himself. When she goes into immigration, right after passport control she will still not have her luggage, just whatever she had as her carry on. After immigration she will go pick up her suitcases but they have those wheeled carts that she can use to put her luggage on. Also, my fiancé and I had a connecting flight and we almost missed it because we were in immigration for awhile and an employee actually helped us and we were able to go in front of the line customs line and she wheeled our bags to get on the plane while we went through security again.

[loladolly 51]

More than likely they won't...

I have been travelling back and forth for almost 4 years at first with only my son and now both my kids. I have to push my stroller (with my son and carry on bags on it and i have the baby in a carrier) and the trolley with my suitcases on alone until i go out and my husband meets me. I always have direct flights so i don't have to worry about doing that all day and i just deal with it in customs area.

For me, the worst thing is that when you ask airport employees for help (in the customs area or elsewhere) they give you dirty looks,they ll do it but will look pissed, one day some guy straight forward pointed at people that charge for it while he saw i was having trouble pushing my cart and my stroller at the same time. I just ask random passengers for help to remove my suitcase off the belt. Airport employees in the US are really rude and disagreable, not representative of the overall population. I get a lot more help in France.

[NikLR 13,227]

Nope, flights inside the US a child can fly alone. And then you can get a special pass to pick them up. International flights won't let children fly alone so no way to get the pass.

Wanna bet? My daughter flies from Canada. That is considered an international flight. She flies alone as an unaccompanied minor. However, before the age of 12 the flight had to be direct and couldn't be the last flight of the day