Arriving in Boston

[Kimberley+Dave 0]

We arrived at Boston's Logan airport on 1st March 2007 for a short visit home for my sister's bridal shower and we activated Dave's greencard. Here's his explanation of what we experienced:

I flew into Logan yesterday and excitedly stood in the "US Citizen and Resident Visa" line at immigration control for the first time ever. When it was my turn I went up to the immigration officer and handed her my passport and sealed Embassy package. Her reaction was akin to if I had spat in her face. She look up at the ceiling and let out a loud "uuurrrrrcccchhhhhhhhh" sound (like if she had stepped in dog #######), snatched my documents, slammed them down on to the desk and then just stared at me silently. My Wife asked her if there was a problem, but she just sat there silently staring. She then grabbed my wife's (US) passport, glanced at it and said "Well, you're all set...maam" sarcastically. She still refused to say a word to me or answer my wife when asked what the problem was. Finally, she called out "Escort needed" and a guy came over and took me and my documents to another area. I was crapping myself, and all of that happened publicly in front of hundreds of people. They must have thought I was a criminal or a smuggler or something.

The area I was taken to was secondary immigration, where they officially sign you in as an immigrant and confirm your details and paperwork are good. Those guys were decent and friendly thank God, a World of difference from the woman who had previously made me feel like a scumbag.

The biggest thing (apart from that 'lady') that I was disappointed in for Dave's sake is that NO ONE said 'Welcome to America'. A bit of a let down. BUT, we are sitting here this morning in my parent's house and it's snowing outside! So pretty.

Hope this is helpful to anyone who is going through Boston. I think we just got the wrong woman on the wrong day. Just for info, she was about 5'4", chin-length brown hair with a long Polish name like 'Sczynczki' or something. I wanted to make a complaint, but didn't think that it would help us in getting out of the airport without any hassle!!

[truffles 2]

To be honest he fact noone said welcome to america is a blessing - for me it would have set the tone - "welcome to america and you know what to expect from here on in"....this behaviour from a country that is supposed according to some americans i know who beleive america sets excellent standard for customer service ....however ...i guess the advice is she was probably having a bad day....however good luck and happy journey

[Susanne 0]

@Kimberly and dave

I think you really had a bad officer. I always fly into boston and never had a problem. When I came here on a K1 it was quite quick too. But I havent been traveling since I have my greencard. So hopefully I wont ave the same problem