POE- Los Angeles - No English Fiance

[SunflowerSweet 1,321]

Questions like name of financee

address he will be going to

not difficult

they spoke to my husband in Spanish and he replied saying i know English well

so, they continued in English

surprised he doesn't know English as we got an RFE requesting he prove he had studied English and could read and write it

not anything against you / just wonder why the rules aren't the same for all of us

hope you and financee are very happy

For an IR1/CR1 visa? That is very strange. There are no language requirements for such visas.

[catlover31 8]

Hello, I just returned from Colombia our K1 Visa was approved on monday and when I entered at I spoke with the officer and ask when I bring my fiance in a few weeks which line do I need to be in he said that we both go through the "visitor line" and told me not to let them separate us. He said depending on how busy it will be that day will determine how long it will take and that most likely we will be directed to a secondary. My only concern is trying to schedule a delay for the connecting flight

Hi Stefany/Dwight. you do both need to go through the visitor line. I travelled from Turkey with my now husband and they wouldn't let us go through the US citizens line even though he was with me. We came through Chicago. They didn't even attempt to separate us and let us go together. It was really empty surprisingly for the middle of the afternoon and we had no secondary and took less than 15 minutes. Reading visajourney made me worried POE would take a long time and as a result, we booked a connecting flight with a four hour layover instead of one that left 90 minutes after our arrival in Chicago because I didn't want to miss our flight. However, I wasn't expecting POE to be as easy as it was and we could have easily made the eariler flight and ended up sitting around the airport for 4 hours.

[megwarr 1]

It has been a while, but this is pretty much what happened to my husband. It was his first time on a plane, and he flew to Atlanta by himself (he is from Ecuador so also Spanish speaking). It has been more than four years at this point, but as I recall everything went smoothly. I did send out a detailed email before he left explaining exactly how things go...stand in this line, have your passport + packet ready, answer questions honestly, this is the address you are going to, this is my phone number, etc etc. He said he spent the plane ride going over the packet and just followed everyone when getting off. Once he was through customs he found a nice woman that let him borrow her phone to let me know he'd arrived. Looking back, I wish I'd sent him a cheapy prepaid beforehand because we had a heck of a time finding each other at the airport!!

[James and Joan 4]

I believe most of the CBP agents are bi-lingual especially in LA, last September I returned from my trip I did see plenty of direction and help all around me to move the process as quickly as possible. And when he is processed through you will be able to spot him very easy coming up the ramp out of immigration just hang out next to the railing and you will be fine.

[Harmonia 211]

I wouldn't worry about it. There will be bilingual CBP agents in LA. There are all throughout the country.

[UnaMexicana 153]

All experiences seem similar so far, so I will give you a piece of advice because I was in a similar situation before.

It is better not to assume that the CBP officer will be bilingual or that there will be someone that speaks Spanish within reach. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

I came as a tourist once with my mom. We entered through SFO (rather important, high traffic airport).

I asked the officer if he could go ahead and ask questions to my mom in Spanish since she doesn't know English. He looked puzzled and told me that he did not know Spanish and there was no other officer at the time that did. But if we really wanted her to answer the questions, he could send us to secondary and someone there would either speak Spanish or ask some other airport personnel to help. I giggled and said, I will answer for the both of us... English will do... She will have another chance to practice, ha ha.

Sooooo if it just so happens that the CBP officer does not speak Spanish and there is no other officer available, he will be sent to secondary and someone eventually will come and help. He should not worry.

NOW... What would definitely help, and the CBP officer told me directly, is for me to write a letter for her if she was traveling alone.

That letter would be for her to present to the CBP officer, stating:

1.That she does not speak English,

2.The purpose of travel,

3. Lenght of stay (in this case is a K1, so just explain that),

4. The intended address to stay,

5. A phone number and name for US contact

If you wish, you could also respectfully request a Spanish translator in the letter.

CBP officer told me that would make things easier as sometimes his colleagues (in his own words) can become frustrated or get the wrong impression from nervous people or people with whom there is a communication barrier.

I hope this helps and of course I hope your fiancé's experience is smoother as so many others have explained.

All the best!

UnaMexicana

[andrea85 2]

All experiences seem similar so far, so I will give you a piece of advice because I was in a similar situation before.

It is better not to assume that the CBP officer will be bilingual or that there will be someone that speaks Spanish within reach. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

I came as a tourist once with my mom. We entered through SFO (rather important, high traffic airport).

I asked the officer if he could go ahead and ask questions to my mom in Spanish since she doesn't know English. He looked puzzled and told me that he did not know Spanish and there was no other officer at the time that did. But if we really wanted her to answer the questions, he could send us to secondary and someone there would either speak Spanish or ask some other airport personnel to help. I giggled and said, I will answer for the both of us... English will do... She will have another chance to practice, ha ha.

Sooooo if it just so happens that the CBP officer does not speak Spanish and there is no other officer available, he will be sent to secondary and someone eventually will come and help. He should not worry.

NOW... What would definitely help, and the CBP officer told me directly, is for me to write a letter for her if she was traveling alone.

That letter would be for her to present to the CBP officer, stating:

1.That she does not speak English,

2.The purpose of travel,

3. Lenght of stay (in this case is a K1, so just explain that),

4. The intended address to stay,

5. A phone number and name for US contact

If you wish, you could also respectfully request a Spanish translator in the letter.

CBP officer told me that would make things easier as sometimes his colleagues (in his own words) can become frustrated or get the wrong impression from nervous people or people with whom there is a communication barrier.

I hope this helps and of course I hope your fiancé's experience is smoother as so many others have explained.

All the best!

UnaMexicana

OMG I didn't think of this this will be so helpful for him thank you so much Una Mexicana

Thank you all for the tips and help I have been taking notes LOL. We are at the end of this journey and I want to see him come out of that gate already LOL

[Greenbaum 12,259]

Have him find a person on the plane who speaks English as well as his native language. When he arrives he asks that person to come through immigration with him to help him understand what's being asked. He shouldn't have any problems finding someone to help as they understand the necessity.

There is a good possibility that someone at the major POE's can speak his language. Try calling the airport information hot line and inquire about such a service.

Check with the airlines he will be flying and see if they have interrupters that can help. Usually they do for children who are flying unaccompanied.

Last but least have a paper that is prepared for him to carry with him that has simple statements and information. Be sure he has your cell phone number and address on the paper in the event that someone needs to contact you in the event that he gets lost or interruptions in his travel.

Also include on their about need for an interrupter because of his language and list the proper term for his language.

Put simple statements on the paper for asking about food. Restrooms. Security. Airline Gates. etc. This way he can point to a question and someone can help him even though neither can speak each other’s language. These can be in a form of pre-printed 'flash cards', easy to use. You could put the English question on the top and in his language the same questions so he knows which card he is showing.

You should advise him not to panic if he gets escorted to "the back" or to a room. It maybe he isn't being detained, just moved out of the queue so the translator can talk to them.

Preprint airport maps for him.

Teach him some English phrases like "I only speak _________. May I have a translator?"

Be sure to prepare all the documents for traveling beforehand for him. http://dennyeyberg.w...rm-online/c1n5p

[catlover31 8]

Last but least have a paper that is prepared for him to carry with him that has simple statements and information. Be sure he has your cell phone number and address on the paper in the event that someone needs to contact you in the event that he gets lost or interruptions in his travel.

We did this with my mother in law. She got a tourist visa and was able to come to our wedding from Turkey. She was 70 years old and spoke no English.

[Greenbaum 12,259]

That's good information to hear. Thanks