Arriving in the US from Colombia on a CR-1 Visa

[jediknight 0]

Everyone here on VJ and on the Colombia Clubs have been very helpful with the sharing of information regarding the visa process but I've noticed that the final stage of the journey is sometimes not included. It's completely understandable that with the excitement, relief and joy of having your spouse finally here you might not post on this forum as often as before. It would help alot of people if, as soon as you are able to, to please post your arrival immigration experiences here. Some questions that I have that I hope you will include answers to are:

1) Did your spouse travel alone or were they accompanied by the USC spouse?

2) Which form did your spouse fill out on the plane before landing?

3) Where was your spouse's Point of Entry (e.g. JFK, Miami, Atlanta etc)?

4) What line did your spouse get on when they got off the plane? Visitors, Resident?

5) Did the immigration agent speak in Spanish or attempt to speak in English to your spouse?

6) What documents did your spouse have ready to hand over? Passport,Visa, MBE(Mysterious Brown Envelope)

7) If traveling with the USC spouse, were you split up or was your USC spouse with you the whole time?

8) What kind of questions did they ask your spouse?

9) Were the immigration officers friendly, rude?

10) How long was the whole process?

If your spouses would like to write their first hand experiences in Spanish, please feel free to do so, thay way we can pass on the message and information to our spouses in Colombia.

Mil gracias, JK

Edited April 22, 2007 by jediknight

[Mike and Adriana 0]

OK, I'll be happy to provide info...although none of it is particularly exciting!

1) I originally planned to travel with her, but I had to go back to work. So, I leve on Monday, January 22 (the day she picked up the visas) and my wife and step-daughter left on Friday, January 26. Actually, I was kind of releieved that I was NOT there. It was a zoo with all of the family at the airport crying and making a scene!

2) I can't recall the exact forms, but there are two. These are forms that all visitors on a visa complete (remember, at this point, the K-3 visa holder is not a permanent resident and is certainly not a citizen).

3) The point of entry was Miami

4) The line for visitors/non-residents. However, she was subsequently re-directed to an office to process her paperwork. There was only one official working in the office. It took about 2 hours....which made it about 3.5 hours from touchdown of the plane to them walking out of immigration and customs. I actually went to the immigration office to verify that she had arrived and was in processing.

5) The person in the office spoke to her in Spanish.

6) Passport (with visa inside, of course), envelope, immigration documents given out on the plane

7) N/A

8) The guy in the original immigration line asked casual questions....like a friend....such as "Is this your first visit to the U.S." and "Why are you here?" and "Is your daughter happy to be here?" The guy in the office asked her my name, home address, telephone number, my profession, where I work.

9) Friendy (note: as a gringo, I have always had good luck with the immigration folks in Miami)

10) See above, it was about two hours from the time she got "Scanned" by the first immigration officer to the time she was finished....but the whole process from time the plane landed until the time she came out of customs with her luggage was 3.5 hours.

My wife gives one piece of advice....try NOT to be nervous (or at least to show it). She said that the people who were nervous were asked many more questions....because they drew suspicion.

Mike

PS - keep in mind Jedi, that my wife and step-daughter came here on a K-3/K-4, not a CR-1. I posted this at your request, but there might be some slight differences in the process for a CR-1 visa holder.

Some questions that I have that I hope you will include answers to are:

1) Did your spouse travel alone or were they accompanied by the USC spouse?

2) Which form did your spouse fill out on the plane before landing?

3) Where was your spouse's Point of Entry (e.g. JFK, Miami, Atlanta etc)?

4) What line did your spouse get on when they got off the plane? Visitors, Resident?

5) Did the immigration agent speak in Spanish or attempt to speak in English to your spouse?

6) What documents did your spouse have ready to hand over? Passport,Visa, MBE(Mysterious Brown Envelope)

7) If traveling with the USC spouse, were you split up or was your USC spouse with you the whole time?

8) What kind of questions did they ask your spouse?

9) Were the immigration officers friendly, rude?

10) How long was the whole process?

If your spouses would like to write their first hand experiences in Spanish, please feel free to do so, thay way we can pass on the message and information to our spouses in Colombia.

Mil gracias, JK

Edited April 22, 2007 by Mike and Adriana

[jediknight 0]

thanks mike. i guess i should have included the K visas also in the title, should be similar with some differences, lets hear your stories.

JK

[florida-photo 0]

We came through Miami after midnight on March 29th. Avianca had to bring in another plane to replace their broken one and there was a huge delay flying out of Bogota (This is the second time in 2 years this has happened with Avianca). We were both pretty tired after arriving in Miami in the middle of the night so some of the details are a little fuzzy.

1. I travelled with my wife.

2. She did not fill out anything. I filled out the usual customs/immigration form on the plane. There is one form per family.

3. POE - Miami

4. We went through the U.S. Citizens line.

5. I don't believe the Immigration Officer asked her anything in the first station that we came to. I think she just took her fingerprint and photo and then she called for another immigration officer to escort us to a waiting room.

6. Yeah, she just gave the immigration officer in the waiting room her passport/visa and the envelope she received from the embassy.

7. We were never split up.

8. No questions were asked of her by the immigration officer who processed her in the waiting area.

9. The first officer in the immigration line was not very friendly. The officer who precessed her in the waiting area was very friendly. He made some jokes and let us know about the requirement to remove conditions in 2 years.

10. The process took less than 45 minutes. The only reason it took that long was that we were alone in the waiting room for about 30 minutes waiting for an immigration officer to show up. I think at that time of the night there is nobody staffing that area and we had to wait for an officer to break free from the immigration lines after they finished processing the passengers on our flight. We breezed through customs and our bags were not searched.

Everyone here on VJ and on the Colombia Clubs have been very helpful with the sharing of information regarding the visa process but I've noticed that the final stage of the journey is sometimes not included. It's completely understandable that with the excitement, relief and joy of having your spouse finally here you might not post on this forum as often as before. It would help alot of people if, as soon as you are able to, to please post your arrival immigration experiences here. Some questions that I have that I hope you will include answers to are:

1) Did your spouse travel alone or were they accompanied by the USC spouse?

2) Which form did your spouse fill out on the plane before landing?

3) Where was your spouse's Point of Entry (e.g. JFK, Miami, Atlanta etc)?

4) What line did your spouse get on when they got off the plane? Visitors, Resident?

5) Did the immigration agent speak in Spanish or attempt to speak in English to your spouse?

6) What documents did your spouse have ready to hand over? Passport,Visa, MBE(Mysterious Brown Envelope)

7) If traveling with the USC spouse, were you split up or was your USC spouse with you the whole time?

8) What kind of questions did they ask your spouse?

9) Were the immigration officers friendly, rude?

10) How long was the whole process?

If your spouses would like to write their first hand experiences in Spanish, please feel free to do so, thay way we can pass on the message and information to our spouses in Colombia.

Mil gracias, JK

[meauxna 15]

Everyone here on VJ and on the Colombia Clubs have been very helpful with the sharing of information regarding the visa process but I've noticed that the final stage of the journey is sometimes not included. It's completely understandable that with the excitement, relief and joy of having your spouse finally here you might not post on this forum as often as before. It would help alot of people if, as soon as you are able to, to please post your arrival immigration experiences here.

Arriving in America, The POE Drill

POE Immigrant Visa Experiences, Some tips here; Add your story!

Moving to the US & Bringing Your Stuff, US Customs Regs. for the move

Plus links in my siggy.

[jediknight 0]

thanks florida. someone on the "poor" forum posted that the immigration officer in miami didn't speak spanish and his fiance didn't speak english so the USC had to translate, can you believe this? i hope i can fly with my wife.

JK

[dougyceci 0]

Thought I would post what little I can here as to help all those coming in later. I went down for the interview but had to leave befor the visa was given to Ceci so she traveled alone into Atlanta and then we met there. So here is her story.

1. She entered the country alone in Atlanta on Wednesday April 18, alone.

2.. I had her fill out the blue customs form only, not the I-94 or whatever it is and she was not asked for it either.

3. POE was in Atlanta.

4. She entered the visitors line.

5. The officer in the visitors line was a gringo (as Ceci said) who spoke little spanish but was very friendly and helpful to her. Looked at her customs form and directed her where to go. The lines were terrible that day and Ceci said she spent more time in this line than in immigration. All told it took her two hours to pass through the whole process.

6. In the secondary room she was tended to by a Cubano, or so she thought from the accent. He was friendly and really only asked her where she was moving to, and if she had any food in her suitcases. The rest was information about what she needed to do and so on. She felt very welcome by everyone.

7. Again she was alone, everyone very helpful and friendly and she landed at 3:30 and was done at 5:30. I was a bit concerned and got my airline to call customs for me and check her status of which they said she had just been released. They really aren't supposed to call but they did and I could not thank them enough. All in all a great day.

Hope this helps.

1) Did your spouse travel alone or were they accompanied by the USC spouse?

2) Which form did your spouse fill out on the plane before landing?

3) Where was your spouse's Point of Entry (e.g. JFK, Miami, Atlanta etc)?

4) What line did your spouse get on when they got off the plane? Visitors, Resident?

5) Did the immigration agent speak in Spanish or attempt to speak in English to your spouse?

6) What documents did your spouse have ready to hand over? Passport,Visa, MBE(Mysterious Brown Envelope)

7) If traveling with the USC spouse, were you split up or was your USC spouse with you the whole time?

8) What kind of questions did they ask your spouse?

9) Were the immigration officers friendly, rude?

10) How long was the whole process?

Doug

If your spouses would like to write their first hand experiences in Spanish, please feel free to do so, thay way we can pass on the message and information to our spouses in Colombia.

Mil gracias, JK

[jediknight 0]

thanks doug. my biggest concern is that my wife speaks very little english, as most of our spouses from colombia do and i'm hoping that communication won't be a problem. that, plus i've read stories about rude immigration officers(not all are) and the last thing i want is for one of those few a**ho*** to ruin my wifes arrival.

JK

[Mononoke28 135]

My husband speaks very little English as well and I really hope I get to not only accompany him on his interview, but fly back home together. I've seen that it's worked out fine for some people but for others, not so much.

[dougyceci 0]

Guys Ceci speaks NO english so don't worry. The officer in the visitors line spoke very little spanish, the interviewer spoke Spanish. Ceci always says greet them with a smile and most people are open to helping. Works for her. I would not worry too much. Not much you can do about it. If you are that much concerned then make sure you are with here or him for the POE and trip here. I was waiting outside customs for her. As it turned out the hardest part of her trip would have been managing the airport for the next 3 hours waiting for her connection to Vegas. I am sure all will be fine.

Doug

[lucyrich 20]

1) Did your spouse travel alone or were they accompanied by the USC spouse?

We came together

2) Which form did your spouse fill out on the plane before landing?

Only the customs declaration (I-94 says, in its instructions, that it's not for use by aliens who have an immigrant visa).

3) Where was your spouse's Point of Entry (e.g. JFK, Miami, Atlanta etc)?

Miami

4) What line did your spouse get on when they got off the plane? Visitors, Resident?

Visitors (both of us went together through the visitor's line)

5) Did the immigration agent speak in Spanish or attempt to speak in English to your spouse?

Spanish

6) What documents did your spouse have ready to hand over? Passport,Visa, MBE(Mysterious Brown Envelope)

Yep, those three. Since the visa was already affixed into the passport, it's only two items to keep track of.

7) If traveling with the USC spouse, were you split up or was your USC spouse with you the whole time?

Together

8) What kind of questions did they ask your spouse?

Routine administrative things. The only significant one I remember was the address in the US where the green card should be sent to.

9) Were the immigration officers friendly, rude?

Typical bureacrats -- curt and businesslike. Almost, but not quite, rude.

10) How long was the whole process?

45 minutes or so.

[jediknight 0]

lucyrich, gracias vecino por la informacion.

doug, thanks for the encouragement and support.

JK

[TonyS 0]

Everyone here on VJ and on the Colombia Clubs have been very helpful with the sharing of information regarding the visa process but I've noticed that the final stage of the journey is sometimes not included. It's completely understandable that with the excitement, relief and joy of having your spouse finally here you might not post on this forum as often as before. It would help alot of people if, as soon as you are able to, to please post your arrival immigration experiences here. Some questions that I have that I hope you will include answers to are:

1) Did your spouse travel alone or were they accompanied by the USC spouse?

2) Which form did your spouse fill out on the plane before landing?

3) Where was your spouse's Point of Entry (e.g. JFK, Miami, Atlanta etc)?

4) What line did your spouse get on when they got off the plane? Visitors, Resident?

5) Did the immigration agent speak in Spanish or attempt to speak in English to your spouse?

6) What documents did your spouse have ready to hand over? Passport,Visa, MBE(Mysterious Brown Envelope)

7) If traveling with the USC spouse, were you split up or was your USC spouse with you the whole time?

8) What kind of questions did they ask your spouse?

9) Were the immigration officers friendly, rude?

10) How long was the whole process?

If your spouses would like to write their first hand experiences in Spanish, please feel free to do so, thay way we can pass on the message and information to our spouses in Colombia.

Mil gracias, JK

I will be glad to share out experience.

1) Travelled alone ( with daugther )

2) I-94 and customs form

3) JFK

4) Visitors

5) spanish

6) passport, MBE

7) n/a

8) No questions

9) The first officer's demeanor was a little rude but he did not speak. The remaining officers were friendly.

10) The whole process for us took about 2 hours from the time the plane landed. For my fiancee, it was mostly sitting and waiting. Her picture was taken and she was fingerprinted. Of note, she was given the EAD stamp without asking for it.

[jediknight 0]

1) Did your spouse travel alone or were they accompanied by the USC spouse? I accompanied my wife

2) Which form did your spouse fill out on the plane before landing? The blue one, one per family so she didn't fill out anything

3) Where was your spouse's Point of Entry (e.g. JFK, Miami, Atlanta etc)? JFK

4) What line did your spouse get on when they got off the plane? Visitors, Resident? Non citizen, I went with her

5) Did the immigration agent speak in Spanish or attempt to speak in English to your spouse? My wife wasn't asked anything, i was asked everything

6) What documents did your spouse have ready to hand over? Passport,Visa, MBE(Mysterious Brown Envelope)MBE, passport with visainside

7) If traveling with the USC spouse, were you split up or was your USC spouse with you the whole time?with her all of the time

8) What kind of questions did they ask your spouse?none, they took her fingerprints and that was it

9) Were the immigration officers friendly, rude? friendly but sloooooooow

10) How long was the whole process?20 minutes, could have been 5

[Mononoke28 135]

1) Did your spouse travel alone or were they accompanied by the USC spouse? I accompanied my husband.

2) Which form did your spouse fill out on the plane before landing? The one per family one.

3) Where was your spouse's Point of Entry (e.g. JFK, Miami, Atlanta etc)? Miami.

4) What line did your spouse get on when they got off the plane? Visitors, Resident? Citizens/Residents line.

5) Did the immigration agent speak in Spanish or attempt to speak in English to your spouse? The first guy didn't speak Spanish so I translated. The other official in the Immigration room spoke Spanish.

6) What documents did your spouse have ready to hand over? Passport and visa brown envelope.

7) If traveling with the USC spouse, were you split up or was your USC spouse with you the whole time? Never. We were together the whole time.

8) What kind of questions did they ask your spouse? If it was his first time in the States, if he travelled alone or with Spouse.

9) Were the immigration officers friendly, rude? Very friendly.

10) How long was the whole process? 15 minutes.