Bon voyage Zoeeeeeee

[Wuozopo 4,293]

It's today, right? Have you left yet? Safe travels.

 

Give us a play by play...what are you wearing, how many bags, what time depart, arrival,  POE, etc etc

🤣😝😂🇬🇧➡️🇺🇸🎉

 

[fip & jim 452]

Safe travels for tomorrow, Zoe! Wishing you both all the best for the future. ❤️

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

Thank you! I’m in LA!!

 

3 bags (and one in the post)...left at 1:45pm, arrived 4pm...future husband, as always, was late 😫.

 

Wore running leggings and large cardigan. Co-ordinated hair ribbon with cardigan though, because, you know, coordination is important 😆.

 

POE was a two minute conversation - he asked for my visa pack...I had forgotten about my big envelope by this point, so looked at him in confusion for a long while before it clicked 😆.

 

I also asked him if the stamp he put in my passport is the I-94 and he said it’s all done electronically now...?

[yuna628 9,676]

9 minutes ago, Zoeeeeeee said:

Thank you! I’m in LA!!

 

3 bags (and one in the post)...left at 1:45pm, arrived 4pm...future husband, as always, was late 😫.

 

Wore running leggings and large cardigan. Co-ordinated hair ribbon with cardigan though, because, you know, coordination is important 😆.

 

POE was a two minute conversation - he asked for my visa pack...I had forgotten about my big envelope by this point, so looked at him in confusion for a long while before it clicked 😆.

 

I also asked him if the stamp he put in my passport is the I-94 and he said it’s all done electronically now...?

That's correct. At your earliest convenience you should check your I-94 and see if it's correct, then print it out a bunch of times. You're going to need it. https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/

Edited November 14, 2019 by yuna628

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

Just now, yuna628 said:

That's correct. At your earliest convenience you should check your I-94 and see if it's correct, then print it out a bunch of times. You're going to need it.

I’m probably being super-dumb here (I’m blaming it on it being nearly 2am my time, after a long day of travelling)...but how do I check my I-94?

[yuna628 9,676]

4 minutes ago, Zoeeeeeee said:

I’m probably being super-dumb here (I’m blaming it on it being nearly 2am my time, after a long day of travelling)...but how do I check my I-94?

https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/  Get most recent I94? 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

@Zoeeeeeee.  Glad you have arrived.  Now for a wedding, holidays, and lots going on...and the AOS paperwork .

How did you not know I-94 is generated by a scan of your passport? It used to be a card filled out on the plane. The immigration guy should have marked you a K1 entry and put your 90 days on there somewhere by the visa. 

 

Seems like the passport scan I-94s mess up getting your SSN immediately. I keep reading about so many from the UK having to be manually verified because their name in the SAVE database is not found to be exact. I believe the scan runs firstname and middle name into one name. Still wondering if that is particular to UK passports not reading properly or other countries as well. 

[Kris & Crystal 47]

On 11/14/2019 at 1:35 AM, Zoeeeeeee said:

POE was a two minute conversation - he asked for my visa pack...I had forgotten about my big envelope by this point, so looked at him in confusion for a long while before it clicked 😆.

 

I also asked him if the stamp he put in my passport is the I-94 and he said it’s all done electronically now...?

 

Actually travelling to LAX from Gatwick on Thursday, catching the earlier Norwegian flight that runs on a Thursday. Hoping to get through quickly as I have a shuttle to catch at 14:30 and the flight is supposed to get in at 13:25 or so.

• How long did you queue for? Did you go to any particular line? I've debated being cheeky and going to the Green Card line or asking each CBP officer I see what to do and hoping one of them walks me to the expedited line.
• I'm guessing you had a packet because you're DCF?

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

On 11/13/2019 at 5:56 PM, yuna628 said:

https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/  Get most recent I94? 

Perfect - have a few copies in my ‘important docs’ folder now 👍🏻.

 

23 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

@Zoeeeeeee.  Glad you have arrived.  Now for a wedding, holidays, and lots going on...and the AOS paperwork .

How did you not know I-94 is generated by a scan of your passport? It used to be a card filled out on the plane. The immigration guy should have marked you a K1 entry and put your 90 days on there somewhere by the visa. 

 

Seems like the passport scan I-94s mess up getting your SSN immediately. I keep reading about so many from the UK having to be manually verified because their name in the SAVE database is not found to be exact. I believe the scan runs firstname and middle name into one name. Still wondering if that is particular to UK passports not reading properly or other countries as well. 

I’d been awake for a lot of hours at that point and my brain went into panic mode 🙈.

 

Went to the SSN office yesterday and there didn’t seem to be any problems - he said I’ll get my card within two weeks. 

 

My name looked correct on the I-94 (it didn’t join my first and middle name) so hopefully the UK passport thing is getting better!

 

I have to be honest, yesterday was a strange first day. There was a school shooting 10 minutes from our house first thing in the morning, that our friends’ kids were there for (they’re both ok, fortunately).

 

We then had a home check done by a dog rescue, went to Fed Ex to print my I-94, went to the Social Security Office, then went to the dog rescue and spent two hours learning to express a dog’s bladder (impossible) and bowels (gross, but simple).

 

We’re currently on our way to Vegas for a running weekend - so Tuesday will be my first day to experience normality!

 

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

31 minutes ago, Kris & Crystal said:

 

Actually travelling to LAX from Gatwick on Thursday, catching the earlier Norwegian flight that runs on a Thursday. Hoping to get through quickly as I have a shuttle to catch at 14:30 and the flight is supposed to get in at 13:25 or so.

Yeah...that’s not likely. I whizzed through this time (was literally talking to the border officer for 3 minutes) - have queued for hours before - and still took over an hour to get off the plane, through passport control, get bags and get through the bag inspection line. I very much doubt you’ll make it through in time - could you switch to a later shuttle?

• How long did you queue for? Did you go to any particular line? I've debated being cheeky and going to the Green Card line or asking each CBP officer I see what to do and hoping one of them walks me to the expedited line.
• Everyone goes to the same line at LAX, unless they have global entry. I checked where I was supposed to go, as I have a K1 and yep, same line.
• I'm guessing you had a packet because you're DCF?
• Nope, K1.

 

[Kris & Crystal 47]

45 minutes ago, Zoeeeeeee said:

Yeah...that’s not likely. I whizzed through this time (was literally talking to the border officer for 3 minutes) - have queued for hours before - and still took over an hour to get off the plane, through passport control, get bags and get through the bag inspection line. I very much doubt you’ll make it through in time - could you switch to a later shuttle?

 

It's fine, I mean there's another one at 16:30, I was just hoping to catch the 14:30 one. It's easy enough to switch. I was just hoping the comparatively earlier flight might make for a smaller queue, etc.

 

I do remember seeing different lines -- US and Canadian Citizens, Green Card Holders, etc -- when I was at LAX previously but those were ridiculously busy BA flights with many other flights landing at the same time so I wasn't paying too much attention. Possibly I'm mistaking something. I was hoping getting the fairly early 10:15 flight from Gatwick might make things a bit quicker but we'll see.

 

Based on something else you said about stamping the visa. I know the CR-1 visa says "upon endorsement..." I thought this endorsement would be a stamp but perhaps it's not.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

@Zoeeeeeee  OMG !!!! 😲 is all I can say about your first day. 

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

3 hours ago, Kris & Crystal said:

 

It's fine, I mean there's another one at 16:30, I was just hoping to catch the 14:30 one. It's easy enough to switch. I was just hoping the comparatively earlier flight might make for a smaller queue, etc.

I think it can be a bit potluck- I always fly in at the same time and sometimes the line has been so huge, they’ve run out of queue guidelines...but then on Wednesday I whizzed through...

 

I do remember seeing different lines -- US and Canadian Citizens, Green Card Holders, etc -- when I was at LAX previously but those were ridiculously busy BA flights with many other flights landing at the same time so I wasn't paying too much attention. Possibly I'm mistaking something. I was hoping getting the fairly early 10:15 flight from Gatwick might make things a bit quicker but we'll see.

I’m not sure? I know there definitely wasn’t this time - and when I flew in a couple of months ago, I was in the line talking to a US citizen, so presumably not then either...maybe they changed it...

 

3 hours ago, Kris & Crystal said:

 

Based on something else you said about stamping the visa. I know the CR-1 visa says "upon endorsement..." I thought this endorsement would be a stamp but perhaps it's not.

They did an entry stamp in my passport, that looks like a regular one, except they wrote the date I need to get married by, on it.

 

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

3 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

@Zoeeeeeee  OMG !!!! 😲 is all I can say about your first day. 

Indeed!

 

Today’s going much smoother - we picked up our wedding license in the morning, found an Indian restaurant where we got samosas and pakoras for breakfast 😂, found an Indian supermarket where I stocked up on lime pickle, mango chutney and a huge bag of basmati rice...and then set off for Vegas (only 80 miles to go)!