Dealing with CBP at customs when entering on an immigrant/IR1 visa

[Evan757 37]

3 minutes ago, Sarah&Facundo said:

They didn't really interview us. They just asked "Do you plan on marrying within 90 days?"

We were able to stay together.

 

That part in it of itself wasn't long. But between waiting about 45 minutes on line, going to secondary and waiting there again, and getting/rechecking our bags, plus having to be at the next flight for the boarding time.....

2.5 hours would not have been enough for us. But it all depends on the flight, the lines, and how many others are waiting in line/processing.

What was your port of entry? 

[Sarah&Facundo 595]

2 minutes ago, Evan757 said:

What was your port of entry? 

Miami in that particular instance, but I've flown back to the US through all different airports a several dozen times from abroad. You can wait from 5 minutes to two hours just to talk to an officer. We've been in secondary a few times and again, waits vary.

It can come down to where you are seated on the plane, if the first flight is delayed, etc. Tons of factors.

[ineedadisplayname 496]

5 hours ago, Evan757 said:

When talking to CBP at the airport on an IR1 visa before they let us through customs, do they ask a lot of questions or scrutinize much? I'm curious so I can prepare my wife for it. We'll be entering the US together (and I'll be going in the foreign passport line with her). 

Depending on the airport there might be a whole separate line for immigrant visa holders.... Keep an eye out for that too

[JeanneAdil 6,491]

DFW would be a long flight from Philippines

so,  where is your POE?

[Mike E 11,739]

14 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

DFW would be a long flight from Philippines

so,  where is your POE?

Given it is AA, I suspect connecting from one of the Tokyo airports, and so POE could be DFW.

[Ketsuban 1,034]

Book it all on one itinerary/ticket and they'll almost certainly rebook you if CBP holds you up. I was escorted by a very visibly armed officer so be prepared for that. It is very informal and them just looking over the paperwork. Nothing to worry about at all. Just don't open the sealed envelope if that's still a thing. 

[Verrou 1,962]

I will do at least 4 hours layover just because I’m very traditional when it come to flying in general. Too many cancelation and added CBP in the mix, I will do more than 2,5 hours 

[Scandi 4,166]

It differs a lot, you will see everyone has had very different experiences. I was the beneficiary and traveled to the US on my K-1 visa together with my then USC fiance (now husband) and it was super smooth. No secondary, we were "interviewed" at the regular desk everyone goes to (we got to go together, didn't have to go one by one up to that desk). Again, it was a K-1 so maybe it's a different process than with a CR-1/IR-1. 

The officer opened my sealed envelope right in front of me and I believe he read a little bit of it because he proceeded to ask me two questions - "What kind of work did you do in Sweden?" and "How many times have you been to the US?", two of the same questions that were asked on the DS-160 and on the embassy during the K-1 interview. Maybe he just wanted to verify that my answers were the same as what he saw in those papers? 

He asked my USC fiance what he did for a living and what date we had set for the wedding (we didn't have a date at that point). And that was it, just two questions each and then a "Welcome home". Very easy, and the same amount of questions that I used to get when I arrived on an ESTA. 

[NorthByNorthwest 348]

2.5 hours is the bare minimum I'd consider even when traveling with NEXUS/Global Entry and having carry-on only, especially in the post-COVID world where flights tend to be pretty full and just getting off the plane takes longer than usual.

 

I'd take a look at flightradar24.com or similar to see the on-time performance of your particular flight for the past week. That will give you an indication of how things are in general, though it doesn't take much in terms of bad weather to lose an hour just like that. Likewise if things flow you could easily arrive an hour early if you're lucky.

 

Let's say the flight lands on time and parks at the gate just at your scheduled time, unless you're in business class expect at least 15 minutes just to get off the plane. Another 10 minutes to get in line in immigration. Depending on how many other planes come in at the same time you can easily have a few hundred people in line before you, another hour easily passes. If you have to go to secondary by this time chances are plenty of others are in line there and that could take another hour. Once you're through, collect bags, go through customs, recheck bags and get to your domestic gate, say another 15-30 minutes.

 

When I entered on K1 from Japan (POE Seattle) I was in business class and through immigration in 5 minutes simply because I was the first off the plane and no other widebodies came in at the same time. The paperwork check was really just a formality since you would not have the visa in hand if things were not in order, you have nothing to worry about.

.

TL;DR - if everything lines up you can definitely make it in 2.5 hrs, but rather high likelihood that you won't... If you have a choice, get seats as far up front as you can since that gets you off the plane faster.

[Chancy 6,241]

12 hours ago, Evan757 said:

How long's the paperwork? We have a two and a half hour layover at DFW.

 

My POE with IR1 visa was DFW.  I flew JAL/AA from MNL-->NRT-->DFW, then home to Louisiana.  My layover was 3 hrs, but 2.5 hrs would have been more than enough because I was asked 0 questions by CBP.  Also, my flight arrived at 7am and there were not many other flights arriving at that time, so the wait at the immigration line was not very long.  You can read DFW POE reviews, including mine, here -- https://www.visajourney.com/reviews/poereviews.php?poe=Dallas&dfilter=0

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by Chancy
more info

[TBoneTX 45,264]

Figure in time for bathroom breaks, too... if you're stuck in line, you'll want to lose neither your place nor your water.

[SBVeryBlessed3k 17]

I agree with the rest on different airport policy. My wife had CR-1 visa, and though my son and I had US passports, we took immigrant line. We had 3 hrs layover and the wait for customs to open (45min)and the line took 1.5 of it. The CBP officer was nice and processed us quickly. One guy skipped in line and we were called before him. At a past customs and declaration in ATL I think, I was given hard time. But this time, despite mentioning 1 item to declare, we didnt have any inspection of our foods in Washington Dulles as opposed to the previous full microscope search--seems a lottery. Alas, we almost missed our flight as no electric cart was in service to help us cross the airport with our 6 month old in my wife's hands. Overall, 3 hrs is a minimum, but pushing it, unless CBP is open. Walk briskly my advice.

[SorrowL 138]

They just asked us one question: when did we marry.

 

Otherwise everyone was super friendly in Detroit.

[Redro 4,611]

23 hours ago, Evan757 said:

When talking to CBP at the airport on an IR1 visa before they let us through customs, do they ask a lot of questions or scrutinize much? I'm curious so I can prepare my wife for it. We'll be entering the US together (and I'll be going in the foreign passport line with her). 

We entered at DTW. 

Husband went through CBP first and it was fairly quick. 

Then I went through CBP second. They asked us how much money we each had.

Then we went to secondary and that took some time. Our secondary time wasn't too complicated but we had to wait for them to figure out someone else's situation. I think the entire entry process took about 1 hour. They asked us two questions in secondary (and my husband - the USC- answered both of the questions). So, you don't really have to prepare your wife for anything special if you are traveling with her. 

 

You need to check how many other flights land just before your flight arrives and how many flights arrive at the same time as yours. 

2.5 hours at DFW might not be enough. A few years ago, I had a 5 hour layover at DFW that become a 2 hour layover at DFW (because our flight was delayed). And I just made my flight in another section of the airport.  

If you can rebook the second flight, I would do that for insurance. I know a few people who just decided to stay the night in the layover city because they didn't want to deal with connections. 

[Evan757 37]

They asked how much money you had?