What to expect at port of entry on K1

[alliejourney 61]

Hello all! My fiance's K1 visa was approved yesterday! As such, I'll be traveling to him in early June to help pack up, and then we'll be returning to the US together. Our port of entry will be Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. 

 

Can anyone walk us through what to expect when we arrive with his K1? Will we just go through border control as usual and show the officer the visa in his passport and packet? Is there anything additional we should know? Both of us are a little anxious and just want to know exactly what to expect when we arrive in the US. Thank you!

[Crazy Cat 41,834]

36 minutes ago, alliejourney said:

Will we just go through border control as usual and show the officer the visa in his passport and packet?

Yes.

[powerpuff 6,697]

Most likely you’ll be taken to secondary inspection to have the documents processed. It took about 5-10 min for me and then I was out. 

[alliejourney 61]

Great, thanks to both of you! Just knowing that helps a lot.

[mam521 2,060]

Usually it's pretty fast and painless!

 

Good luck and best wishes! 

Edited May 15 by mam521

[alliejourney 61]

5 minutes ago, mam521 said:

Make sure you head to the airport earlier than usual so the secondary processing can be done.  Usually it's fast and painless, but sometimes they are busy and you don't want to miss that flight.  

 

Good luck and best wishes! 

 

Oh, so does this secondary processing take place before we depart, or when we enter the US? We'll be flying Manchester -> Dublin -> Cleveland. I was under the impression that this would take place when we get to the US?

[mam521 2,060]

21 minutes ago, alliejourney said:

 

Oh, so does this secondary processing take place before we depart, or when we enter the US? We'll be flying Manchester -> Dublin -> Cleveland. I was under the impression that this would take place when we get to the US?

You will likely preclear in Dublin.  What's your connection time?  

[alliejourney 61]

1 hour ago, mam521 said:

You will likely preclear in Dublin.  What's your connection time?  

 

2 hours 25 minutes

[TexasRafael 134]

Well certainly the officer will refer your spouse to secondary to review the documents that are in the package they bring with them.  Since you are travelling together, most likely you will be allow to go to secondary but the interview that will take place will most likely be with your fiancee.  How long that takes depends on the entry airport and how busy they are in secondary.  My spouse entered in Houston and it took about one hour in total, the actual interview was like 10 minutes, the other time was just waiting to be called.  It will take what it takes but all will be fine.

[mam521 2,060]

2 hours ago, alliejourney said:

 

2 hours 25 minutes

Do you know if your bags will be checked all the way through?  If so, that should be fine.  

[alliejourney 61]

1 hour ago, mam521 said:

Do you know if your bags will be checked all the way through?  If so, that should be fine.  

After seeing your comment we started looking into the pre-clearance at Dublin (we had no idea this was a thing when we booked!) and it does seem like since we booked both Manchester -> Dublin and Dublin -> Cleveland on the same itinerary, our bags should be checked all the way through. Thanks a lot for bringing this up, we had no idea so now we're much better prepared, lol.

 

2 hours ago, TexasRafael said:

Well certainly the officer will refer your spouse to secondary to review the documents that are in the package they bring with them.  Since you are travelling together, most likely you will be allow to go to secondary but the interview that will take place will most likely be with your fiancee.  How long that takes depends on the entry airport and how busy they are in secondary.  My spouse entered in Houston and it took about one hour in total, the actual interview was like 10 minutes, the other time was just waiting to be called.  It will take what it takes but all will be fine.

 Thank you for this!

[mam521 2,060]

18 hours ago, alliejourney said:

Thanks a lot for bringing this up, we had no idea so now we're much better prepared, lol.

No worries.  It's a bit strange because the US is the only country that does this and it's not everywhere.  The nice thing is that K1 is activated in Dublin, so when you get on that plane, your journey begins.  When you land in Cleveland, you just grab your bags and go...no clearing Customs.  

[alliejourney 61]

Yeah, this actually makes a lot of sense in hindsight because when I was looking for info on Cleveland as a POE, it wasn't listed on this site nor anywhere else. However, I believe Dublin and Toronto are currently its only international connections, so it makes sense why Cleveland isn't listed when technically Dublin (and Toronto, which also has US preclearance) is the POE. This conversation has definitely cleared a lot up for us and hopefully this thread can be useful to people in the future!

[TBoneTX 45,266]

Be sure to report on how things go.  All the best to you.