Xu & Rick
Difficulty:  | Review Topic: Port of Entry Review
We were in the last row of a Boeing 777 from Shanghai to Chicago, so we were at the end of a very long line. There was a line for U.S. Citizens and residents, and another for Visitors. No line for immigrants, but they told us to use the Visitors line. After an hour or so, an official was pre-checking paperwork of people near the front of the line. When she saw that we were K-1, she fished us out of the line and sent us to a window which was actually one of the Citizens and Residents windows. There was one K-1 couple ahead of us. They didn't smile once during the procedure, which would have been a red flag for me if I had been an interviewing officer. Our officer was very friendly and examined all the paperwork. He was unsure as to whether we needed vaccination forms, but decided finally that K-1 immigrants did not need them at this point. Baggage carts are free in Chicago. I have always sympathized with international travellers who did not have ready U.S. currency or a credit card for getting a baggage cart at some other airports. Instead of booking a continuing flight to our destination and having to recheck seven pieces of luggage (excess baggage charges $365) which might not have fit on one of those little planes anyway, we had reserved a hotel for three nights in Chicago and our hotel shuttle bus was right there waiting for us with seats and room for all our luggage. Our car was parked at the hotel, sixteen days of free parking with the park-sleep-fly program. A very good POE experience, but a long wait in line after a 13-hour flight.
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Port of Entry Member Review #14064
Entry Date: 2008-06-18