fox fox
Difficulty:  | Review Topic: Port of Entry Review
I am writing this based on the information my fiance told me and my experience with the immigration office at the ATL airport. ...short and sweet to the point (k1 visa)... my fiance went through the procedure of clearing customs with her items. during her process with the immigration official, she was asked a few simple question, but was not asked to surrender the "sealed envelope". she asked the IO if he needed the sealed envelope, if there were any other forms to fill out, or if there was an office she needed to go to, or if there was another procedure/step in order to be cleared into the US. His answer was, "NO".
Later that evening, while at my aunt's house, south of atlanta (i live in NW florida 6.5 hr drive) i received a phonecall from the immigration office about my fiance. i was told that i was to immediately return to the airport to return the envelope and was told in a way that it was my fiance's fault for withholding the envelope and not the IO's fault. I was furiously p'offed for their mistake at my expense. I asked about if i could certify fedex it to them (though i would think twice about doing so and probably not send it fedex, rather hand carry it for a gurantee), which they said no. they told me that i should bring it to them, which i requested that i would meed on of their IO officials at the arrival area, so i didn't run around the airport looking for them. they said they would not send anyone to meet me and that i would have to find them. immagine how upset i was that this is ultimately their mistake for not retreiving the envelope and i have to take action at the worst level as if it is all my fault. they also said there is no way that they would reimburse me for any expense, gas and airport parking and continued to express that this is all my fiance's fault. i was also told that there is no way they can trace the individual that cleared my fiance into the US, which is a lie because the initials of "KI" is stamped twice in her passport.
i called the next morning to confirm things like meeting location, time, etc and to also talk to a shift manager there. i was told by who i talked to that there was an office outside and near the ATL airport (International Parkway, i believe) that i could go to to return/submit the "sealed envelope". I drove that office i was told to go to. I talked to a uniformed offical whom i believe is a CBP officer. my fiance and i were standing at the counter when we gave him the envelope and her passport. he said in a manner that was neither rude or polite, but in between, "have a seat". since this visit really didn't directly involve me, I sat down. since it did directly involve my fiance she chose to stand at the counter, no harm being done, no looking at what he's doing or typing. I figure she's just standing to save time thinking she would have to sign some forms or documents. again, no harm being done, then he he says in a rather rude way, "maam, have a seat". never in my life have i, now we ever been treated like low POS like he treated us and to make things worse...i calmly told him that we didn't live in the atlanta area, and that if we were back home, would we have to come all the way back to atlanta just to rectify this situation because someone at the airport was incompetant....but just as i was about to finish my question, he rudely cut me off and just told me that this was his district, blah blah blah...after he cut me off opening his mouth with a rude tone, i had no interest in hearing what he had to say. he copied my fiance's passport and gave us a copy of a printed document from the internet. apparantly this page he gave us was supposed to be informative, but i think different.
I think the only way i could be anymore offended and feel like i was low life POS is if i was a vietnam vet coming back from the battlefield and being spat on by war protestors.
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Port of Entry Member Review #14626
Entry Date: 2010-02-03