BritAbroad2015
Difficulty:  | Review Topic: Port of Entry Review
I flew directly to Newark from London Heathrow. I basically attached my sealed brown envelope to myself so as not to mislay it. Once landing in Newark I followed the crowds off my flight into the airport. There were 2 lines forming....one for US residents and then everyone else. I went into the everyone else line and waited... the queue took about 25 minutes. Once I was called to the immigration officer he took my folder and passport and I did a fingerprint scan on both hands. Naively I thought this was it. But, the Immigration officer escorted me to a room that looked a bit like a Drs waiting room. There was a reception and then lots of chairs in lines. There was approx. 8 people sitting waiting. I went straight to the front reception desk and they took my paperwork. I then sat down... I thought I might be here a while as I'd overhead one man in the waiting area saying he'd been there for 3 hours. So I decided to take out a magazine and read it. I wasn't sure if I was allowed my phone... so I didn't risk using it. My fiancé (now husband)knew that there might be a wait, so he'd come prepared with reading material for an exam the following week. I would say 30 minutes passed by and then I got called to the desk to speak to a different immigration agent. This wasn't at the same reception, but just to the left of the reception desk. The chairs and desk are raised on a higher level here, so I really felt like I had to look up to the heavens to speak to the agent ha ha. Anyways, the guy asked me how I met my significant other and then stamped as required and sent me on my way. Overall, people were polite but there's no joking around. Which is what I expected when taking a countries security into account... overall I cannot think of anything that alarmed me, I know other people have waited longer though... so take reading material if possible. Any questions, let me know as happy to help.
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Port of Entry Member Review #15845
Entry Date: 2014-11-06