Dowbs
Difficulty:  | Review Topic: Port of Entry Review
Dublin was quick and easy!
I flew from London to Chicago via Dublin. I requested that the airline staff at London NOT check my bags all the way through to Chicago, but offload them in Dublin so I could pick them up. This does add time to the process, but when I was at US immigration in Dublin they showed me a photo of my bags when I checked them in in Dublin. Would they have this photo from London? I don't know if this is a worldwide system. So I erred on the safe side and collected them at Dublin then re-checked them in.
At Dublin, after collecting the bags and dropping them off with the airline, I followed the signs for 'departures', which is the normal airport security (scanning your carry-on bags), then to 'US preclearance'. This is marked with a US flag and is hard to miss. Once there, you have to scan your carry-on bags a second time before going to passport control. I showed the staff my immigration package and they directed me to the same line as all other non-US residents.
At the desk, the immigration officer asked me several questions about my fiancé and our relationship (where did we meet, where does he live, what job does he have etc) then asked me to follow him to another room (more like a hall). I was given a customs form then called to a counter. I continued to fill out the customs form while talking to the man at this counter, who asked me if I understood the terms of a K1 visa (must marry within 90 days, one time entry etc). He showed me photographs of my checked-in baggage and I confirmed they were mine. He then wrote the day that my visa expires in my passport, gave it to me and told me I was done!
The actual immigration process took about 15 minutes. In total, I was at the gate for my next flight about 80 minutes after I'd landed in Dublin (and I collected my baggage in between!).
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Port of Entry Member Review #16239
Entry Date: 2016-11-10