Leslie

I like the first answer better.

Noorah101

I'm planning to come back with my fiance directly from Istanbul to JFK. Personally, I would prefer to leave a lot of time for the connecting flight to Phoenix. Not only to get through immigration, but to give Sadegh a chance to relax after the most likely stressful event of arriving for the first time in America. I can just see us sitting for a couple of hours having a Starbuck's coffee and watching his reaction to his new environment....

And then a nice relaxing flight home with no rushing around. :-)

Rene

ScottHenshaw

Not sure if my info is of value or not, as Nanette's POE was Seattle and there were no other stops or transferes. From the time that her plane touched down it was abotu an hour and a half until she, "Cleared" customs and I a actually saw here. It was a 747 from Hong Kong and seemed to have a lot of people on it which may have been the reason. Hope this helps a little


Scott

Steffi

I've flown from London to Atlanta via Toronto before and I had to clear customs in Canada. But you already confirmed that yourself...


As far as my customs experience goes when I entered on my K1 via Detroit: I believe I had like an hour and a half to connect and I was completely panicking because I thought I was never going to make it. From previous experiences, such as immigrating through Atlanta, the lines would always be miles and miles long. So I thought I was going to miss my connection flight. I was really lucky however, and there were probably 2 people in line in front of me!! I was sooo surprised! The officer didn't take too horribly long either...probably about 10 minutes - if even. He looked through the documents and then I was good to go. I was pulled over by an inspection officer (even though I didn't have anything to declare - I guess 3 gigantic suitcases are pretty suspricious though, haha), but he was actually really nice about everything. He even asked me how long I had until my connection. So in the end, even with having to get one of my suitcases searched after the x-ray machine, I made it in plenty of time for my connection flight. The line going through immigration makes all the difference though! Waiting in line for 5 minutes versus an hour obviously changes everything.

cindyabs

FYI- I checked in my reservation system here at work and the STANDARD connecting time for JFK for International to Domestic is 105 minutes.

Leslie

Mrtravel,

What is secondary screening?

Leslie

Mrtravel

cindyabs wrote:
    > Originally posted by saidsgirl
    >>
    > FYI- I checked in my reservation system here at work and the STANDARD
    > connecting time for JFK for International to Domestic is 105 minutes.

So that give them a few minutes for the secondary screening. Sounds tight..

Mrtravel

Leslie66 wrote:
    > Mrtravel,
    > What is secondary screening?
    >

If your entry can't be handled in the normal immigration line, you will
need to go elsewhere. This might take some time. Are you entering on a
immigration or K visa?

Squire

In article <[email protected]>, Dad of 3
<member@british_expats.com> writes
    >I think it may be a good idea to leave 3-4 hours at least...However,
    >check with the airline who is brining you into JFK from overseas. They
    >will tell you what the minimum time is to set aside for your connecting
    >flight. If you dont make it, THE AIRLINE is responsible for getting you
    >on the next availale flight and make up any difference in cost or have
    >the next carrier take you as is.

Some caution here. The passenger would only be *assured* of alternative
connections being made without cost if -

a) both flights are on the same ticket
b) the connection time was legal (i.e. within the airline's parameters)
c) the delay was the airline's responsibility

BA in particular recently announced a hardening of attitude on this.

In practice most airlines would be helpful if there was an immigration
delay but its not something one can insist on if any of the above
conditions are not met - especially (a)

--
squire
Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others. (Groucho)

Squire

In article <[email protected]>, Leslie66
<member@british_expats.com> writes
    >I have been tossing this exact question around with my husband for
    >months. We have pretty much decided to go through London so we can get
    >a direct flight to Dallas. It will probably mean spending the night in
    >London but that's OK too.

<http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/>

1. click on "Do I need a UK Visa"
2. select purpose of visit as "transit"
3. enter country of nationality/current location

This will confirm whether your husband may apply for a TWOV (transit
without visa) on arrival at the relevant UK airport (subject to the UK
Immigration Officer's discretion). Note that a TWOV is valid 24 hours
only so do check the respective arrival and departure times.

As an American citizen you would normally be eligible for the Visa
Waiver scheme.

If this is telling you something you already know then my apologies. It
might be of use to others though.


--
squire
Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others. (Groucho)

Leslie

It will be my husband. On a K3 visa. Does the K3 go through the "normal immigration line"?

Leslie

llorona

Hello Squire,

My fiance' is planning to fly on BA to London and then fly nonstop to Texas. We weren't sure if he needed a transit visa. Thank you so much for the valuable information.

llorona

meauxna

Leslie, based on our CR-1 experience and the K3s I've read here, you present yourselves at Immigration (I was traveling with the DAH so I took him to the USC line), give them the MBE and let them know you're immigrating on this visit and after a brief inspection of the documents, you are sent to Secondary inspection and entered into the computer. It's a routine visit, the length of time depends mainly on how many other people are in Secondary ahead of you.

Leslie

Thanks.

SeanH

2 Hours is cutting it fine - but there are some things you can do to get through a bit quicker - mainly when you are getting off the plane.

Get up and get your carry on bag quickly and have all your forms and such in your hand ready to hand over to the immigration guys - as soon as you are allowed to get up from your seat after landing.

Then - and most importantly - RUN or at least walk quickly to the immigration point - don't dawdle. Think of it as every person you go past to immigration is 5 minutes you do not have to wait behind them in line.

There will be like 300 or 400 people on your plane - make sure you beat most of them to immigration.
Use them people walkways that move - but walk on them - don't use them like an escalator and just stand there.

Hope this helps..

~Sean