desusa

For anyone coming in through LAX in the near future who may be worried by all the talk of mean and nasty immigration officials, I just thought I would share this with you.

I came in on May 1st and although I had my US citizen husband with me for support and a valid CR1 visa in hand I was still nervous about the process at the POE. I know it's probably silly but hey, this is a big step we take!
Anyway, first of all I was unsure if I should go through the permanent residents line alone, through the citizens line with hubby (like others on here have done) or through the 'others' line, since I technically was only a visa holder at that time. I asked one of the officials who seemed to be herding lost people in the right direction and he told us to both go through the permanent residents line together. Then after a minute or so when he spied my big yellow envelope in hand he immediately apologized and directed us to a counter at the far end of the row, and with a smile -which is just what I needed!
We went to the head of the line, (there was only one other family ahead of us being processed with immigrant visas) and waited for a few minutes to be called. When we were called we were processed by two different people (my fingerprint was taken and a few forms were filled out by them) and both of them were extremely friendly. They both smiled the whole time, made a few funny comments and actually made me feel silly inside for being nervous in the first place. It was a thoroughly pleasant experience. We were told to collect our bags and return to a waiting area nearby.
After waiting about 15 minutes for the paperwork to be completed, the official handling the paperwork (Officer Willis) called us up again and patiently explained my conditional status to me and how to remove the conditions in two years time. We were able to ask any questions without feeling rushed and when we were all happy he then sent us on our way! All three officials working the desk at that time were friendly, patient and courteous and blew the myth some people hold about all airport immigration officers being rude and abusive.
Here's hoping everyone gets the same treatment I did. And although I didn't get a "Welcome to the USA" from the officials at the airport, I did receive a notice reading 'Welcome to the US and congratulations on your new permanent resident status' from the BCIS in the mail just over a week later. How sweet!

Tbone

Thanks for the advice Desusa, and congratulations!

LAX will be my POE as well, so it's great to hear that you had such a positive experience. Where is that first counter you went to? I know the airport pretty well now (4 trips and counting!) and I've been mentally rehearsing where to go when it's the real thing, but I couldn't work out which line I should be in to get through immigration. I could only see lines for citizens and visitors.

By the way, my sweetheart is arriving here on Saturday and we're getting married next Monday. Woohoo!

All the best

Anthony

surfsbabe

Thank you for posting your POE experience Desusa. It's great to know you had such a pleasant time as LAX will also be my POE.

Anthony, could you please post your DCF interview experience here as we will also DCF in Sydney. Have a wonderful wedding day and good luck with the interview!!

Kate

meauxna

Woohoo! Wasn't that slick?! Good on ya, desusa

desusa

Thanks everyone for your replies. DCF rules!!!!

Tbone, we entered the immigration hall from the far right (looking towards the immigration area with the baggage carousels in the background) and the counter we went to was also on the far right. It is not a small booth as the other officials sit at, it is more of a large square counter area big enough for more than one official to work inside. It is the last processing area to the right, beyond that is a small waiting area (about 3 or 4 rows of seats). I guarantee you will see it easily when you are there next. I've also been through LAX and never noticed it although it is quite obvious. There are also officials on the floor to point you in the right direction.

T-Bone did you get my email about my DCF experience? I was having some problems with my email account. I also posted it on here and on Kamya. Hope it gives you an idea of what to expect. I hope you have a lovely wedding day and a smooth interview at the consulate. Like Kate I would love to hear how your interview goes.

Kate, How's the preparation going? Have you got an interview date yet? Are you marrying in Sydney or Santa Monica? I hope everything is going smoothly for you too.

Susan

Dewo

i hope it goes that easy for me when i enter friday the usa at LAX (terminal
northwest).
The customs check your bagage more then they usualy do?

Tbone

Thanks Susan and Kate for your kind wishes. I think that we're ready, although I wish the next few days would go by *really* fast!

Thanks also Susan for your info re. LAX. I did receive your email, which was lovely of you, and I'm very sorry that I didn't reply. No excuse.

I'll be sure to post my experiences with DCF when it's all done.

Anthony

mailmena

Late January i came through SFO, although not exactly LAX but hey they really looked through my luggage this time!! I don't think it has to do with entering customs from the new immigrant line though.

I brought loads of dried food. Seems like that the customs here weren't really into what I eat so they didn't take anything. The poor Japanese guy in front of me, however, unloaded lots of cookies and instant curries.

surfsbabe

Hi Susan, our preparation has been slowed up because I need a police clearance from Korea. I faxed the consulate to ask them what I needed to do as they obtain it for you through the US Consulate in Seoul. Their reply was "if you were there less than twelve months you dont need one" . I have faxed them again so I hope to have that underway when they reply in two weeks . I hope the Koreans wont take too long once they get the request .

We will marry here in Melbourne, we wont set the date until I have all the paperwork ready and we can set up the interview at the consulate to coincide as closely as possible. I spoke to a really helpful lady at the registry office who told me if we marry there we can get the marriage certificate the same day. Apparently if you marry in a church or have a celebrant the wait is 15 days for the certificate. I'm thinking July is looking good

Kate

Dekka's Angel

Hopefully your police certificate will come soon so that you can sail through on DCF! Dekka sent back his checklist today after we (finally!) got confirmation that Sydney had received our approval from NVC, so here's hoping for a fast interview time for us.

desusa

Dewo:
I didn't have any extra interest from customs then usual (which is none fortunately!). This time I declared some tea bags and vegemite and they were barely interested in that. Didn't look twice at our 4 huge suitcases. Thank God for that as I would have hated to try to repack everything!

Anthony:
No problem about not replying. I knew that you had a trip here recently and were probably busy with wedding/visa preparations. Glad it's all on track for you.

Kate: Hope you get the certificate quickly and can get the date you want. I don't think you'll have a problem as tbone and I both got well accommodated with our preferred dates.

Dekka's Angel: I'm also glad to hear you are on track with the K1. It's an exciting time when it gets that close! Good Luck!

Jo Brayne

any *NEW* (i.e. not searchable) LAX POE experiences? Also the attitude and demeanor of the immigration people can change with the times, so new, fresh experiences are always best

We've picked LAX because of the ease of connecting internationally to southwest airlines. And we got a great deal on United .

Oh yes, I neglected to add that my husband has the IR-1. What happens at POE for IR-1 holders? I really didnt find any in the search, so any IR-1 experiences there would be particularly appreciated!!

meauxna

Sorry, Jo, I thought I answered this. As you probably already know, IR-1 will likely be identical to CR-1 except you won't get the lecture on removing conditions (because you won't have any). It's a breeze through, give a fingerprint and autograph and 'welcome to America, my man!'.

Mrtravel

meauxna wrote:
    > Originally posted by Jo Brayne Oh yes, I neglected to add
    > that my husband has the IR-1. What happens at POE for IR-1 holders? I
    > really didnt find any in the search, so any IR-1 experiences there would
    > be particularly appreciated!!

There should be no difference, except for the missing warning to apply
for removal of conditions 0-90 days before the CR-1 greencard (and
status) expires.
IR-1's don't have expiring I-551 status, just expiring cards every 10
years.

This is the only difference between CR-1 and IR-1.