Steve2003

Anyone have experience at the Detroit POE. We are flying Northwest Airlines, which lands there first. Thanks !

cindyabs

Did you go to the website that lists the POEs and experiences? It's on Rete's list of info sites.

Steve2003

yeah I did. just curious if anyone had first hand .

Zahgon

My wife came in through Detroit using her K1 visa this past November and it
was pretty uneventful. It took her five minutes to get through and she
wasn't asked much of anything. When the woman helping her saw the brown
envelope though she sarcastically said "Beautiful!". Welcome to the US, huh?
    

John

"Steve2003" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Anyone have experience at the Detroit POE. We are flying Northwest
    > Airlines, which lands there first. Thanks !
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

thing2

Hmmm, I'm coming through Detroit POE. hope my experience is a bit more pleasant than your (then) fiancée's welcome. But then, coming through POEs can never be described as a pleasant experience, can it?

ukemigrant

Search for posts on this forum from me - I put up a POE experience in Dec last year.

Sam.

fun

Which website is this where there are POE experiences? Thanks.

Rete

As a user of the British Expats site, I would have hoped that you had seen the FAQ listed when you first enter the alt.visa.us.marriage-based forum and/or my permanent posting at the top of the forum.

Both will take you through the wonderful world of marriage-based visa experiences from 1998 through today.

The URLS are also listed after my signature. While these sites are not the end all, they are a valuable resource and great stepping stone for your BCIS journey.

Here is the POE list you asked about:

http://www.k1poelist.com/

Rete

Pimpbot

I cannot speak about coming through Detroit airport with a K1, but I can tell you about the two experiences I had flying through Detroit on Northwest that were both a nightmare. I took the same flight within the space of 4 months around 2 years ago and both times after we landed, we were stuck on the tarmac for nearly an hour while they waited for a gate. Then after reaching the gate, both times we sat on the plane for a further 30 minutes because "Immigration was full". This was all during a busy building time at the airport, but it was enough for me to know that I will never fly via Detroit ever again.

Zahgon

I would guess that many of these types of problems have been alleviated by
the completion of the new terminal a while back. Also I would recommend
people fly in on a weekday (mon. thru thurs.) to avoid the bigger crowds.

John

"Pimpbot" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > I cannot speak about coming through Detroit airport with a K1, but I can
    > tell you about the two experiences I had flying through Detroit on
    > Northwest that were both a nightmare. I took the same flight within the
    > space of 4 months around 2 years ago and both times after we landed, we
    > were stuck on the tarmac for nearly an hour while they waited for a
    > gate. Then after reaching the gate, both times we sat on the plane for a
    > further 30 minutes because "Immigration was full". This was all during a
    > busy building time at the airport, but it was enough for me to know that
    > I will never fly via Detroit ever again.
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Caro

I have used the Detroit Airport (and NWA flights 49/50) quite a lot when I was studying in Ann Arbor. The time you spent at immigration/customs depends on what time the plane arrives. In the middle of the afternoon, when the international planes were landing in the International Terminal, it could get quite crowded. Immigration took very little time if I got in before the KLM, British Airways and Lufthansa planes, but could take for ever if I got in at the same time/shortly after. In particular, when we arrived shortly after the KLM plane from Amsterdam, it was taking longer as we had to get "sniffed" by dogs upon arrival.

Last time we flew into Detroit [May 2002], we arrived at the new terminal, and it was piece of cake, except that I needed to get my AP stamped and it took them 1hour to do it.

Also, there was this story on how Detroit INS wanted the initial petition to be still valid when entering with a K1. I don't know if it is still the case, but if your initial petition is not valid anymore, it might be a good idea to ask the consulate to revalidate/extend it.

Caroline

Booger

"Pimpbot" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > I cannot speak about coming through Detroit airport with a K1, but I can
    > tell you about the two experiences I had flying through Detroit on
    > Northwest that were both a nightmare. I took the same flight within the

As a pilot, I can tell you that it's even worse for us. The place is a zoo.
The controllers try their best but it's all NW's fault. They have too many
flights and not enough gates.

Zahgon

As an aside, the parking at the new terminal is a ridiculous maze as well.

John

"Booger" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Pimpbot" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > >
    > > I cannot speak about coming through Detroit airport with a K1, but I can
    > > tell you about the two experiences I had flying through Detroit on
    > > Northwest that were both a nightmare. I took the same flight within the
    > As a pilot, I can tell you that it's even worse for us. The place is a
zoo.
    > The controllers try their best but it's all NW's fault. They have too many
    > flights and not enough gates.

Mvstolar

would you mind explaining that the detroit POE may still require "the initial
petition to still be valid"? many thanks. ms. still waiting for my parisian
man in ann arbor, mi.
1st noa nsc - 9/13/02
2nd.............................................
.>
    >Also, there was this story on how Detroit INS wanted the initial
    >petition to be still valid when entering with a K1. I don't know if it
    >is still the case, but if your initial petition is not valid anymore, it
    >might be a good idea to ask the consulate to revalidate/extend it.
    >Caroline
    >--
    >Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Caro

Hey Marian,

I do not want to make people worry too much. I think that when the service center approves your petition, it is valid for 4 months. Usually in these 4 months, you get your interview and are issued the visa valid 6 months [if not, it is my understanding that the consulate can extend/revalidate the petition]. So, it is possible to go through a POE with a valid K1 visa and an expired petition. Somebody at Detroit was of the opinion that the visa had to be valid but that the petition had to be still "valid" as well. However, this problem was only reported once. I could not find the initial thread, but here is a follow-up started by Scarlett.

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...m%26rnum%3D104

Good luck!
Caroline