Zoolander

Dear Forum,

I am writing to you because i have a query which i hope you can answer.

On October 21st I was travelling to London Via Miami from San Pedro Sula.
Upon my arrival to Miami airport where i was getting a connecting flight to
London i was registered under the NSEERS program.

My flight was departing at 5.50pm and i was allowed to leave at 5.15pm. I
was told to register myself out of the country before boarding my flight. I
was given vague instructions by the officer as to where i had to go to do
this.
I tried to find the office but i could not, and at the same time i was about
to miss my flight. I had not even checked in yet. I did not want to miss my
flight because my bags would then be in London and I would be stuck in
Miami.
Therefore i could not register myself out of the country and catch my
connecting flight at the same time.

Upon my arrival to London i called Miami airport on this specific number
305-597-6000 and spoke with operator 48. I explained the situation to her,
she took my details including passport number and asked me to keep my
boarding pass, which i have. She also said i should not have a problem
coming back to the US.
Anyhow, i am now due to travel to the US week beginning 14th February 2005.
I called up a US visa service information line to ascertain if i will have
a problem or not and the operator told me that i'd have to take a chance!
Thats not the professional answer i had hoped for.

Is there anything that i need to do to ensure that i am allowed entry?

Best Regards...


Z

crg

You weren't hoping for a professional answer, you wanted a "yes, no problem, sir". The answer they gave you on the phone was correct for a change. You violated the program by failing to register your departure. You should have switched to a later flight. Ideally you should have given yourself more time between flights. They gave you a packet of written instructions complete with warnings about failing to comply. There is no way to ensure you will be allowed back in. They may understand, and let you in, but noone on the phone can promise you anything. Each person is handled on a case by case basis. The person on the phone can't predict what will happen with the officer at the port of entry.

Zoolander

A couple of points, how could i have given myself more time between flights
when i had no idea that i was going to be registered in the first place?
Secondly, there is no pint in handing out leaflets when the officers there
cannot even give proper instructions as to where to go.
It annoys me that as a British National i've had to go through thid
debacle...



"crg14624" <member20421@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected] m...
    >> Dear Forum,
    >> I am writing to you because i have a query which i hope you can
    >> answer.
    >> On October 21st I was travelling to London Via Miami from San Pedro
    >> Sula.
    >> Upon my arrival to Miami airport where i was getting a connecting
    >> flight to
    >> London i was registered under the NSEERS program.
    >> My flight was departing at 5.50pm and i was allowed to leave at
    >> 5.15pm. I
    >> was told to register myself out of the country before boarding my
    >> flight. I
    >> was given vague instructions by the officer as to where i had to go to
    >> do
    >> this.
    >> I tried to find the office but i could not, and at the same time i was
    >> about
    >> to miss my flight. I had not even checked in yet. I did not want to
    >> miss my
    >> flight because my bags would then be in London and I would be stuck in
    >> Miami.
    >> Therefore i could not register myself out of the country and catch my
    >> connecting flight at the same time.
    >> Upon my arrival to London i called Miami airport on this specific
    >> number
    >> 305-597-6000 and spoke with operator 48. I explained the situation to
    >> her,
    >> she took my details including passport number and asked me to keep my
    >> boarding pass, which i have. She also said i should not have a problem
    >> coming back to the US.
    >> Anyhow, i am now due to travel to the US week beginning 14th February
    >> 2005.
    >> I called up a US visa service information line to ascertain if i will
    >> have
    >> a problem or not and the operator told me that i'd have to take a
    >> chance!
    >> Thats not the professional answer i had hoped for.
    >> Is there anything that i need to do to ensure that i am allowed entry?
    >> Best Regards...
    >> Z
    > You weren't hoping for a professional answer, you wanted a "yes, no
    > problem, sir". The answer they gave you on the phone was correct for a
    > change. You violated the program by failing to register your
    > departure. You should have switched to a later flight. Ideally you
    > should have given yourself more time between flights. They gave you a
    > packet of written instructions complete with warnings about failing to
    > comply. There is no way to ensure you will be allowed back in. They
    > may understand, and let you in, but noone on the phone can promise you
    > anything. Each person is handled on a case by case basis. The person
    > on the phone can't predict what will happen with the officer at the
    > port of entry.
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

crg

I'd recommend any foreign national with a connecting flight to give themselves extra time to clear border processing, no matter what their nationality is. Anyone can receive extra scrutiny at any time.

It's a shame that 99.9999% honest individuals have to endure this processing, but Richard Reed was a British citizen too. Simply having a British passport doesn't mean a person is good. The UK is a great country filled with wonderful people, but I'm sure you'd agree that they don't have 100% success rate in having British citizens that are free of criminal behavior.