On arrival in the USA
 

Hello ;)

Could anyone tell me how long it takes to go through immigration at the airport when you arrive in the US. I have my Visa etc.

Cheers
JimBo

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

Anything from 10 minutes to 4 hours, and that's assuming it goes smoothly (which I hope it will).

Some airports seem to have much longer, slower lines than others. Also, if you arrive at the same time as a stack of other international flights, it will take longer.

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

Remember to be nice to the immigration officer, you have to be "yes sir, no sir" with them, it's the uniform.

It took me 2 hours in JFK.

-tom

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

And don't make any jokes of any kind to anyone in any kind of uniform.

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

Yeah, it all depends on which airport, time of day extra....Boston, that took me 2.5hrs of queues, but the actual process, maybe 15mins...mostly because they had 4 international flights arrive at the same time and 2 desks open, no a/c, the heater was stuck on at 80, the place stank of fresh paint, the water fountains and firehoses were disconnected as well as fire alarms and the queue for the bogs was another nightmare that the whole process did feel like it was a lot longer...so bring a good book :D

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

The best flight of all is British Airways flight no. 185 from Heathrow (LHR) to Newark, New Jersey (EWR)(15 miles from Manhatten).

I do voluntary work on Thursdays at EWR - indeed I'm here right now - and the first international flight of the day is the BA185 which arrives at approx 11.35am but often arrives 30 mins earlier depending on the wind.....this flight often has a light passenger load except at really busy times (BA has two later daily flights and Virgin has daily flights too. Continental flies into its own terminal - which is a little busier)

The airport arrivals hall is empty in EWR right now, save a few drivers waiting to meet and greet - yet the BA flight has just landed!. The passengers in Club Class without checked baggage are through from the plane to the taxi rank in 5-10 minutes.

It's an absolute breeze to get through immigration and customs as the next flight is the Air France AF 004 which arrives around 50 mins later. Through my own experience flying into Newark and going through immigration and baggage retrieval is a doddle compared to the usual nightmare of JFK where there are many more incoming international flights (and higher passengers loads with more 747 jumbo jets flying into JFK).

Obviously there are loads of connecting flights to the rest of the USA if you're not going to have the New York area as your final destination.

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

The amount of time it will take you can vary a lot, depending what side of the bed the immigration officer got out of that morning, as well as other incoming flights. I think the Boston lot went to nasty school to learn being nasty if they weren't already that way. Only answer their questions as basically as possible, like, why are you here in the USA. Answer, I'm on holiday or I'm visiting family/friends. most others you can get away with yes or no answers. It has got a bit easier for us now that we have our green cards though.

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

The one that dealt with me must have got out of the wrong side... he managed to have me shaking, in tears and had me thinking I was being deported all because he couldn't read the info properly :rolleyes: any how it took me over 2 hours entering detroit on a K1 visa.

Ash :)

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

sorry to hear that Ash.
I have had nothing but good experiences myself when coming through Metro.

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

I was off the plane and out the door in about 45 minutes in Newark, and that was with an 11 year old as well. They seemed well organised and polite throughout.

As far as nightmares at immigration goes, I avoid Atlanta like the plague. I'm coming back next week and had to take a more expensive flight via Chicago to avoid entering into Atlanta. They are really nit picky and rude there, in my experience.


alex.

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

Took me 5 minutes in total through immigration at Dulles. All you need is a barking pooch that makes enough noise to warrant the speedy service !

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

We will be flying into Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, in Texas. I have my permament resident Visa as my wife is a US citizen and my daughter has dual citzenship. Here's hoping we get somebody that has got out of bed the right side then to welcome us in immigration. Fingers crossed. Do you think getting our five year old daughter to throw a wobbly would get us through quicker :)

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

Thanks for all of your replies.

Jim

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

You shouldn't talk about your child like that! :)





NC Penguin

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

Hi NC Penguin

My daughter is a born actress and quite the drama queen. Believe me, she would relish the role, (she's had enough practice :) ).

Jim

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

Now as you well know, dogs are nothing like kids, least kids leave home eventually :D

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

We found them pretty good, too at EWR. We came through there with our three small children and all the immigration officers we met were helpful and polite.

One of the airport staff saw us strugging to get our stuff off the carousel, and not organised a cart to pile all our luggage onto - five suitcases, seven pieces of hand luggage and two car seats is not fun with three preschoolers - but personally pushed it, got us through customs and loaded it back onto the outgoing carousel for us.

Remember though, however crap your journey might have been, however tired and fed up you are, be nice and smile at the officers...

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

You won't be doing immigration in Austin, as far as I know there are no direct international flights in and out of Austin. If you are transiting in from another US point of entry that is where you will do the paperwork.

Alex.

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

Hiya JimBo,

My hubby has the LPR VISA and when we arrived into SFO (San Francisco Airport) in April 2004 it only took us like 15 minutes to clear immigrations. Thankfully, there wasn't anyone else in line besides us!

Best of Luck!


Warmly,
Cali
:o

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

It worked for us..... Thing is we had 4 kids though.... They took us to the front of the line, and the customs officer even pushed the double stroller for us while we helped the other two children..... We were through in 10 minutes. They even got a porter to carry our bags and retrieve our luggage!!!

Wonderful... It was at LAX by the way.....

Perhaps you could make friends with another couple with 3 kids on the plane? :D

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

The thing which is definitely irritating at all the US airports is that for international arrivals you actually have to pay for a luggage trolley at baggage reclaim! :mad:

I can just about understand this at domestic terminals where everyone will most likely have enough $1 bills for 'cart' rental (I think the current charge is $3) but few international arrivals have enough small dollar bills to release a cart from where it's locked (if indeed they have any US$ on them at all - lots of people wait until they arrive and use an ATM to get cash). They also take credit cards I understand, but that is no help to older people (eg. my mum and m-in-law) who don't have credit cards!

Just as well that most suitcases have their own integral wheels these days.

I've never seen charges for luggage trolleys at any other international airport in the world, just the USA. :rolleyes:

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

I've seen them be charged in germany too and in austria too, but I know what you mean, bit of a pain that, I just lugged my suitcases in batches and to **** with them and the trollies *l*

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

I had a 'mere' 9 hour wait at LAX when I first arrived, classic USA!

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

Why the heck did it take nne hours?

Ash :)

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

Just the daily LAX paranoid security overreacting to every 'security breach' which caused a mass evacuation of the whole arrivals terminal. They made us leave all our stuff (documents included) in the terminal and then later wouldn't let us back in because we didn't have them!!!! :confused: Only in america!

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

O I C... sounds like fun... NOT

Ash :)

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

Coming into Baltimore / Washington INternational was a real breeze. It only handles a few international flights such as BA, Icelandair and Air canada, so I was the only person in the secondary immigration area. The immigration folk were very nice - all 'Welcome to the USA'. I guess they don't get a lot of immigrants....

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

:scared: I am arriving into LAX on the 27th and have all my documents from the London Embassy. Do I join the regular alien que, given that my time in front of the officers will be longer :eek:

I will be with my wife and other family who are US Citizens...should I join their que?????

HELP

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

you have to join the que wih the other regular aliens unfortunatly - if in doubt there are normally plenty of immigration/customs officals waiting around, i went into LAX 2 weeks ago, it was about 1.5 hrs wait as LAX is quite a busy terminal for immigration.

Ant

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

Congrats to you and your wife Bromleybill on your DCF and welcome to Beautiful Sunny California.

We filed DCF thru London and arrived in San Francisco Int'l airport serveral months ago. With me being the US Citizen I waited in line with me hubby in the alien line then there was a special line available for "New Immigrants" with no wait at all. Good Luck!

BTW, It's a breeze thru immigrations!

Warmly,
Cali

Re: On arrival in the USA
 

:) Thank you Cligirl for you kind welcome note and advice on the process.

I am looking forward to the new life opportunities that await us. I have the privilege of having my family coming over to England for my 50th birthday and accompanying us back to the USA for a big family welcome. I was anxious that the process would blight the otherwise big event and hope I get the same time interval as you experienced.

We have not yet sold our house in the UK so we will have to return at the end of January. We are using the next 8 weeks to check out locations for investing in property and hope that my early retirement package will work in our favour. If we cannot sell in a reasonable time, we may have to resort to seting up apartments in both UK and LA for the foreseeable future.

I would be interested to know if anyone else has created a dual residency....I suppose it could save on medical insurance using annual travel policy.

Thanks again :beer: