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-   -   where do we queue when entering the US? (https://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-57/where-do-we-queue-when-entering-us-733048/)

laety Sep 20th 2011 4:36 am

where do we queue when entering the US?
 
Sorry it might be a very silly question but as we are going to finally come under our visa (H1B and H4) where do we queue at the airport when we land? is it still under the foreign passport queue, or the queue where the US citizens are ?
im hoping its the second one because LAX airport has huge queues for the other passports..thank you!
PS: getting excited :D

ian-mstm Sep 20th 2011 4:40 am

Re: where do we queue when entering the US?
 

Originally Posted by laety (Post 9632517)
is it still under the foreign passport queue, or the queue where the US citizens are ?

Are you US citizens? If not, you already know the answer! :)

Ian

laety Sep 20th 2011 4:42 am

Re: where do we queue when entering the US?
 
fair enough! I thought because we have a visa, we could go to "the other queue" I guess I just have to accept that we will always have to queue forever at this airport ahah
thank you anyway :)

joto Sep 20th 2011 5:44 am

Re: where do we queue when entering the US?
 
I think, when you get your green card, you will be able to queue up in the "citizens and permanent residents" line.

Warrington Wolf Sep 20th 2011 5:53 am

Re: where do we queue when entering the US?
 
Yep, I'm afraid that visa holders go to the foreigner's queue. I remember that I was disappointed that I couldn't go to the US citizen and permanent resident queue when I first got here.:(

Just wait until you have your green card - then you'll be really smug:thumbsup:

Steve_ Sep 20th 2011 6:21 am

Re: where do we queue when entering the US?
 
I remember one of my relatives telling me a story about how he was in primary inspection one day and there was hardly anyone in the USC line and they were being very slow at processing entries, so he went and stood in the USC line and the inspector told him to go back to the other line and my relative basically said: "I pay taxes here, I'm not standing there any longer." And the inspector did process his entry!

Bob Sep 20th 2011 3:51 pm

Re: where do we queue when entering the US?
 

Originally Posted by joto (Post 9632691)
I think, when you get your green card, you will be able to queue up in the "citizens and permanent residents" line.

Depends on the airport...not every airport one has that, it's US citizens and then everyone else for some airports.

Visa holders are under the everyone else bit though, for every where pretty much :D

laety Sep 20th 2011 7:57 pm

Re: where do we queue when entering the US?
 
oh well... maybe one day :)
thanks everyone!

S Folinsky Sep 20th 2011 9:46 pm

Re: where do we queue when entering the US?
 

Originally Posted by laety (Post 9632517)
Sorry it might be a very silly question but as we are going to finally come under our visa (H1B and H4) where do we queue at the airport when we land? is it still under the foreign passport queue, or the queue where the US citizens are ?
im hoping its the second one because LAX airport has huge queues for the other passports..thank you!
PS: getting excited :D

FWIW, you might note that although the lines might be of different lengths, you have to also look at the number of windows assigned to each category. I've observed that more windows are assigned to visa line than to the Citizen/Resident line.

thephionex Sep 21st 2011 3:47 am

Re: where do we queue when entering the US?
 
if you ask they might just let you trough every year i have gone to the states with my wife they have allowed me to go through with her. PHA as well as ORD but unless you ask you don't get. i have always asked the DHS officer and they have told me "it's no problem"

NSBlake Sep 21st 2011 5:57 am

Re: where do we queue when entering the US?
 
Kind of related to the OP question:

I'm here on an L1 and my wife L2 - we are having a little one in January and visiting UK in March. On the way back into the USA can we take the baby in the US Citizens line? (he/she will be a US citizen with US Passport).

Surely it would be unfair to the US Citizen baby to have to queue up with us foreigners!

rpjs Sep 21st 2011 6:16 am

Re: where do we queue when entering the US?
 

Originally Posted by NSBlake (Post 9634715)
Kind of related to the OP question:

I'm here on an L1 and my wife L2 - we are having a little one in January and visiting UK in March. On the way back into the USA can we take the baby in the US Citizens line? (he/she will be a US citizen with US Passport).

Surely it would be unfair to the US Citizen baby to have to queue up with us foreigners!

No harm asking. There may be a few places where the US citizen lines don't have the fingerprint scanners - these are the places where the LPRs have to go through the non-USC lines too.


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