My son is going to fly from Russia to Helsinki to NYC to Florida with his K2 visa. Does anybody know if his POE would be NYC (JFK) or is it earlier in Helsinki? His father got a ticket for him in Russia, but it looks he will have only like 30 minutes in JFK and might miss his flight...is the POE is there. we have to change the tickets...When i flew from Canada with my K1, my POE was in Toronto airport, that's why I am asking.

As far as I know, the only foreign airports where you clear U.S. immigration and customs before you get on the plane are in Canada, and.. Dublin. So he should clear immigrations at JFK.

Absolutely correct. Immigration/Customs will be at JFK. Unless the connecting flight is substantially delayed, there is no chance of making the 30 minute connection.

If the ticket is booked as one itinerary, the airline will generally put him on the next flight. (It is their fault for selling the ticket that way).

If it is two different airline companies, he will most likely miss his connecting flight at a loss to him. Buying last minute one way tickets is not cheap either.

small addition for added clarity

next available flight with seats may be the next flight or may perhaps not be not until the next day....

If you son is book on the Aeroflot side of the Aeroflot/FinnAir code share for the SVO-Helsinki leg, there might be a bit of trouble because the connection is so tight. Your son will have to go, with everyone else, downstairs, have a brief document check, go through security and then go back upstairs to the FinnAir flight to JFK.

My fiance (that's what she was in 11/05) and I did that connection back then. It was tight, a bit exhilarating, and just fine. But I made sure we were on the FinnAir side of the code share. (It probably won't matter that much. But on the return, my fiance was travelling alone and FinnAir was 2 hours late arriving in Helsinki. She got terrible service from FinnAir but did, eventually, after $400 out of pocket, get home.)

This time, we're doing Delta to Atlanta.

Good luck.

Delta has gotten alot of bad press over the past couple of years for various things, but I must say that when it comes to international travel, especially to Eastern Europe, they are very efficient. They may not have the best planes, or the best employees, or the even the best service, but they sure do make their schedules! Even in snow, they seem to arrive at their destinations early. The past 3 trips I made to Russia were on flight 30 of Delta from JFK to SVO and each time we were at least 30 minutes early.....both ways. I asked about this and the reason given to me by the flight attendants was for visa holders clearing customs and making connecting flights. Even if they are a crappy airline, I'm glad they operate with this in mind. Now, if they would only upgrade their seats to have those nice little seatback tv screens. They've gotta be the only airline left without that amenity on 757s and larger on transAtlantic flights! But you may find that you have enough time if you're flying Delta. Also they will take you from the plane first upon arrival if you inform them of your itinerary.

Thank you very much for your replies, guys! I also called Finnair and they confirmed that JFK will be the POE. So we will have to change the ticket while it is not too late.

Shannon, Ireland also clears pax for customs.

Edited... not sure about the immigrations part. They may, but it's probably a big hassle. Anyway, you're not going through there, so... no worries.

Slim,

I gotta agree with you concerning service on Delta. Delta seems to train their flight attendants to be hostile to customers! Ditto for gate personnel. But, unlike FinnAir, they don't seem to be late often.

There was the time, though, when I was taking Delta to Moscow at the time of Hurricane Dennis a couple years back. They pushed off the gate from my home airport, to get the ontime departure, and then announced that Atlanta had been on ground hold for the last 45 minutes, so they couldn't go there! They taxied back to the gate. I bailed to American and got to Moscow in time to make my Aeroflot connection to Novosibirsk.

There is no such thing as a good airline.