Preparing for the big move..

[sailorgal 33]

Yet to schedule the interview and actually get there but like any other eager bride-to-be I have already started planning out my move. I had a few questions about the travel and immigration process though.

I have already brought a handful of kitchenware and other stuff that I'll need out there in my new home. I don't want to spend like 10 dollars over something I can buy in my country for a few cents lol, yea India is pretty cheap money-wise. So yea there are plenty of things ranging from serving spoons to a big ### pressure cooker and I was thinking that instead of carrying all the cumbersome kitchenware in suitcases or bags I'd rather check-them-in in cardboard cartons or boxes. Has anybody done that before? Can you check-in cardboard boxes? I'm not taking any kitchen-electronics I will buy those there but all these kitchen utilities would just take up too much space in suitcases and I don't want to carry like 6 of those with me. So if check-in of cardboard boxes is not allowed then I will just pack all my stuff in a couple of duffle bags.

Then about the POE. Does your POE decide if you will undergo a strict immigration check? Or do some POEs have stricter immigration checks than others? I would obviously not be carrying anything illegal with me but my fiance who was here in India to visit me last winter took spices and condiments for his mother and aunts and they let him through the Indian airport as well the airport in Charlotte, NC where he landed. He is currently staying in Florida so I was planning on making Orlando as my POE. So I am hoping they will let me in, like they let in my fiance (may be cause he is an American), with all my spices and condiments (every thing legal!) and not harass me cause I am a foreigner

[TimeTravel 78]

Yet to schedule the interview and actually get there but like any other eager bride-to-be I have already started planning out my move. I had a few questions about the travel and immigration process though.

I have already brought a handful of kitchenware and other stuff that I'll need out there in my new home. I don't want to spend like 10 dollars over something I can buy in my country for a few cents lol, yea India is pretty cheap money-wise. So yea there are plenty of things ranging from serving spoons to a big ### pressure cooker and I was thinking that instead of carrying all the cumbersome kitchenware in suitcases or bags I'd rather check-them-in in cardboard cartons or boxes. Has anybody done that before? Can you check-in cardboard boxes? I'm not taking any kitchen-electronics I will buy those there but all these kitchen utilities would just take up too much space in suitcases and I don't want to carry like 6 of those with me. So if check-in of cardboard boxes is not allowed then I will just pack all my stuff in a couple of duffle bags.

Then about the POE. Does your POE decide if you will undergo a strict immigration check? Or do some POEs have stricter immigration checks than others? I would obviously not be carrying anything illegal with me but my fiance who was here in India to visit me last winter took spices and condiments for his mother and aunts and they let him through the Indian airport as well the airport in Charlotte, NC where he landed. He is currently staying in Florida so I was planning on making Orlando as my POE. So I am hoping they will let me in, like they let in my fiance (may be cause he is an American), with all my spices and condiments (every thing legal!) and not harass me cause I am a foreigner

You can check-in cardboard boxes. Or simply Fedex all those stuff from India, so you don't have to carry all these boxes at airport.

As far as POE, even if you have to go thru further inspection, then nothing to worry about that, but be prepared that they are going to open every single package.

[KierenHby 897]

US Customs does not harass anyone\foreigners over condiments. By law, all international arrivals, including US passport holders, submit to an agricultural inspection.