Arriving at Port of Entry...

[barbara360 6]

Hi all,

SO flying out to the States this Saturday, with my packet at the ready.

My question is....Which part of immigration do I get in line for?

Is it the "Visitors" section, or the "U.S. Citizen" section- coz technically I am neither! haha!

Thanks in advance!

Regards,

I asked the immigration lawyer who is helping us since my husband will come at the end of August and he told me to go to the non-citizen line and they will pull you aside from there and process you. (at least that is how it is in Chicago from his experience)

[indiana_sweetie 120]

My hubby's POE was Chicago O'Hare. There were many other immigrants. He waited nearly 3 hours to be processed, but once they started it went very fast....paperwork, passport, fingerprints, regular questions..fine, fine. They didn't even open his suitcase. He said it was crazy, sitting there all that time, dead tired from the trip and watching his suitcase go around and around and around and they wouldn't let him take it. There was one hold-up before him. Some guy was trying to smuggle drugs. CBP was all over him like flies on poo, tied him up with plastic zip-ties, took pictures of the drugs and stuffed them in and big plastic bag. Then they dragged the guy away. My hubby thought that was awesome.

[Rushton50 10]

When you arrive at the border control area for inspection there is usually someone there to guide people to the correct lane or line. Ask them which line you are to wait in, usually the citizen line is used more commonly for the purpose of processing and you will be sent to the back areas or secondary area for further instructions!

When I was doing this, I made sure my envelope with the seal was quite visible and explained I was immigrating and I was sent to the citizen line and as I was pre-clearing in Dublin the citizen line was much longer for me, but we had time before our flight, just make sure any connecting flights you have do have enough time for you to catch, some people say couple hours some say four.

You can read my POE story also, you will see some variation depending where you enter and would advise you to take each story at a time as what has happened to them may not happen to you and each POE has been known to work differently.

[vegas12 12]

Hi all,

SO flying out to the States this Saturday, with my packet at the ready.

My question is....Which part of immigration do I get in line for?

Is it the "Visitors" section, or the "U.S. Citizen" section- coz technically I am neither! haha!

Thanks in advance!

Regards,

I have a question did the airline make you buy a round trip ticket or were you able to buy a one way.

[The Mean Lady 604]

I have a question did the airline make you buy a round trip ticket or were you able to buy a one way.

No airline can MAKE you buy a round-trip ticket.

Some people choose to because they end up being cheaper.

[indiana_sweetie 120]

^{I bought a one-way.....Adria/Lufthansa....Adria Air from Prishtina to Frankfurt, then Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Chicago. It is very hard to find good priced one-way tickets. I had the best luck with cheapoair.com}

duplicate post removed....sorry...my mouse keeps double-clicking on the submit button

Edited June 11, 2013 by indiana_sweetie

[JRF 124]

I can't speak to the wait times as an immigrant but having entered through LAX many times as a citizen the wait is often in customs. Bags can take forever to arrive and then the line to get thru customs can also take a long time. A great investment was the Global Entry program - quick through immigration via a Kiosk and expedited customs lines...well worth the cost of applying!

Edited June 11, 2013 by JRF