How to pass customs with No English on CR1 Visa

[Pavel3002 13]

My wife speaks 0 English. She is about to go to interview at the embassy and will get her visa shortly. Yeah finally!!! I had to wait entire year. I'm just concerned that she has no flying experience and doesn't speak any English and she has to go through customs and they ask questions there all the time. From my experience they always ask me "what was the reason for your trip" and "if im bringing any purchased items abroad" and so on. Does anyone have any experience with this and can help guide on what to do. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hi,

My aunt visited the US a few years ago. She spoke no English.

I prepared a list of questions and answers with translation. Everyone just pointed.

I no longer have the list.

Essential for the flight since your wife has never been on a plane;

Do I need to put my seatbelt on?

Can I go to the bathroom?

Essentially, any questions that may come up.

Best of luck

[Brian&Larissa 73]

I agree with aaron

My mother-in-law is visiting us from Ukraine. She speaks zero english. I prepared english and russian statements that she could point to when traversing thru the airport, on the plane and even thru Customs. I also created examples of the customs declaration form and other things she could use. I am still the golden boy and she has been here 3 weeks. The simplest things will make all the difference.

[VFittipaldi 30]

My wife got here 4 months ago and spoke pretty much no English and had never even seen a real airplane. I was very worried and tried to do whatever i can to make it easier.

I bought her a ticket that had only one layover in Amsterdam but it flew only every Tuesday and Thursday and was a bit more expensive but it was worth it. I sent her youtube videos of people boarding the plane and some picture to get an idea. Stewardess are familiar with people who don't speak English though so its ok. I also emailed her an example of the declaration form she would have to fill out on the plane. I filled it out and scanned it in to show her how it will look like.

At the customs though yes they do ask a lot of questions but its ok they also know the language barriers and for the stuff you are declaring my wife said the officer was showing her pictures of items and asking if she had any.

[mallafri76 1,012]

For the interview at POE, she can ask for a translator. That's her right.

A couple of times when I've come through Newark Airport, CBP officers have asked other travellers to help translate. They are used to language barriers at the border, they will find a soption. ?

[CowBoE 429]

At my wife's POE, POE staff asked if anyone spoke Chinese and English,

and my wife had to act as on the spot translator to few Chinese.

So they will try to accommodate however they can to communicate with her,

and if it's hard to locate someone at the airport, they "might" allow her to call

someone who can translate.

The bulk of due diligence on visa and POE eligibility is already done

and POE is just a last fence in line for them to do some sanity checks.

There are plenty of no English speaking folks POE-ing everyday,

so don't worry too much.