What happens if you don't understand English at the port of entry?

[xwind 10]

A lot of responses wow, thank you so much for the encouragement!

I didn't know that the CBP officer can't re-adjudicate a visa (unless in extreme situations that is). This is very comforting to know. That would just be so ridiculous if you went through the entire visa process only to get denied at the airport because the CBP guy was having a bad day...

I also hadn't realized that they could find translators there, which would make sense as probably deal with cases like these all the time. I will be waiting for them outside of customs so in the worst case they could page me too. I guess I was worrying too much.

What is this "secondary" that sometimes people go through but not everyone does? Is this like if the officer has doubts about you then they send you to a second person to look at your papers?

[Darnell 8,478]

many times K-1 and CR-1 visa holders go through secondary,

to pick up the visa packet,

get new biometrics done,

and new photo...

this becomes part of the arrival record with CBP, and the visa packet gets sent out to the right place.

secondary inspection also handles criminals and escapees and finds ppl who has 'deportation orders' in place.

don't sweat secondary, this trip, aye? it's normal. and I'm right about this 'non-readjudication for K-1 visa holders'. What some people read, then get confused on, is tourist visa holders, B-1 and B-2, who have a pattern of entry into the USA, getting denied at the border for 1 or more reasons. Remember, to get a tourist visa, one has to prove up (by law) lack of immigrant intent. Multiple entries over some time span with long durations of stay get sketchy, the CBP goons are trained to see the patterns on the computer and get itchy to catch these hooligans. Yer lass is not one of the hooligans, and she's not coming in on a B1/B2 visa, so relax, aye? A B1/B2 can be turned around, the CBP goons are within the law to do extra stuff inside of secondary inspection. They are NOT allowed to do extra stuff on a K-1 visa holder, as that smacks of an attempt to re-adjudicate the K-1 visa, and these goons do NOT have the power (by law) to do this. Don't confuse the two visa designations, or I call yer Mom, complain to her.

after writing my post to you, i remembered the easiest way to get through the line:

Whilst on the plane, make some new bilingual friends, they will help her through the lines after de-planing.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Darnell

[Cathi 5,610]

Actually at POE they usually do ask at least a few questions. They asked my husband my name, DOB and the date we were married, pretty simple questions, but he is fluent in English. We have all seen and heard horror stories here of people being pulled into secondary, it is rare, but it happens. Most likely your wife will be fine, but I would call ahead to make sure they have a translator ahead of time.

[dhlunar 25]

One thing you might want to do is to provide her with a letter to give to the CBP officer at passport control. The letter states that she doesn't speak English, what language she does speak, what visa she is coming in on, and if there is any questions to contact you. My wife did that once for her parents when they took the train into Canada. They don't speak any English or French. The Canadian officer reviewed the letter, stamped their passport, and then called my wife to verify and to let her know that he let them enter Canada.

What you have to remember is even though most government interactions are done in English, there is no official language in the US.

[Fan_Dancer 171]

Is your child bilingual? May not be the greatest, but he could translate in a simple manner.