Ireland - Consulate and POE reviews

[Renvyle 3]

Those who have been through the Irish Consulate and the Dublin POE - would you be so kind as to post reviews in the appropriate section? It would be greatly appreciated by those of us who (with luck) will be going through those areas shortly.

In particular I've seen nothing describing the Dublin POE process.

Many thanks in advance.

[Ladyluck1 3]

Not many mentions of POE because they is not anywhere to fill out and not really much more too it then if you were just flying out normally. I presume you are talking about when you fly out to move to US.

If so when you go through the US customs you do everything as you would if just going for a holiday and when you get to the person you give your file and they will then take you to a waiting room behind there booths and hand the file to an officer in there. They will look over it, call you up explain the rules to you as in must get married in 90 days etc and then you are on your way just as you would be any other time.

[Renvyle 3]

Thank you. I found a place to write a POE review, but I found it completely by accident. http://www.visajourney.com/consulates/poe_review.php

There have been folks on here who mentioned going through Dublin as the POE is a simple experience. He has only ever gone through stateside POE for holiday so have no experience at the Dublin airport. Additionally he typically flies out of London or Shannon, so this will be completely new.

I assume we will need to separate into two different lines and meet on the other side?

Even though every situation is different, it helps to be able to picture the process.

[Ladyluck1 3]

I'm not actually sure because general there are to separate lines for citizens and non citizens. And when I went through from Dublin it was just me and my son. It's all in the same room and there are staff members on the floor as well as booths so if no one here has the answer, you could ask one of them. Also if you just went separate lines and they wanted both together they could just call him over as its all in the same room. But there is no requirement for both as such

[CNnNC 5]

Hey! I'm a bit late to the party here, but I have considerable experience flying back-and-forth to Ireland from Chicago's O'Hare. My fiance (Irish) and I (American) have been together since 2010 and knew each other before then. I have experience with the old Dublin airport as well as the new terminal. The new terminal is now where you'll process through as someone heading stateside. We're waiting for our interview, but if my fiance is approved Dublin will be our POE; I plan to submit a review at that time in case I have any new insights in regards to the K1 process.

As far as Dublin goes as a POE, yes, if you intend on flying back with him to the states once the visa is approved (something my fiance and I are actually considering at the moment), flights stateside are in an entirely separate area from everyone else in the airport. I don't recommend browsing too much through all the shopping the airport has available because sometimes the line can get very backed up; it's been as short as 10 people ahead of me and as long as ~75. The US citizen goes to a line on the right, the non-American goes through a queue on the left.

The entirety of the customs process is handled in Dublin, so the clock for your 90 days to get married begins once he's through the line. There's even a nifty picture of the president in eyesight of the queues.

Unfortunately, you can't wait or go up to the officers together. My fiance and I have flown to America together before and we split up in the lines and only reunited once we were both past the process. Irony of ironies, I actually had (and always have, I swear) a more difficult time coming through than he did or does.

Once you're through, they'll either direct you into a waiting area for further questioning or on to the next round(!) of security. Fairly standard all around and not too bad.

Flying into Chicago from Dublin is great; they normally deposit you to a gate, you walk through a hall, down a flight of stairs/escalator,and tadaa you're at the flights' baggage claim area. Way better than the domestic set up!

[2ndMessiah 184]

I did my POE in the "old" Dublin airport terminal. It was cramped and the lines could be long but I took that over the possibility of being refused (even if it was very unlikely) stateside. It just meant to me that all hurdles had been completed up to that point. I could enjoy my flight with no worries and just get off at the gate and head straight to baggage claim. I also felt smug to be able to walk past the CBP in Newark.

It has been nearly six years. I wonder if they still try the joke about tearing up the visa and your packet so that you can escape being married....

Edited May 21, 2016 by 2ndMessiah

[CNnNC 5]

Courtesy of my handsome fiance, here's a bit more information:

When leaving Ireland, in what I call the "American Area" you go into a line for a quick security check (second security check in the airport for US-bound people) then you leave and go to a line towards customs where you are sent into a kiosk to fill out forms, scan your passport, and have your photo taken.

My fiance thinks you get a receipt from that which tells you which line to go into (but neither of us is 100% sure there's a receipt) and then you process through customs and talk to the customs agent/officer. Considering we literally just went through Dublin's POE in December, you think we'd remember better!

Once you're approved/past there, that's when the final security check takes place.

Sorry for the random extra information! It's a lot to get down on paper and I over-simplified it above.

[2ndMessiah 184]

Dublin airport web site has their own bit about us preclearance.

https://www.dublinairport.com/at-the-airport/passenger-information/us-preclearance-facility

[CNnNC 5]

Where was that site when I needed it years ago?? Thanks for sharing the link!

Edited May 28, 2016 by Nicole and Ciarán

[aidan80 9]

I've been back and forth through Dublin to the US since 2005 the majority of which has had me going through US Customs and Immigration in Dublin. I didn't do my POE in Dublin at the time the flight (Aer Lingus) left later in the day. I did POE in Orlando which didn't take more than an hour from what I remember (it's in my timeline). Each time I've gone through Dublin I of course go through the regular security and bag weigh in. Downstairs in Terminal 2 is where I renter the US it's been easy and straight forward. Non Citizens fill out the required Customs and Immigration forms and wait to be processed by Immigration and Customs. Citizens and US Residents do Customs forms and join a (sometimes smaller) line. Once your through with Immigration Customs will do their thing and your good to go.

I tend to always to check in for my US flight as soon as possible and get through regular security and US Customs/Immigration then wait. As others have stated sometimes that line is fairly short and sometimes you'll wait a while.