Port of Entry: I-130 Spousal Visa

[PositivePower 0]

My husband and I are in the process of filing for the CR-1 I-130 spousal visa - I'm American and he is Senegalese. We're currently in Dakar, Senegal and will be going to the Washington, DC area when we finally travel to the US. However, we'd like to know what the best port of entry is for someone coming from Senegal/West Africa regarding experience with customs and immigration at the airport. 

 

Thanks!

[Sarah G 166]

I am from the UK, so slightly different circumstances, but so far I have entered the US in Orlando, Chicago and Denver. Orlando was a breeze. Chicago held me in secondary for four hours to question me but ultimately allowed me to enter. The people I dealt with were polite enough to me but I heard them be very unpleasant to people who asked any questions, or didn't speak perfect English. Denver also held me for secondary but it took less than 25 minutes and the officer I dealt with was absolutely lovely. He asked everything he needed to ask and ultimately allowed me to enter. 

 

I have paranoia about being refused entry so I have spent a lot of time researching which POE is 'nicest'. Overwhelmingly, I have found that every POE is kind of the same, people just have different experiences in them. 

 

I was worried about my next entry, now that we are married and i130 is filled, I had planned to enter in a smaller airport rather than Atlanta or Chicago, but now I will just go wherever I can get to cheapest. In theory I should have the same treatment and scrutiny wherever I go. 

[JFH 12,189]

It all depends on the officer on the day and the volume of passengers. I had my POE with my IR-1 visa at Las Vegas airport and spent 2.5 hours in secondary. This was December 2016 and the week before Christmas and the airport was extremely busy. When I went back to England for a visit last November I also came back through Las Vegas again with my green card and there were only 2 people in front of me when I joined the line and I was through before I could even blink. 

 

Whilst visiting (before i got my visa) I have entered through pretty much every airport and also through Canadian and Dublin pre-clearance and Blaine land crossing. In over 40 visits I had one not-so-nice POE experience - and that was again Las Vegas. 

[Mrsamoah2019 593]

My cousin came through Atlanta....easy breezy it just took forever because there were so many people CBP were inspecting

[Komal123 1]

Hey I new here need your help 

My travlling to USA to next month my pie of entry will  Atlanta but my first layover will be Mensester and halt is 2hr 40 mins do i need a transit visa in Manchester 

I'm cr1/ir1 

Thank you 

[pushbrk 12,105]

There is no point at all in POE shopping.  You get what you get, and who you get.  There "where" makes no difference, because the what and who are totally unpredictable.  If you have a connecting flight, 3 hours plus for a layover is advisable.