Delayed Luggage When Entering the US

[ch1212 18]

Hello!

 

My fiancee and I are preparing for her visa interview. I'm planning on flying to her country and be there while she has her interview, and then fly back together once she has her visa. We're looking at plane tickets now.

 

Our preferred airline and flight has a layover of just over an hour at the airport connecting to the US (at LAX). That's a pretty quick layover time and I'm worried about our bags getting delayed, and if that'll complicate/disrupt anything when passing through CBP or passport control.

 

Without the backstory, my question is: if our bags are delayed while passing through CBP, what could happen?

 

Also, I'm not sure if this is the correct place to ask this. I didn't find any forum about entering the country.

 

Thanks!

Edited November 1, 2020 by camhorto

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

If the bags are delayed in transit, the airline will get them to you later - she will give her/your address to the airline. Happened to me a few times. Never had an issue at or with CBP about it. 

[kmk813 11]

1 hour ago, camhorto said:

Hello!

 

My fiancee and I are preparing for her visa interview. I'm planning on flying to her country and be there while she has her interview, and then fly back together once she has her visa. We're looking at plane tickets now.

 

Our preferred airline and flight has a layover of just over an hour at the airport connecting to the US (at LAX). That's a pretty quick layover time and I'm worried about our bags getting delayed, and if that'll complicate/disrupt anything when passing through CBP or passport control.

 

Without the backstory, my question is: if our bags are delayed while passing through CBP, what could happen?

 

Also, I'm not sure if this is the correct place to ask this. I didn't find any forum about entering the country.

 

Thanks!

As a airline worker. They will pay to get your bags to you as soon as possible. Best piece of advice take a few outfits in your carry on to always make sure your not left without clothes. 

[ch1212 18]

Thanks for the responses!

 

My concern isn't about getting the luggage back - I'm sure we would. My concern is about the process of my fiancee entering the country (with her K1 visa). Because my fiancee will have a visa and go through scrutinized screening upon entering the US, if her bags are delayed, will it disrupt or complicate the process of entering or make it more difficult?

[payxibka 10,044]

3 minutes ago, camhorto said:

Thanks for the responses!

 

My concern isn't about getting the luggage back - I'm sure we would. My concern is about the process of my fiancee entering the country (with her K1 visa). Because my fiancee will have a visa and go through scrutinized screening upon entering the US, if her bags are delayed, will it disrupt or complicate the process of entering or make it more difficult?

You obviously think the customs process is enhanced because she is arriving on a k1.  Guess what...  it is not.

[aratamorne 164]

I would be more concerned with making the flight with an hour layover when LAX is her POE and she is a K1.  I would want a 2 hour layover at the minimum.  When my wife arrived at JFK, her entire flight appeared before she did, made me nervous there was an issue with her package.  CBP actually couldn't find a form for a bit and were trying to get it straightened out and it took about 45 minutes for her to be granted entry.

[payxibka 10,044]

But that was at a time where POEs were dealing with full flights.   

[aratamorne 164]

I still would be more worried about passing through CBP, this isn't a normal arrival, CBP opens and reviews the K1 package.  If it was just a international arrival with a tourist VISA, maybe.  Like I said, CBP took a while with my wife because the didn't see one of the forms right away.  LAX is big enough that if you are not familiar with it, 1 hour between arrival and departure, I wouldn't take the chance.  

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

I would forget about the luggage-you are prioritizing the wrong thing. Husband had a 3 hour layover and we still almost missed the next flight because there was such a delay in secondary. If I wasn’t with him he would have missed it because he wouldn’t have known what to do.

[payxibka 10,044]

31 minutes ago, aratamorne said:

I still would be more worried about passing through CBP, this isn't a normal arrival, CBP opens and reviews the K1 package.  If it was just a international arrival with a tourist VISA, maybe.  Like I said, CBP took a while with my wife because the didn't see one of the forms right away.  LAX is big enough that if you are not familiar with it, 1 hour between arrival and departure, I wouldn't take the chance.  

I have participated in 2 k1 arrivals, I am aware of what they do

[JFH 12,189]

*~*~*non-visa question moved from “K-1 fiancé visa process and procedures” to “moving to the US” where similar topics are regularly discussed*~*~*

[JFH 12,189]

If you are through-checked and have booked a legal connection within the MCT the bags will follow you, maybe not that day, but they will reach your destination one way or another. 
 

Arriving with a visa isn’t a guarantee that she will go to secondary - have a look through POE reviews here. Some end up in secondary (I did with an IR-1 in December 2016), others don’t. I arrived through LAS and was advised that the usual procedure is to admit immigrants at the desk but they were short-staffed that day  and the airport was particularly busy as it was the Christmas week. So they sent me to secondary purely to keep the lines moving as quickly as possible. 

 

I arrived back from Mexico via LAX last month and secondary was all closed up, lights off, etc. The passenger numbers currently are a fraction of the usual levels. 
 

 

[ch1212 18]

Just now, payxibka said:

You obviously think the customs process is enhanced because she is arriving on a k1.  Guess what...  it is not.

That's nice to hear. I thought they scrutinized everything about someone entering with a visa. What parts of entering the country (CBP, passport control, etc) are different than that of US citizens?

 

1 hour ago, aratamorne said:

I would be more concerned with making the flight with an hour layover when LAX is her POE and she is a K1.  I would want a 2 hour layover at the minimum.  When my wife arrived at JFK, her entire flight appeared before she did, made me nervous there was an issue with her package.  CBP actually couldn't find a form for a bit and were trying to get it straightened out and it took about 45 minutes for her to be granted entry.

 

56 minutes ago, aratamorne said:

I still would be more worried about passing through CBP, this isn't a normal arrival, CBP opens and reviews the K1 package.  If it was just a international arrival with a tourist VISA, maybe.  Like I said, CBP took a while with my wife because the didn't see one of the forms right away.  LAX is big enough that if you are not familiar with it, 1 hour between arrival and departure, I wouldn't take the chance.  

Our one hour layover is where we are flying from, which is Doha, Qatar. The layover there is 1 hour and 15 minutes to be exact, and we're concerned about that. The layover in LAX would be 2.5 hours long, so we aren't worried about the time it'll take to get through the border control. We're just worried if delayed luggage will make getting through difficult. But on that note, what would happen if we did miss our flight to LAX?

 

46 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

I would forget about the luggage-you are prioritizing the wrong thing. Husband had a 3 hour layover and we still almost missed the next flight because there was such a delay in secondary. If I wasn’t with him he would have missed it because he wouldn’t have known what to do.

The longest layover we can get would be 4 hours long at O'Hare (Chicago). I did some research on CBP's website, it seems that getting through CBP takes twice as long (LAX averages 50 minutes with the longest at over one-and-a-half hours, ORD averages 90 minutes with the longest just under two-and-a-half hours). However, the layover in Qatar would be 1 hour and 35 minutes.

[ch1212 18]

6 minutes ago, JFH said:

If you are through-checked and have booked a legal connection within the MCT the bags will follow you, maybe not that day, but they will reach your destination one way or another. 
 

Arriving with a visa isn’t a guarantee that she will go to secondary - have a look through POE reviews here. Some end up in secondary (I did with an IR-1 in December 2016), others don’t. I arrived through LAS and was advised that the usual procedure is to admit immigrants at the desk but they were short-staffed that day  and the airport was particularly busy as it was the Christmas week. So they sent me to secondary purely to keep the lines moving as quickly as possible. 

 

I arrived back from Mexico via LAX last month and secondary was all closed up, lights off, etc. The passenger numbers currently are a fraction of the usual levels. 
 

 

Yeah, we're getting our tickets on Qatar Airways' site and their hub is Doha. Their MCT is an hour. Still... 15 minutes more than that is rough.

 

I flew with Emirates to visit my fiancee earlier this year (before coronavirus). I had a one hour and five minute layover in Dubai, and their MCT is also an hour. I made the flight due to being escorted (thankfully lol) but my bags were delayed.

Edited November 1, 2020 by camhorto

[ch1212 18]

Sorry for the triple post.

 

To rephrase my fear... I'm worried that CBP will get suspicious if they notice we don't have our checked luggage with us. Of course, we'd tell them it's delayed. But we just want things to go smoothly and be prepared for any bumps.