non-US citizen entry into US question

[disneyholic family]

DS leaves tomorrow morning.
As US citizens we only have to fill out the customs form.

But i'm pretty sure that non-US citizens have to fill out something else before immigration. But i don't know what it is.

DDIL, who's not an american, is going to have to fill it out.

So my question is - what is it?
They give it to you on the plane together with the customs form, right?

DS is going to have to go though the non-US citizen line for the first time (to be with his wife) - should be interesting for him.

 

[irisheyes123]

We use to get a green form to fill out but have not done that the last few times I have went as it was changed to doing an ESTA we only get a custom form now.

 

[lin85prest]

Non US citizens need to fill out an ESTA form before travel, or they will not be allowed to fly

 

[disneyholic family]

Non US citizens need to fill out an ESTA form before travel, or they will not be allowed to fly

that's for ESTA countries, but we don't live in an ESTA country - we just have regular (and very costly) Visas.....

hmmmm.....i'll have to look online..

i've been prepping DS with what he has to do when he lands at JFK...
but i forgot about that second form that they give out to non-US citizens (coming in from non-ESTA countries)..

time to search ye ole net.....

 

[disneyholic family]

i can't find it....geez - US govt websites are pages and pages of gobbledygook...

well, i'll just tell DS to be sure to check if there's a second form given out on the plane...they usually ask if you're a citizen when they hand out the customs form, i'll remind him that he's now traveling with someone who isn't, who'll need to fill out that form (if it still exists)...

 

[swift]

I'm pretty sure they have a white form called I-94 for visa holders. You should be able to get it at the check in desk or on the plane.

 

[disneyholic family]

yup, i just found it on the US website - it's the white form they give out on the plane - I-94..

you fill out the top and bottom...
the passport guy takes half of it and you keep the other half until you leave when you hand back the other half...

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/i-94_instructions/filling_out_i94.xml

i'll prep DS on that....

 

[ford family]

I have been told that non US citizens travelling with close family who are US citizens, can go through the US line together.
Might be quicker and less stressful?

ford family

 

[Claire L]

I have been told that non US citizens travelling with close family who are US citizens, can go through the US line together.
Might be quicker and less stressful?

ford family

Yes I am sure that is correct, as I think I saw a couple in June landing at LA one was non US but they both went to the US line

 

[disneyholic family]

I have been told that non US citizens travelling with close family who are US citizens, can go through the US line together.
Might be quicker and less stressful?

ford family

absolutely not - that much i've clarified with the US embassy here.

the US citizen goes through the non-citizen line together with the non-citizen..

i even have a funny story about that...

 

[disneyholic family]

friends of ours flew with their daughter and their grandson to the united states..

the grandparents (our friends) were taking the child for swearing in as a US citizen...

so it was the grandparents - both US citizens by birth.
the mother (the daughter of our friends) - a US citizen by birth
the baby (the grandchild of our friends) - not yet a US citizen, about to be sworn in...at the ripe old age of 2 years old...

so they land at JFK and head for the US citizen line....there was an official at the entrance to the line checking passports to make sure everyone was in the correct line...when the official saw that the baby had a foreign passport she said he had to go to the foreign line...

my friends begged and said the baby was about to be sworn in....
finally the official relented and let them all go to the US citizens line..

i told my friend that she'd missed her chance....she should have put the baby down on the floor at the entrance to the foreigners line and let him crawl on his own to the window, while the rest of them headed to the US line...

american officialdom can be incredibly thick about everything....
but they have no sense of humor so i wouldn't try them...

 

[Bonnie151]

I'm a US/UK dual citizen as are my children (born in the UK). DH is a UK citizen but every single time we've travelled, both with and without the children we've all gone through the US citizen line together. I always ask the first immigration officer I see- wave all the passports at him/her

We've always been told to all go through the US citizens line- several times we've been told they don't like to split up families, and that's been at Logan (Boston), JFK, Puerto Rico, Miami, Orlando (both Sanford and Orlando International) and Philadelphia airports. When it's our turn, I usually announce "I have an alien with us!" - with my current accent, the immigration officer usually thinks it's me(!) - and the officers have more than once told DH that that's one of the perks (going through the US citizen line) of being married to a Yank.

Last August we went through Philly and DH had filled out the I-94 which was handed out on the plane, but the guy at immigration said he didn't need it as the ESTA was taking over? Don't know if he was right, but he just ripped up DH's I-94.

ETA: I don't mean to imply that the advice given to you by the Embassy is wrong. It may well be correct, but what might be technically the guidelines and what is carried out in practice can be quite different. I'd have your DS ask at immigration before he gets in either queue. He may be pleasantly surprised to find them perfectly flexible - I've never had a problem over the past 12 years, including entering the US the week after 9/11 (when I'd been fully expecting to be separated with the additional security!).

 

[disneyholic family]

I'm a US/UK dual citizen as are my children (born in the UK). DH is a UK citizen but every single time we've travelled, both with and without the children we've all gone through the US citizen line together. I always ask the first immigration officer I see- wave all the passports at him/her

We've always been told to all go through the US citizens line- several times we've been told they don't like to split up families, and that's been at Logan (Boston), JFK, Puerto Rico, Miami, Orlando (both Sanford and Orlando International) and Philadelphia airports. When it's our turn, I usually announce "I have an alien with us!" - with my current accent, the immigration officer usually thinks it's me(!) - and the officers have more than once told DH that that's one of the perks (going through the US citizen line) of being married to a Yank.

Last August we went through Philly and DH had filled out the I-94 which was handed out on the plane, but the guy at immigration said he didn't need it as the ESTA was taking over? Don't know if he was right, but he just ripped up DH's I-94.

ETA: I don't mean to imply that the advice given to you by the Embassy is wrong. It may well be correct, but what might be technically the guidelines and what is carried out in practice can be quite different. I'd have your DS ask at immigration before he gets in either queue. He may be pleasantly surprised to find them perfectly flexible - I've never had a problem over the past 12 years, including entering the US the week after 9/11 (when I'd been fully expecting to be separated with the additional security!).

it depends which country you're coming from as to the friendliness of the immigration officers..

their attitude is probably different when it comes to a UK plane...
and they know which plane has unloaded....

the embassy very specifically said non-citizens cannot go into the citizen line even with a spouse....they said very specifically that the citizen has to go to the non-citizen line....

i'm going to advise him to stick with the foreigners line...
the last thing you ever want to do is get an american immigration or customs officer ticked off...
i've seen what happens - it's not a pretty sight......

as for ESTA - ESTA is not universal - it only applies to some countries.

 

[catherine]

I have been told that non US citizens travelling with close family who are US citizens, can go through the US line together.
Might be quicker and less stressful?

ford family

That's true! I always go through immigration with my family who are all US citizens!

 

[catherine]

absolutely not - that much i've clarified with the US embassy here.

the US citizen goes through the non-citizen line together with the non-citizen..

i even have a funny story about that...

I've never gone through the non-citizen line with my family. we always go through the citizen line together. originally I used to go through the non-citizen line by myself and it was the immigration guys that told me to go through the citizen line with the rest of them!

 

[disneyholic family]

i'll tell him to ask the woman at the entrance - but she'll probably send them to the non-citizen line...the woman at the entrance is just a guard...

if she sends them to the non-citizen line, they can ask the immigration officer for next time...they'll have to enter the US again 10 days later...

 

[disneyholic family]

well DS and DDIL made it through the gauntlet that is JFK immigration/customs/connecting desk......they hadn't crossed security yet for their next flight when they called but they did have their boarding passes.

(another one of those codeshare nightmares, they couldn't be checked in on this side for the continuation and i was worried they'd get bumped after all the codeshare horror stories)..

anyway, despite incorrect information at JFK (everyone told them to go to american (in terminal 8) but i told them to ignore that and go straight to the airline that's actually operating the plane (in terminal 4, where they arrived)..

and sure enough - i was right....going to terminal 8 would just have been a waste of time....which they didn't have to waste..

by the way, they had a 4 hour layover - it took them 2.5 hours just to get through immigration/customs/connecting desk/checkin...and they still have to get through security ....so even 3 hours at JFK seems a bit iffy to me...even though that's what i always have between my flights...

anyway, their 12 hour non-stop flight to new york went well...now they have an 11 hour flight down to south america......i hope they manage to sleep on the plane