Tips for Traveling to the United States

 

Here are some quick tips to make your travel easier when visiting the United States.  

To better assist you in an emergency you can register your travel plans with the State Department through a free online service at https://travelregistration.state.gov.  This will help them contact you if there is a family emergency in the U.S., or if there is a crisis where you are traveling.  In accordance with the Privacy Act, information on your welfare and whereabouts will not be released to others without your express authorization.

 

Getting ready to enter the U.S. at your port of entry

All non-United States citizens will be given an immigration and customs form to complete usually on the plane en route to the U.S. The immigration form will be one of the following:

1) I-94 Form (white), Arrival/Departure Record

2) I-94W Form (green), Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver Arrival/Departure Form

You will also be given a Customs Declaration form 6059B to complete.

If you have a visa such as a B-1/B-2 Business/Tourist Visa, E-2 Treaty Investor, L-1 Visa etc. then you will ask the flight attendant for the white I-94. If you just have a standard passport with no specific visa you are more than likely entering the country on what is called a Visa Waiver and you will need to complete the green I-94W form. Whichever I-94 you complete you will still have to complete a customs form, one per family living in the same household.

Although the questions on the forms are basic, asking for biographic information and the address where you will stay in the United States, it is crucial that you answer them correctly. Any misinformation can be determined as information given to purposefully mislead a customs and immigration official and can have severe and long reaching consequences. If for whatever reason you have previously been denied a visa then you should indicate on the I-94 that you have in fact been denied a visa before.

Note: In most instances the airline personnel will hand these forms out well in advance of your arrival. If this is the case don’t wait until closer to landing to fill them out, get on and complete them right away in case you make a mistake and need to ask for another form. If you do it at the end of the flight you are going to have a tougher time getting another form from an attendant in a timely manner and it will be a mad rush. In addition you are going to need your passport number and flight details in order to complete these forms, so make sure you keep these documents handy.

Upon arrival in the U.S., the airline or airport staff will direct you to the immigration inspection area. There are usually special lines for U.S. Citizens and non-U.S. citizens which are clearly marked. You will queue up in line and wait to see a Customs Border Patrol Officer (CBP). If you are a non-U.S. citizen the CBP Officer may ask you the purpose of your visit (business or pleasure) to the United States, your length of stay, where you are staying, and with whom. You should have your completed I-94, customs form and all passports ready for inspection at this time.

If you are allowed to proceed the CBP Officer will usually stamp your customs declaration form and give you a completed I-94 card which will indicate the type of visa classification you were given and the date you must depart the U.S. by.