Atlanta POE

[Bert]

My fiancee went through Atlanta as her POE Sunday night. We both went down the non-resident line. The woman directing people saw my US passport and told me I should go to the US citizen side. I explained that I was with my fiancee and we need to go together. She insisted we both could go to the US citizens immigration line and lifted the tape so we could go directly to the line in front of an immigration officer. So, we didn't have to wait in the long line. Great. We were off to a good start.

 

There were two or three people in front of us. Things went smoothly. Finally, it was our turn. Jie walked up to the immigration officer with me behind her. She greeted the officer with a "Hello". His response was, "What? You don't think I see you down there." Officer Holmes was the biggest arsehole US immigration officer I have ever come across.

 

Then he turns to her and says, "Did you read the sign before entering?! Do you understand English?!" Then he turns to me and asks the same thing. I have know idea what his problem was and didn't care enough to ask.

 

Then it became time for the fingerprinting. He said, "Raise you right have and put your four fingers together." She did exactly what he said. Then he asks her again, "Do you speak English?" Then he turns to me and asks, "Do you speak her language?" He was so condescending towards her.

 

I don't mean to offend anyone with the following; I am just stating what happen. When he finished with us, Jie turns to me and says, "I don't like it here. I want to go back. He looked down on me because he is black and I am Chinese."

 

After that, he chats with his buddy about nothing for no good reason. I guess he just wanted to see if he could rattle us. Then he had someone take us to another room. We followed. The guy drops off the package, says nothing, and leaves.

 

After 40 minutes, they finally call her. After 10 minutes, it was done.

[Guest Wuhan4me]

If you'd like to file a formal complaint, there's an avenue to do so. Thank God...

[nandj]

Gadds I am really sorry your finace was treated this way. What a way to be treated her first time into our wonderful country. I hope her future experiences will be better.

 

Does anyone know what the POE experience at IAD Dulles is like?

 

Ning and Jim...

[Eric]

Wow sorry to hear that the immigration officer gave your fianc¨¦e so much trouble. My fianc¨¦e entered Atlanta as her POE last Friday and experienced the exact opposite as you did. She said that they took care of her in less than 15 minutes total and were very polite and courteous the entire time. In fact she said that one of the officers that she dealt with spoke perfect Mandarin even though he was not Chinese and joked around with her during the process.

 

Just goes to show you that no matter where you go there are bound to be good people and unfortunately idiots as well. I hope that your fianc¨¦e¡¯s experiences from here on out will be much better!!

[kodokanron]

My fiancee went through Atlanta as her POE Sunday night. We both went down the non-resident line. The woman directing people saw my US passport and told me I should go to the US citizen side. I explained that I was with my fiancee and we need to go together. She insisted we both could go to the US citizens immigration line and lifted the tape so we could go directly to the line in front of an immigration officer. So, we didn't have to wait in the long line. Great. We were off to a good start.

 

There were two or three people in front of us. Things went smoothly. Finally, it was our turn. Jie walked up to the immigration officer with me behind her. She greeted the officer with a "Hello". His response was, "What? You don't think I see you down there." Officer Holmes was the biggest arsehole US immigration officer I have ever come across.

 

Then he turns to her and says, "Did you read the sign before entering?! Do you understand English?!" Then he turns to me and asks the same thing. I have know idea what his problem was and didn't care enough to ask.

 

Then it became time for the fingerprinting. He said, "Raise you right have and put your four fingers together." She did exactly what he said. Then he asks her again, "Do you speak English?" Then he turns to me and asks, "Do you speak her language?" He was so condescending towards her.

 

I don't mean to offend anyone with the following; I am just stating what happen. When he finished with us, Jie turns to me and says, "I don't like it here. I want to go back. He looked down on me because he is black and I am Chinese."

 

After that, he chats with his buddy about nothing for no good reason. I guess he just wanted to see if he could rattle us. Then he had someone take us to another room. We followed. The guy drops off the package, says nothing, and leaves.

 

After 40 minutes, they finally call her. After 10 minutes, it was done.

[kodokanron]

My fiancee went through Atlanta as her POE Sunday night. We both went down the non-resident line. The woman directing people saw my US passport and told me I should go to the US citizen side. I explained that I was with my fiancee and we need to go together. She insisted we both could go to the US citizens immigration line and lifted the tape so we could go directly to the line in front of an immigration officer. So, we didn't have to wait in the long line. Great. We were off to a good start.

 

There were two or three people in front of us. Things went smoothly. Finally, it was our turn. Jie walked up to the immigration officer with me behind her. She greeted the officer with a "Hello". His response was, "What? You don't think I see you down there." Officer Holmes was the biggest arsehole US immigration officer I have ever come across.

 

Then he turns to her and says, "Did you read the sign before entering?! Do you understand English?!" Then he turns to me and asks the same thing. I have know idea what his problem was and didn't care enough to ask.

 

Then it became time for the fingerprinting. He said, "Raise you right have and put your four fingers together." She did exactly what he said. Then he asks her again, "Do you speak English?" Then he turns to me and asks, "Do you speak her language?" He was so condescending towards her.

 

I don't mean to offend anyone with the following; I am just stating what happen. When he finished with us, Jie turns to me and says, "I don't like it here. I want to go back. He looked down on me because he is black and I am Chinese."

 

After that, he chats with his buddy about nothing for no good reason. I guess he just wanted to see if he could rattle us. Then he had someone take us to another room. We followed. The guy drops off the package, says nothing, and leaves.

 

After 40 minutes, they finally call her. After 10 minutes, it was done.

[kodokanron]

My fiancee went through Atlanta as her POE Sunday night. We both went down the non-resident line. The woman directing people saw my US passport and told me I should go to the US citizen side. I explained that I was with my fiancee and we need to go together. She insisted we both could go to the US citizens immigration line and lifted the tape so we could go directly to the line in front of an immigration officer. So, we didn't have to wait in the long line. Great. We were off to a good start.

 

There were two or three people in front of us. Things went smoothly. Finally, it was our turn. Jie walked up to the immigration officer with me behind her. She greeted the officer with a "Hello". His response was, "What? You don't think I see you down there." Officer Holmes was the biggest arsehole US immigration officer I have ever come across.

 

Then he turns to her and says, "Did you read the sign before entering?! Do you understand English?!" Then he turns to me and asks the same thing. I have know idea what his problem was and didn't care enough to ask.

 

Then it became time for the fingerprinting. He said, "Raise you right have and put your four fingers together." She did exactly what he said. Then he asks her again, "Do you speak English?" Then he turns to me and asks, "Do you speak her language?" He was so condescending towards her.

 

I don't mean to offend anyone with the following; I am just stating what happen. When he finished with us, Jie turns to me and says, "I don't like it here. I want to go back. He looked down on me because he is black and I am Chinese."

 

After that, he chats with his buddy about nothing for no good reason. I guess he just wanted to see if he could rattle us. Then he had someone take us to another room. We followed. The guy drops off the package, says nothing, and leaves.

 

After 40 minutes, they finally call her. After 10 minutes, it was done.

[kodokanron]

My fiancee went through Atlanta as her POE Sunday night. We both went down the non-resident line. The woman directing people saw my US passport and told me I should go to the US citizen side. I explained that I was with my fiancee and we need to go together. She insisted we both could go to the US citizens immigration line and lifted the tape so we could go directly to the line in front of an immigration officer. So, we didn't have to wait in the long line. Great. We were off to a good start.

 

There were two or three people in front of us. Things went smoothly. Finally, it was our turn. Jie walked up to the immigration officer with me behind her. She greeted the officer with a "Hello". His response was, "What? You don't think I see you down there." Officer Holmes was the biggest arsehole US immigration officer I have ever come across.

 

Then he turns to her and says, "Did you read the sign before entering?! Do you understand English?!" Then he turns to me and asks the same thing. I have know idea what his problem was and didn't care enough to ask.

 

Then it became time for the fingerprinting. He said, "Raise you right have and put your four fingers together." She did exactly what he said. Then he asks her again, "Do you speak English?" Then he turns to me and asks, "Do you speak her language?" He was so condescending towards her.

 

I don't mean to offend anyone with the following; I am just stating what happen. When he finished with us, Jie turns to me and says, "I don't like it here. I want to go back. He looked down on me because he is black and I am Chinese."

 

After that, he chats with his buddy about nothing for no good reason. I guess he just wanted to see if he could rattle us. Then he had someone take us to another room. We followed. The guy drops off the package, says nothing, and leaves.

 

After 40 minutes, they finally call her. After 10 minutes, it was done.

 

You need to file a complaint, this is BS. If you do not complain this will not change. All of us need to complain and hopefully this will help to resolve the problems.

 

Best Wishes for a long healthy life together,

Ron & Jing

[tsap seui]

Some jack-ass would have been CLEARLY marked, by my luggage jammed down over his his sorry neck, as the one his supervisor needed to take down a few pegs.

 

Yeah, that's the asshole, officer, the one peekin' his head up through my suitcase with my dirty underwear on his face. Yep, looks like his got a skid mark on his nose...bet that smells righteous.

 

tsap seui

Edited July 21, 2009 by tsap seui (see edit history)

[Urkidding]

Yes¡­it¡¯s truly sad that these guys feel like gods in their POE positions and harass our better halves when entering our own country. You would think that they would try and make them feel a little more welcomed with their first entry into America.

 

I definitely would have asked for names and badge numbers including supervisor¡¯s names and proceeding to the administrative offices with my complaint.

 

Put them down a notch or two with a follow-up letter to Homeland Security too!

 

Oh Yea! Welcome to America!

[Guest Pommey]

Jin had a similar experience at LAX, unfortunatly sometimes you throw a uniform and gun on some people and the ass becomes the brain.

[chilton747]

Some jack-ass would have been CLEARLY marked, by my luggage jammed down over his his sorry neck, as the one his supervisor needed to take down a few pegs.

 

Yeah, that's the asshole, officer, the one peekin' his head up through my suitcase with my dirty underwear on his face. Yep, looks like his got a skid mark on his nose...bet that smells righteous.

 

tsap seui

 

You go git 'em cuz tsap!!

[Missingyou]

So sorry to hear what happened at POE for your SO. I hope this incident doesn't give her a wrong impression that this will be how she will be treated often in US. I am just so sorry.

My hus came thru Seattle as his POE last year. I came in with him taking the non-resident line. Things were okay here, but except officer never took his photo or fingerprint, so this casused us a small problem when we entered US again months after that as my hus has no record in the custom's computer data showing he was correctly admitted by the US officers.

My grandma (85 yrs old now) had always come in from HK thru Seattle. Experience here is usually friendly and fast (about 20mins). I think since my grandma is old and obviously knows no English, the officers never gave her hard time. We often pre-write a letter for her to hand to the officers explain duration of trip and address she will be staying at. Grandma never had to say a word to get pass the customr. Maybe someone here want to use Seattle next time?

[Guest shutterbug]

Gadds I am really sorry your finace was treated this way. What a way to be treated her first time into our wonderful country. I hope her future experiences will be better.

 

Does anyone know what the POE experience at IAD Dulles is like?

 

Ning and Jim...

 

I went through IAD a few times as a returning resident, but never as a new immigrant. The lines can get long at times (usually the resident and visitor lines are about equal in length), which can be a drag when one is tired from a long flight that has been delayed by 5 hours but I have no complaint about the service. On the most recent entry I did see one or two new immigrants - traveling alone - go through the resident line without incident; on an earlier entry I also saw a confused old lady in the resident line with an I-94 sticking out of her Chinese passport, had I been closer to her in line I would have told her, but in the end they took care of her nonetheless, as they should do. I would say that in terms of service level, IAD is on-par with other POEs (mostly at airports, with a few at land-crossings on our northern border) I have passed through on various statuses (student, temporary worker, AP, LPR, and citizen), and such experiences have been good.

 

You can find POE reviews at http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/poereviews.php

Edited July 21, 2009 by shutterbug (see edit history)

[3timescharm]

My fiancee went through Atlanta as her POE Sunday night. We both went down the non-resident line. The woman directing people saw my US passport and told me I should go to the US citizen side. I explained that I was with my fiancee and we need to go together. She insisted we both could go to the US citizens immigration line and lifted the tape so we could go directly to the line in front of an immigration officer. So, we didn't have to wait in the long line. Great. We were off to a good start.

 

There were two or three people in front of us. Things went smoothly. Finally, it was our turn. Jie walked up to the immigration officer with me behind her. She greeted the officer with a "Hello". His response was, "What? You don't think I see you down there." Officer Holmes was the biggest arsehole US immigration officer I have ever come across.

 

Then he turns to her and says, "Did you read the sign before entering?! Do you understand English?!" Then he turns to me and asks the same thing. I have know idea what his problem was and didn't care enough to ask.

 

Then it became time for the fingerprinting. He said, "Raise you right have and put your four fingers together." She did exactly what he said. Then he asks her again, "Do you speak English?" Then he turns to me and asks, "Do you speak her language?" He was so condescending towards her.

 

I don't mean to offend anyone with the following; I am just stating what happen. When he finished with us, Jie turns to me and says, "I don't like it here. I want to go back. He looked down on me because he is black and I am Chinese."

 

After that, he chats with his buddy about nothing for no good reason. I guess he just wanted to see if he could rattle us. Then he had someone take us to another room. We followed. The guy drops off the package, says nothing, and leaves.

 

After 40 minutes, they finally call her. After 10 minutes, it was done.

 

 

I live in the Atlanta area. I have made trips to Russia and China and both times I was treated with the most disrespect from the Atlanta imigration people. You are right for the most part they are arsholes. I filed complaints both times and I was by myself....no SO. I will make sure that Xiaona comes through Newark or some other place when she makes her trip here to avoid going thru imigration and customs here in Atlanta.