sunnypm

We have a Thai family(Mother, Father, and Son) coming to visit us and their daughter, who is staying with us as an exchange student. They speak very little English, and will be entering the U.S. at LAX, before taking connecting flights to visit us in South Carolina. Can and should I write a letter to explain this to immigration/passport control, so they can hand it to the agent on arrival. I couldn't find any newer posts about this kind of topic so appreciate any answers.

MmePerdu

I think it will be far better to let things take their usual course. They won't be the first family with little English to pass through immigration. The usual wisdom everywhere is to not volunteer information, just answer the questions.

janisj

>>Can and should I write a letter to explain this to immigration/passport control, so they can hand it to the agent on arrival.<<

Can you - sure. Should you -- no IMO.

First of all there is no letter that would cover all the 'what if's'. Could cause more issues than it solves. But mainly because LAX has interpreters for just about every language known to man . . . and thousands of non-English speakers pass through there every day.

MmePerdu

The primary issue at play here is the fact that the officer wants to hear the answers of the people entering the country, not yours. Despite your good intentions, I don't believe it will help.

sunnypm

Thanks, I'm thinking the same. On our last international trip, the passenger across the aisle wanted me to fill out their customs declaration. Finally, the flight attendant took it, and said she would get her help. I don't think she understood any English. I can't brag. I know a little Swedish, and Spanish, but just a few words in Thai.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

Above all else, LAX is a popular gateway from Asia, probably the biggest such airport. They've dealt with plenty of Thai-speaking arriving passengers.

Christina

I don't know what kind of letter you'd write, you can't write letters for people to get them into the US, anyone could write anything.

I don't see anything wrong with them having a card that says (in English)--"I am sorry, I do not speak or understand English. I only speak Thai" or something like that. Although if they have a Thai passport, that will probably be obvious.

NoFlyZone

That's why immigration has cards that say "Do you speak English?" in a few hundred languages.

Immigration handles this situation thousands of times a day and are pretty good at it. Let them do their job without helicoptering.