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Airport security - non-US citizens

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Old Jun 26th, 2002 | 06:41 AM
  #1  
Patsy
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Airport security - non-US citizens

We will be travelling by plane this summer and one member of our extended family is a foreigner visiting US. What kind of documents will she have to produce to get through security?
Any personal experience as to whether non-US citizens are subject to additional scrutiny? Will we need extra time at the airport?
She is not a Middle Eastern man so I assume racial profiling should not be an issue.
 
Old Jun 26th, 2002 | 06:57 AM
  #2  
Statia
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I travel with a friend who is a non-US citizen quite often, and we have no problem. She usually needs her passport, as well as an alien card which must be filled out (you can get this when you check in). She also has to fill out the US entry form required for all persons entering the US.

Sometimes the US immigration line will be longer than the foreign line, and other times it's the opposite. We just always meet at the baggage carousel since they will not allow you to hang around immigration to wait for one another.

You should have no problems. Additionally, I have never noticed my friend being profiled or scrutinized more than myself just because she's a foreigner.

 
Old Jun 26th, 2002 | 08:47 AM
  #3  
Patsy
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I should have said in my original question that the flights we will be taking are domestic flights. Obviously she does not have a US driver's license to use for an ID.
 
Old Jun 26th, 2002 | 08:58 AM
  #4  
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All she needs is her passport. It is a government issued photo ID, so it fulfills all requirements.
 
Old Jun 26th, 2002 | 10:09 AM
  #5  
Ann
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My husband just became a citizen, and he has never had any trouble on domestic flights, either when we travel together or he travels by himself.

If she has another acceptable photo ID, she won't need to show her passport. But at least with the passport, you know the airline has to accept it.

BTW, on the international flights, if you are traveling with a person of a different nationality, you can go through whatever line is shortest together. We always thought we had to go through our own line, and one of us always had to wait forever. But now that my husband has an American passport, we're doomed to wait in line again.
 
Old Jun 26th, 2002 | 10:52 AM
  #6  
Statia
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Ann:

Actually, you can go thru either the non-US or US line together ONLY if you are family members.

I am never able to go thru the non-US line with my friend because we are not related. However, when she travels with her children or husband (all US citizens), then they can go thru the non-US line with her, or she can go thru the US line with them.

 
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