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New York Arrival Immigration


Project_gal
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Apologies for hi-jacking the Cunard board for this question but I could only find New York departures on the Ports boards. I know that Cunard sails directly from the UK to New York frequently and the experts are probably on this board.

 

We are on a Celebrity transatlantic cruise from Southampton with New York as our first port. We will be sailing on to Bermuda and Port Canaveral before disembarkation in Fort Lauderdale after an overnight in New York.

 

Does anyone know if we will take on Immigration Officers and complete Immigration procedures before arriving in New York or will we have to go through Immigration after we dock in New York?

 

Many thanks.

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You will have to go through immigration after arrival in NY and you should also fill in the ESTA form and forward it to the Embassy next to your place by email, mail or personally.

Bon voyage!

Edited by Cats2010
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As has been said you will have to go through immigration in New York assuming the same procedures are followed on Celebrity as on QM2.

 

It didn't take anywhere near as long as I had thought it would and the immigration staff were friendly and helpful.

 

Coming back to the UK we did have immigration staff on board who checked our passports etc.

 

If you haven't already got your ESTA you can apply online (but beware "bogus" sites who charge too much.

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You will have to go through immigration after arrival in NY and you should also fill in the ESTA form and forward it to the Embassy next to your place by email, mail or personally.

Bon voyage!

 

Cats

Do understand what you are saying about ESTA

 

If the OP is

You are a citizen or eligible national of a Visa Waiver Program country.

You are currently not in possession of a visitor's visa.

Your travel is for 90 days or less.

You plan to travel to the United States for business or pleasure.

You want to apply for a new authorization for one person or a group of applications for two or more persons.

 

Then all they do is apply. You do not forward it anywhere.

 

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

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As has been said you will have to go through immigration in New York assuming the same procedures are followed on Celebrity as on QM2.

 

It didn't take anywhere near as long as I had thought it would and the immigration staff were friendly and helpful.

 

Coming back to the UK we did have immigration staff on board who checked our passports etc.

 

If you haven't already got your ESTA you can apply online (but beware "bogus" sites who charge too much.

 

Coming back to the UK we did have immigration staff on board who checked our passports etc.

 

Bet that post is easy to fill ! They apparently Fly out a day before ships arrival and join the ship for the return journey.

Edited by Pennbank
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Cats

Do understand what you are saying about ESTA

 

If the OP is

You are a citizen or eligible national of a Visa Waiver Program country.

You are currently not in possession of a visitor's visa.

Your travel is for 90 days or less.

You plan to travel to the United States for business or pleasure.

You want to apply for a new authorization for one person or a group of applications for two or more persons.

 

Then all they do is apply. You do not forward it anywhere.

 

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

 

Pennbank, all the points mentioned should be in the ESTA form to be filled in. Once this is done, it has to be forwarded to the Embassy to be approved.

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Coming back to the UK we did have immigration staff on board who checked our passports etc.

 

Bet that post is easy to fill ! They apparently Fly out a day before ships arrival and join the ship for the return journey.

And from what I saw they only "worked" a few hours on about three days. :) Edited by Underwatr
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Once this is done, it has to be forwarded to the Embassy to be approved.

 

You can do it all online using the official address Pennbank gave. Just fill the form in online, pay by credit card and you will get a page to print off with your number and saying your application has been approved. That's it. Nothing more.

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You can do it all online using the official address Pennbank gave. Just fill the form in online, pay by credit card and you will get a page to print off with your number and saying your application has been approved. That's it. Nothing more.

 

 

There was a gentleman on the westbound crossing who had not done his ESTA before he left. He was able to do it on board... But, I think there was a window of opportunity... Not sure.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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You can do it all online using the official address Pennbank gave. Just fill the form in online, pay by credit card and you will get a page to print off with your number and saying your application has been approved. That's it. Nothing more.

 

Yes, I know this as the least bureaucratic way to use, but there are also other ways to do it, depending on the specific circumstances of any applicant, which is what I meant to explain. Some people might prefer to do it differently for whatever reason. I also apply on-line and take a copy of the approved document with me in order to present it to the immigration officer in NY, to be on the safe side. Sometimes they look at it, sometimes they don't. I think they have it already available on the job.

However, depending on the country an applicant comes from, the ESTA address might differ.

Edited by Cats2010
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There was a gentleman on the westbound crossing who had not done his ESTA before he left. He was able to do it on board... But, I think there was a window of opportunity... Not sure.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

Yes, this can happen, I think he was lucky. It can also go wrong and often it depends on the person you are dealing with. It's better to be well prepared. Some tourists that were not have been sent back to their country.

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We are on a Celebrity transatlantic cruise from Southampton with New York as our first port. We will be sailing on to Bermuda and Port Canaveral before disembarkation in Fort Lauderdale after an overnight in New York.

 

Does anyone know if we will take on Immigration Officers and complete Immigration procedures before arriving in New York or will we have to go through Immigration after we dock in New York?

 

 

U.S. Customs and Immigration will be done ashore at the pier in New Jersey. All crew and passengers will have to leave the vessel. Passengers are not able to return to the ship until everyone has cleared. On Cunard ships this can take several hours. Since you will be leaving the U.S. for your visit to Bermuda, when you return to Port Canaveral the ship will have to clear customs and immigration again. When you debark in Ft. Lauderdale once again you will have to clear customs. Normally this is pretty easy and just requires turning in the blue customs form that everyone entering the country from abroad must complete.

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U.S. Customs and Immigration will be done ashore at the pier in New Jersey. All crew and passengers will have to leave the vessel. Passengers are not able to return to the ship until everyone has cleared. On Cunard ships this can take several hours.

 

Seriously?

 

That really doesn't make much sense. Why put people through immigration that have no intention of disembarking, crew for example.

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Seriously?

 

That really doesn't make much sense. Why put people through immigration that have no intention of disembarking, crew for example.

 

Even if passengers and crew members don't go ashore, they are still in that county's territorial waters. I remember a QM2 voyage from NYC>Halifax>Boston>NY...immigration in Halifax was quite thorough and efficient. Then we docked in Boston - there is was even more thorough (everyone's documents were checked whether or not they were going ashore before anyone could go ashore, everyone on board had to be cleared. When we docked in NY, we went through another Customs and Border Patrol Check before disembarking. This is the new normal.

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U.S. Customs and Immigration will be done ashore at the pier in New Jersey. All crew and passengers will have to leave the vessel. Passengers are not able to return to the ship until everyone has cleared. On Cunard ships this can take several hours. Since you will be leaving the U.S. for your visit to Bermuda, when you return to Port Canaveral the ship will have to clear customs and immigration again. When you debark in Ft. Lauderdale once again you will have to clear customs. Normally this is pretty easy and just requires turning in the blue customs form that everyone entering the country from abroad must complete.

 

Many thanks for answering the question asked.

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No it doesn't.

 

It doesn't WHAT? If you mean that it does not need to be sent to the Embassy, yes, it has to. There are also agencies doing the job, but in the end it's the embassy who approves the ESTA application. Still, this does not automatically mean that the person will be allowed to immigrate. Point à la ligne.

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