April 11, 2014 was my brother's date of entry--entry to the US soil- at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne Airport (DTW).
All of passengers were ushered to the immigration counter. He fall in line towards the "visitor" lane, when it was his turn, he was photographed and had his biometrics taken. Then he was directed to the different counter because of his visa category which is immigrant visa. The lady officer on the immigration counter asked for the yellow packet and his passport. She asked him few questions; what's the purpose for his travel on which he replied; to live permanently with his mom and sister. He was also asked to verify our address and phone number here in the US. After that, the custom officer had my brother signed the immigrant data summary sheet. The officer also told him, that he needs to stay here in the US for certain amount of time and if he wants to go back to the Philippines he can't stay for more than 6 months, if he wants to apply for citizenship in 5 years. Then he got his passport back with the date of arrival stamped on it.
My brother went to get his luggage at the carousel then went to checked-in for his connecting flight. The custom at the checked-in counter did not open his luggage but he was asked if he brought any food with him. He said yes-he had few lbs of dried fish in his luggage- but the custom officer did not bother to look at it.
PS: If you have connecting flight, do not worry. If you think you don't have enough time to catch up for your next flight because of the long custom process, do not worry, because if you will be late on your scheduled flight, the airline will accommodate you on their next available flight. All you have to do is approach the airline counter customer service which is usually located at your original boarding gate. So, just relax when you are at the immigration lane and pay attention on all signs and instructions. Huwag tatanga-tanga, presence of mind ang kailangan. :)
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