Going through Miami & JFK Airport : Aug 2nd (Dealing with Immigration)
I must say that I expected so much less from going through what I call secondary processing when passing through immigration at the Miami Airport. I was told the last time I traveled that I would always have to go through secondary processing from being an illegal immigrant in the United States when I was younger. The last time I went through I was questioned heavily but I was let into the country in the end with a 15 day extension on the original time I intended to stay but the immigration saw it fit to put a No change of status/ no extension of status (NO/COS & NO/EOS) on my passport entry which I had no idea what it meant at first but realized after taking a long look at my passport and looking up the differences and what they meant, I then thought why won't these people leave me alone how many times do I have to leave their country and how flawless does my record have to be for them to just let me be? I was mad for about an hour but then got over it as I never over stay and I didn't plan on changing my status. Immigration had helped me learn something new and at the same time, I thought since they were restricting me from things I didn't even plan on doing or know exactly how to do I made it my point of duty to research and find out how. I really wanted to know what power this annotation the immigration officer put in my passport had over me and how it affected future trips? Would it be yet another thing the port of entry would look at and judge me unfairly or was it something I really didn't have to worry about in the long run? After doing some minor research all I could find was what it meant but about 6 months later I asked a few immigration attorneys how would this affect my next trip.
I was surprised at the reply when an Attorney told me that the annotation NO/COS NO/EOS was only the opinion of one immigration officer and would only affect that specific entry and was probably only placed there as a scare tactic as it was still only an opinion and in the end would still be subjected to the choice of the ones who granted Change of Status and Extension of stays. What interesting information to know but the real test was when I walked up to the first immigration officer and yet again as expected they asked me to stand aside and I was escorted to the back room filled with people. I waited and even though I knew that I had to do this a moment of nervousness step in and I had to tell myself Akeem this is all part of the process you have to go through nothing is wrong and you did nothing to deserve this. I must say they never treat you like you have done anything when taking you to the other room I call secondary processing as I was told I would have to do it for the rest of my life. I sat in the room for maybe 10-15 mins and was called by an officer to another room then released after an extremely brief and relaxed discussion and even an apology that I will have to continue to go through this. I was given the maximum stay of 6 months with no limitation on my Visa or passport. They even took the liberty to take out the detained tag that I wasn't allowed to take out. This to me showed progress and that as I continue on a path of right living and doing things the right way things will not get worse but better and that I may run into people that don't want me to succeed but I was reminded by the nice immigration officers in Miami Airport that everyone isn't the same.
I was surprised at the reply when an Attorney told me that the annotation NO/COS NO/EOS was only the opinion of one immigration officer and would only affect that specific entry and was probably only placed there as a scare tactic as it was still only an opinion and in the end would still be subjected to the choice of the ones who granted Change of Status and Extension of stays. What interesting information to know but the real test was when I walked up to the first immigration officer and yet again as expected they asked me to stand aside and I was escorted to the back room filled with people. I waited and even though I knew that I had to do this a moment of nervousness step in and I had to tell myself Akeem this is all part of the process you have to go through nothing is wrong and you did nothing to deserve this. I must say they never treat you like you have done anything when taking you to the other room I call secondary processing as I was told I would have to do it for the rest of my life. I sat in the room for maybe 10-15 mins and was called by an officer to another room then released after an extremely brief and relaxed discussion and even an apology that I will have to continue to go through this. I was given the maximum stay of 6 months with no limitation on my Visa or passport. They even took the liberty to take out the detained tag that I wasn't allowed to take out. This to me showed progress and that as I continue on a path of right living and doing things the right way things will not get worse but better and that I may run into people that don't want me to succeed but I was reminded by the nice immigration officers in Miami Airport that everyone isn't the same.
Now I'm here in the United States pushing my book Labeled An Immigrant and want to count my good experience going through secondary processing as a smooth one even while Donald Trump is in power.
"Remember time will always pass and it's best we prepare with the time we have now to better the time to come"-Akeem T. Gouldbourne
Author, Photographer & Motivational Speaker
Book: Labeled An Immigrant
Contact writer: BoglesCorp@gmail.com
My Twitter: Twitter
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