Miami2011

Anyone have experience with how long it takes the process of a redress number? It is anything else we can do..? I am tired to be in a FBI watch list for no reason and always expend more time at the airport for security reasons...

Swanhunter

As this doesn't relate to a specific trip, we will move it over to the Travel Safety and Security forum.

Swanhunter
Moderator, BAEC

djk7

Hello Miami2002. Since no one has jumped in with any answers, I did a quick search and found a few relevant threads:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...a-redress.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...mber-work.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...-dhs-trip.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...-dhs-trip.html

riffatrashdi

Hey Guys,

I live in UAE dubai, i was going to fly with my husband and two children to USA but we were refused to board the plane because my husband's name was in the watch list. They told us to contact DHS and then asked to appy for a redress number. We have done just that for the whole family. Now we are waiting to hear back and i am wondering how long does it take till they respond?

has anyone else been in this position? has anyone else applied for the said redress number?? how long did it take to resolve this issue?

SanDiego1K

I think we'll get you better help if we move this from Travel Tools to the Travel and Safety forum. Best of luck to you and your family for getting this resolved quickly.

Carol
Community Director

GUWonder

Which airline(s) were you scheduled to fly and what was the routing?

It sounds like perhaps your husband or someone with biodata details approximate to your husband has been placed on a no-fly list of sorts. Otherwise it makes no sense for anyone to suggest dealing with DHS TRIP and getting a redress number for entry in the airline PNR. It makes sense to attempt the DHS TRIP process but the process varies by a lot in how long it takes and there is no guarantee he won't remain or get blacklisted even if pursuing the process. I would ordinarily expect it to take a couple of weeks to a couple of months, but apparently my expectations on the time aspect are way off:

http://www.oig.dhs.gov/assets/Mgmt/O...103r_Sep09.pdf

riffatrashdi

i'm new here and dont know how to do that

riffatrashdi

it is exactly that.. his name matches someone else's..

it has never hapened before.. we were there summer of 2010 without any problems.. my husband has studied and lived in USA for 4 years on student visa..

when it happened we just couldnt believe it .. we had already booked an apartment (paid) and other flights in usa.. non refundable.. its all going to waste..

we were traviling from UAE Via Emirates to JFK new york.

i would love to hear from someone who has gone through his.. need some hope.

riffatrashdi

we were scheduled to fly... talking to the agent waiting for our boarding passes. the agent printed out my boarding pass and the kids but when he checked for my husband's he couldnt print it.. so a superviser was called .. who then called someone up... the guy on the other end asked whether my husband was traveling alone.. when they told him that my husband was with family .. he was instructing to offload us too.. so unfair really... (

Often1

Agreed. Sounds as if the husband is NO-FLY. It's not that he's being boarded with extra security, but someone is telling the carrier not to board him at all.

If you contacted DHS via webform, that can take a long time and many never hear back at all.

Given that it appears that you will not be flying, I would head to the US Consulate. It will either get straightened out or not, but at least you will know.

riffatrashdi

first thing we did was call the US Consulate who redirected us to the TRIP.DHS.GOV web page and apply for clearance Via the Redress Program. We did that right away... I just dont understand how I will ever get this sorted.. we loved vacationing in USA.. it just breaks my heart just not knowing anything at all..

cdn1

Please do report back when you hear from DHS.

I assume you all had valid US Visas, it makes no sense. How can they issue a visa and then refuse boarding to the person ? This sounds messed up...

GUWonder

In that part of the world, having a 10 year period of validity for a US visa is anything but rare for those who have visited the US before. Sometimes blacklist hits take place only after a visa has been approved and issued.

Often1

People holding valid visas are actually denied entry upon arrival in the US. The visa is a good thing, but not the end of the road.

GUWonder

Sometimes, but not commonly.

You may still be able to vacation. You will just need to take a road or boat trip for part of the journey to the US and while in the US if traveling as a family unit, and you will first have to find out if the visas (or ESTA, if applicable) are still considered valid.

What is a circus is how foreigners can be added to or hit by the US no-fly list but still have valid US visas/ESTAs -- that was supposed to have been a process handoff that was tightened and compressed big time some years back and yet it still doesn't happen, which may be considered a good or bad thing given the free people hit by these blacklists.

Some would consider buying a refundable domestic US ticket under the hit name and attempt online check-in; and if online check-in resulted in a boarding pass for the named individual, then the name with associated sex and birthdate data is not blacklisted on the no-fly list used by the TSA.

Canada is a nice vacation place in the summer time. Mexico a nice one in the winter time. From either, a ground trip the US can readily be taken to see if the US visas/ESTAs are valid for admissibility into the US or not.