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Immigration & Visas vocabulary · Border Control & Entry

Port of entry

Meaning in immigration & visas, with examples

nounCommon term

In immigration & visas, port of entry means: An official place, such as an airport, seaport or land border crossing, where travellers and goods can legally enter a country and are checked.

In Turkish: giriş noktası, sınır kapısı, giriş limanı

How it is used

A formal term common in US immigration and on official forms. Visa holders are inspected at the port of entry, where an officer decides whether to admit them. The plural is ports of entry.

Example sentences

  1. A visa lets you travel to a US port of entry, but the officer there decides whether you can enter.

  2. Write the name of your port of entry on the arrival form.

Common collocations

  • arrive at a port of entry
  • land border crossing
  • inspection at the port of entry
  • ports of entry
  • border controlThe checks that officials make at a country's borders on people, documents and goods entering or leaving, and the area where these checks happen.
  • passport controlThe place at an airport, port or land border where officials check your passport and visa before you enter or leave a country.
  • customsThe government department, and the area at a border, where officers check the goods you bring into a country and collect any taxes on them.
  • deny entryTo refuse to let a person into a country at the border, even if they have a visa or come from a visa-free country.
  • entry stampA mark printed in your passport by a border officer showing the date and place you entered a country.

More terms: Border Control & Entry

Practise with graded reading

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not legal advice.