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I am an Indian passport holder living in the UK. I have a US B1/B2 Visa.

I am planning to travel from London to Miami, arriving at 14:30, then from Miami to Medellin, Colombia at 17:55 on the same day. On the return journey, I will fly from Medellin to Miami, arriving at 16:30, then from Miami to London at 19:40. The two round-trip flights (from London to Miami and from Miami to Medellin) are booked separately, so I won't be traveling on the same ticket.

I am new to this kind of booking and I want to know if I am allowed to travel like this and what potential issues I should be aware of?

lambshaanxy
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    See https://travel.stackexchange.com/a/171372/30703 most of it does not apply in your case as when transiting through the US you have to go through passport control and need a visa anyway and you have that visa, but it gives a general answer to the question, and all the end (about time and changes and cancellations and delays and risk) is relevant. – jcaron Jan 13 '23 at 00:04
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    Also note that immigration in MIA was notoriously extremely slow and could easily take 2 hours. I suppose it’s better now with the kiosks etc. but I haven’t been through there in a very long while. – jcaron Jan 13 '23 at 00:06

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As you have the required US visa, there are no visa related issues for you to undertake this journey. US requires you to pass through immigration and customs even on single ticket (few exceptions in case of customs). The potential issue you should be aware of is if a flight gets delayed.

As the tickets are independent, the second airline has no responsibility in case you miss the connection due to any reason, eg, if the first flight gets delayed or other delays at the airport. You will be on your own and will have to book alternative tickets. And if that happens during the outbound journey, the return leg of the missed connection will be canceled.

Apart from the potential issue of missed connections, I don't see any other issue.

Thomas Cruise
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    Checking in the baggage for the second flight might be different with 2 seperate tickets. – Mark Johnson Jan 13 '23 at 10:49
  • @MarkJohnson do I need to show the CBP officer an eTicket to Medellin? I only have an email confirmation with text file at this point. – Laplace's Demon Jan 14 '23 at 22:13
  • @Laplace'sDemon Your baggage will, due to the seperate tickets, be tagged for Miami. You will then have to register your baggage to the second airline. This will require showing the second ticket/booking to the second airline. With a single ticket, your baggage would have been tagged for Medellin. In the US, after customs, there is a dropping off point for baggage that has been tagged for a further destination flight. – Mark Johnson Jan 14 '23 at 22:27
  • @MarkJohnson I only have cabin bag – Laplace's Demon Jan 15 '23 at 08:40
  • @Laplace'sDemon Then that is no problem. – Mark Johnson Jan 15 '23 at 08:41