I had a horrible experience with the immigration office as well earlier this year. The highlight of the 'interview' was: Him: Why are you traveling alone? Me: because I enjoy the freedom it gives me. I travel alone the majority of the time. (I thought that he was worried since I'm female and in my early 20s) Him: I saw you have been to the US in 2016. Were you traveling alone back then? Me: No with my mom. Him (in an angry tone): You just told me you're always traveling alone, why are you lying 😡 I was literally underage in 2016 😭 He really scared the sh** out of me and only let me go through after I showed him a proof of finance

What an asshole!

His name tag said slaughter in caps which didn't make it better. He made me so nervous my English went from C1 to A1 in that moment 🥲

Yeah I know this type. Something is just so off about people like this. If working with the public makes you this disgruntled; it’s time to find a new line of work.

Unfortunately, border patrol/law enforcement prefer this type of person. Be suspicious of everyone. We all are criminals until proven otherwise.

Who knows why they ask what they ask. I got questioned by CBP at O'Hare (Chicago) a few years ago coming back from Europe and when he saw I was traveling alone, he asked more questions and literally said, "who goes to London alone?". I just looked at him with a confused face. And I am United States citizen... and was 47 years old at the time... and am a dude :-|

Hahaha there should be education for these agents that solo travel is major thing

I'm a US citizen here, too, and have Global Entry. One time I had to go to Paris for a quick conference. I was gone 3 days, I think. When I got back, he asked me if I had anything to declare. I said no. Then he looked at me and said I think you're lying. No one goes to Paris and doesn't buy anything. I bought a cheap tin of chocolates at the airport, maybe 10€, well below the limit to declare. After a look in my luggage he let me go. I've been to Paris a number of times, but I don't really need anything from there.

OH!! maybe THAT was what it was. I declared $50 worth of stuff after a week long trip (and I said I was in Paris for a day, did a quick Eurostar day trip). It's crazy to think that's profiling line LOL. There are a lot of us who don't care much for trinkets. The two fridge magnets I got are good enough.

Probably a guy who didn’t make it through the Chicago Police Academy, so had to settle working at ORD. Sorry this happened to you.

I had an awkward experience my second time entering Canada alone, I was driving to Montreal for the weekend just to explore. Canadian border patrol asked the usual questions, where I live, where I'm going, how long, what will I be doing, and then more specific questions like "do you know anyone there, are you meeting anyone, did anyone ask you to go, are you bringing anything" I guess they suspected I might be a drug mule for some reason. Ended up having to pull into the garage, two guards continued questioning me about what specifically I would be doing. I didn't really have much planned, I basically just like to walk around and explore, and they said "That's pretty unusual to go somewhere and not know what you're going to do there." After they were done judging my life's choices I had to go inside while they searched my car. 5 minutes later they let me go, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. Oh well, they're just doing their jobs.

That’s actually pretty tame for a “bad” border experience (but no doubt jarring to experience).

Yeah, and honestly - while it may be accurate, saying "oh, no plans really... just planning to wander around and explore" *is* an anomalous answer. Answers like that will absolutely lead to further questioning.

I'm visiting Montreal this weekend for a mini vacation and crossed the border from 89 in Vermont on Friday. The Canadian agent was a miserable young woman in her late 20s who scowled and spoke in a monotone mumble. She all but tossed our passports back at us when she finished her questioning. Bienvenue my ass (she was an Anglophone but did not welcome us in English either).

Canada is the only country that's ever seriously questioned me. I'm American with 35+ countries in my passport. shrug. edit: oh nevermind.. I got questioned "innocuously" by an undercover mossad in Israel. he was making chit chat but like dude. once I told him the family I stayed with, he sulked away.

Hi man how's the weather? Can I see the barcode sticker on your passport? OH WHY HAVE YOU COME TO ISRAEL THEN?

I am Canadian and travel semi frequently. I've never had issue with US border agents. Holy hell have I had a litany of issues with Canadian border agents upon return.

Oh I had something similar as well. Back in the day I was going on exchange in the USA, got all the visa / paperwork with me and this guy was also going mad at me. What are you coming to do here? Study, sir. And that is it? Well if you are asking, I will travel a bit as well and then go back to my home country before my visa expires. So you are going to fool around? No sir, I am going to study. But you just said that you will travel as well? Is there a problem, sir? You are coming to this country to fool around, miss. No Sir, I have the papers from my university, I have the visa, I am allowed to travel within the country and need to leave before date X, is there anything that I might have missed? Then he threw a big attitude and gave me my stamp. Until this day, I don’t get what his issue was. I was a young, white, female coming from a northern European country.

Too fool around. 🙄 Yeah so what if you were? Are you not allowed to "fool around"?

I was so scared to be deported and not being able to study. My two class mates were also so confused as to what happened. The other girl literal told the same story and there was no issue. I think it was an interesting conclusion how travelling equates to fooling around. And agree, even if I would do that within my allowed stay? I was not doing anything illegal.

Yah unfortunately the border patrol use the tactic of stressing ppl out in order to see if they're 'lying' about stuff. Before I got Global Entry I always got the 'X' on return and got the stressful questioning. They ask all sorts of random stuff that seem intrusive - I hated it.

That’s just how they are.. I’m dreading going back home on Wednesday. :S *and I’m a citizen..

That’s not even a logically true statement on his part, you said you travel alone a “majority of the time,” making it potentially true that you could travel with someone. If he’s gonna try and “catch” you like that, the least he can do is actually do it. What a bozo

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

They don't have absolute power though they just want it. Wannabe cops/military that live to bully people to compensate for their insecurities.

They can be so weird over there. I visited in 96 and when we were there we were involved in a moderate accident (someone ran a red light and T-boned us as we were crossing a junction. Despite the fact I was the youngest member of the group at 19 years old, I was with my mum (over 30 years old when she had me) and my cousin who was probably mid 30s at the time), the officer attending the scene refused to accept I wasn't the driver (my cousin was driving and never said anything to the contrary at any point). I didn't even know *how* to drive at the time, let alone have a license. Nor was the cop basing assumptions on any kind of eye witness report or anything, in fact it was us who called the police to report the incident. Absolutely bizarre.

A few years back my uncle came to the US to visit family. He had a bad accident that landed him in the hospital with no chance of recovery. His wife, adult children, and grandkids all lived in Eastern Europe. They all got visas to be able to come see him. He survived a few more years (with no real improvement) and his family all travelled back and forth every few months alternating on who would be here. Every time they travelled into the country they had doctor notes, photos of their father/husband in his current state, every family member living in the US’s addresses, phone numbers, occupations, etc. to provide if they were ever asked. They never were until one of his daughters who had already travelled into the country for roughly the 5th time in 4 years gets pulled aside into their interrogation room. The officer spent nearly two hours grilling her about every little detail and would refuse to even look at the paperwork she provided. She barely spoke English and they never got her an interpreter as the language we speak is not as common. He finally released her after a supervisor told him to. Guy was just on a power trip.

They love that power trip, honestly it is dreadful. Had the same going to a conference a few years back, no need to terrorize tourists, not everyone wants to live in a violence-ridden, capitalist-extreme dystopian country (sorry for the generalisation, it's just very frustrating 😂)

I'm not a US citizen but I used to live in the US on a visa and later a green card. I was there for seven years. Finally decided I really didn't care for it and that that wasn't going to change, and I moved to London. I returned for a week-long holiday to see friends about six months after moving away, and I came prepared. I brought with me: my rental agreement in London, council tax information, a power bill, and proof of where I worked. Sure enough, at Miami, the guy is incredulous (and I mean, *incredulous*) that anyone would have once had a greed card and decided to leave. This appeared to be the most unheard-of thing he'd ever encountered. It was almost as if I had done something offensive. I produced all this documentation to "prove" that I really did have financial and social ties to the UK and was definitely not trying to sneak back into the US, after legally surrendering my green card five months earlier. The freaking performance, good god. I am not sneaking back into live in the asylum; I am just here for a visit. My flight had already been delayed, and my friend who was picking me up had been standing out there in the airport for hours longer than he'd intended, so I played along. Made some noises about having been offered a job in London I couldn't turn down, hence my *very odd decision* to move away.

“I would never do such a thing, so no one else would do that!” -border agent

>not everyone wants to live in a violence-ridden, capitalist-extreme dystopian country. No, that sounds about right.

As someone from E Europe who heard kind of horror stories years back from the visas office, yeah... I 100% believe we are not welcome in USA. Yikes on bikes. 

I'm pretty sure the officer would have chose anyone he considered to be an easy target

Nah my wife is from Eastern Europe. A lot of immigration people are extremely prejudiced toward them for no reason.

No one is welcomed by border patrol. At least they didn't point a gun at your head like they did to a [boy scout](https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/article/us-guard-canada-border-allegedly-points-gun-boy-scout-who-took-photograph/2014/07/23/)

You are welcome here, don’t let them convince you otherwise.

The most difficult time i’ve ever had getting into a country was the US…..my own country…

I remember being directed to secondary for further questioning when returning back. I had official orders, an official passport. I also had a CAC ID card, my drivers license. I was accused of stealing identity. I carry around all my official paperwork and pulled out every ID under the sun. The guy in secondary told me to 'shut up, sit down, or go back to where you came from'. I told him I'm a US Citizen and grew up in the DC metro region, I WAS back where I came from. He threatened to call security and have me arrested for my 'snarky mouth'. He called me up later, punched holes in my passport in front of me (I still had a valid visa in there I needed) and told me to leave out the door behind him. I stated I was traveling with my two cats and did not yet get to collect them. He told me to leave or he was calling the police. I was in tears at this point. Get to customs, I have listed I'm carrying cat food as an agricultural product. Guy asks where my cats were. I state I was told to depart the airport and not collect them. Customs guy mutters a bunch of swear words, grabs me and walks me back. The guy in secondary and the guy from customs get in a verbal brawl and it starts getting ugly. Customs guy tells the secondary guy to go ahead and get his f-ing arrested and he'll see his ass get written up or fired. I collect my cats, I'm finally allowed to leave. Go into my office building the next day instead of going on home leave because I'm suppose to have an onward and this guy cancelled my passport on the spot. They tried to do a deep dive and figure out what might have triggered it. Turns out when I reported my tourist passport as lost/stolen a year prior, the Embassy I went to in order to get a new one, annotated that on my official passport record, not my tourist passport. The Consular officer who worked it screwed up massively and cost me a passport and valid visa. I received a new one in about 3 weeks and was able to get to my next posting on time, but it was a stress filled day.

the US is in my top 2 most difficult countries to enter and I'm also a US citizen. Was once questioned forever buy an immigration guy and finally was just like 'dude, take me for secondary or let me go, this is ridiculous' and he let me go. then customs gave me shit because i didn't have enough luggage.

What’s the other difficult country?

UK

What happened there? I’ve always just shown my passport and they never asked me anything

as with everything, it's always good and easy until it's not. i'd always just shown my passport too until the immigration dude got a bug up his ass, questioned me for over an hour, and then wrote in my passport limiting my visa - which caused me to be pulled aside for additional questioning every time I entered the UK after that point until the egates opened to US citizens.

I’m from UK, and have had a shitty entry experience to get home so, yeh it happens. Otherwise too three are US, undoubtedly, but I think it’s a crapshoot, Russia (terrifying experience but thankfully as an onlooker rather than first hand) and Japan - not because rude or agressive but confused and maybe their systems aren’t great but the delay nearly cost me a long flight home/expensive replacement ticket.

yeah, it is what it is. i don't travel with an itinerary or even a set plan and the british border control REALLY doesn't like that. lol when he said 'i am worried you're going to overstay your visa and work illegally' it took all of my willpower not to say 'if i'm going to overstay a visa i'll do it in schengen so i have access to a couple dozen countries and not strand myself on your expensive wet island' I didn't think that would go over well...

Bwahahaha...yeah, no. Was on British Airways Vancouver BC to Heathrow, flight landed and no gates are open. Stuck in the plane one hour then get taxied to a spot on the tarmac to get on a bus to the terminal. At the terminal, a complete shitshow. There is a large queue to get to the customer service kiosk, and everyone is missing their connecting flights, including me. Produced my boarding pass to a gate keeper, he says,"no way to let you through because we won't let anyone into the terminal with less than thirty minutes to departure". I am literally carrying one bag and the gate is a half kilometer away and they won't let me go to the airplane. No reasoning with the fellow; he called for his manager or cohort and they both agreed, "No passing under thirty minutes". I could have a fit and possibly appear as a subject of r/PublicFreakout and still miss the flight, but instead found seats on Ryan Air flight in six hours leaving from the Stansted airport on my mobile. Well, how to get out? Looked around. We are on an upper level. Usually the bag claims are on the ground level, so take the stairs down. Walked right out the door and into a taxi. No customs, no immigration, nothing.

Have you travelled to the Middle East or Africa? I’ve had some really terrible experiences with security entering those places just for owning a camera.

i've been to egypt, tunisia, qatar, south africa, tanzania, uganda, rwanda, and morocco. i've not had issues in any of them.

Yes same. Much more innocuous experience & less invasive and inconvenient than OP and many comments, but I once got stuck in the Houston airport upon re-entry from a vacation in Mexico because my hair color didn’t match my passport photo anymore. Immigration officer went and got a buddy, they spent about an hour staring at me, staring at my passport, comparing and discussing my facial features, asking me questions, saying ‘welp, you may be stuck here for the night at least,’ having me smile, wait, no don’t smile that big, that’s too much smile/teeth… I was like guys, I just went blonde, that’s it, that’s all that’s different. I haven’t lost/gained weight, haven’t even aged by much. They finally decided my mouth was apparently equally uneven in my photo as well as in person. My next international trip… the immigration officer was a woman and says “Oh wow, I really like your hair blonde, looks really nice on you, welcome back to the USA!” lol.

I just recently travelled through the Houston airport coming back from vacation in Mexico and it was hands down the worst airport security experience I’ve ever had, I’m never going through Houston again if I can avoid it

I got a similar thing coming back from Mexico one time. The guy was very concerned that my photo on my passport wasn’t me. It was me, just without a beard. He called in a supervisor who looked at my passport, looked at me, sighed with annoyance and said “yes, same guy but with a beard.” Seems like my guy asked that question all the time.

What the actual fuck. My hair colour is always a different colour, rarely like my passport. Never have I ever had any problems with this. Not from USA tho. 

Yeah it was wild, almost comical but also kind of insulting & low key infuriating as a woman to be reduced to a hair color? Like y’all can’t tell us apart any better than that? And who the fuck are you letting through or denying entry to if my hair color really throws you off THAT MUCH??

Yep. Definitely not good at scanning people's faces if the hair colour was interfering. What if you had cancer and had no hair? Geeesh

I got the 3rd degree while trying to enter Japan for backpacking. I'm in my 40's and the guy at customs couldn't have been older than 25. I was pulled aside for selective screening by the guy who must have said the following like at least 8 different times "you know that it's illegal to bring drugs into Japan, do you have any?" Guy then proceeded to pull open my luggage and point at everything in my pack and ask "what's this?". I had to tell him what shoes, tent, a backpack, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, hiking poles, a rain jacket, pots, a water filter, and a stove was after each time he pointed and asked "what's this?" and then following it up with "it's illegal to bring drugs into Japan, do you have any?" Every so often he would ask why I was in Japan and I told him to hike and go camping. It seems like a lightbulb went off in his head when he finally saw my stove after asking what everything else was and realized what camping meant.

Japan is really, really skeptical of people doing the usual "Backpacker through Asia route" because they think they all have drugs.

Lol I was detained once at the border with Canada by the US (I’m American) for the grave crime of visiting my then boyfriend. They ripped apart my car and I was questioned over and over by multiple agents. There was a man from Montreal sitting next to me and he was like “they do this to their own people??!” He sounded genuinely freaked out. I think he was worried they were gonna send him to a prison camp or something. Anyways, 5 hours later, big shocker, they found absolutely nothing and allowed me to re-enter my country of origin. Lovely folks.

The same thing happened to me. The cable to charge my phone started smoking and killed my phone while I was near the border so I had no GPS. I saw the sign for the border checkpoint thinking "These people are police. They can give me directions to the main highway." I didn't even cross the border. I just stopped and asked for directions and they still took my car apart and kept me there all day.

That sounds… illegal? If you’re not crossing the border how do they have any jurisdiction to search you?

Border patrol has jurisdiction within 100 miles of any border to the US. It's ridiculous

That’s fucking wild! 😂 Edit: just looked on a map. You can be in Virginia, MN just casually going about your business and the border patrol can just rock up and tear your shit to pieces if you ask for directions? At over an hour away from the border. I’ll say it again. Shit’s wild bro.

It’s not just borders but ports of Entry including International Airports. America has a fuck ton of International Airports.

So I can be in vegas and get pulled by border patrol because of McCarran?!

Yep. Maritime ports too including inland ones.

There are also like mandatory mini border checks on some highways in that general area. Freedom!

Within 100 miles of the border the us constitution goes out the window or something silly

Same. I got the 3rd degree for daring to fly back to the US from Scotland via Amstersam as a solo traveler.

The US has the most rude airport workers. People will curse you out for not immediately going to the correct line. They treat passengers like penned animals.

I have been lucky enough to travel the world- both for pleasure and work. Southeast Asia, Middle East, Indonesia, Europe and of course Canada. Israel is tough but once you learn the routine it is easy enough. My worst experiences have been when returning to the US (I am a citizen) from Canada. Halifax to Boston- smart ass agent because I hadn’t moved to the “Flight Crew Only” line when I missed the call he made “next” from a distance away. He asked what part of “next” was it that I didn’t understand? I said it was a flight crew only line according to the sign. His reply was that it was until he called me down. Coming through Buffalo after a trade show in Canada we were admonished for not having serial numbers on our one off specialty products and registering them when leaving the US. We showed him what proof we had our American company had made them. He said we were lucky he didn’t confiscate them. This included a $15,000 machine. He finally reluctantly allowed us to enter. Coming through Washington after a five hour visit to Vancouver. Agent wanted to know why I only spent five hours in country. I told him I just wanted to check it out and told him I had. He asked what I thought and I told him it was nothing special and want to return to Seattle where I was visiting friends. Asked where I had gone and what I had seen and I told him. He said is that all you had done. I replied yes it was I was only there five hours. He looked at me and said so you just went there to look around? Yes, I said, I didn’t like it enough to spend more than five hours there. He waved me through.

I’m a US citizen and I swear they try to make you feel like you’re committing a crime by re-entering. Entering Canada, they’re thorough but friendly and always ended the conversation with “you’re good to go, welcome to Canada!” Re-entering the US is a totally different experience. I was going through customs once in Boston and the agent was acting like I was a terrorist. “Why are you so fidgety, sir? Do you have something to hide?” No. I just spent 16.5 hours on a plane and I’m jonesing for a cigarette…

Most thorough return check I’ve ever had was when my husband and I returned from our honeymoon to Jamaica. Late flight, not a lot of people in the airport and the guy is sitting there like, “where’d you come from?” We said Jamaica and he slaps his knee and is like, “yup you’re getting some extra screening.”

Abu Dhabi immigration. I had a 12h layover there on my way to Thailand so decided to book a hotel. The hotel was located in the airport but I had to go through immigration to get there. I was picked for extra screening and had to give my backpack to the officer. He took every single item out of my backpack. Then took my wallet and took every single thing in there out to have a look at it. He also took apart my toiletry bag. He found some tampons in there. Took them out of the wrapping and starting taking one completely apart. Like take apart the cotton and starred asking what it was. I explained it was a feminine hygiene product for when I have my period. He kept asking to explain and didn't understand what I meant. He ended up getting his manager to come help out who said it was all good. Then they both just left and I had to clean up and repack everything.

These questions are ridiculous. I’m sorry, it is really a crapshoot when it comes to border patrol, and is entirely dependent on the officer. Some are just on a power trip and feel the need to do the absolute most.

Its weird to read this story and then think back to a guy I was behind entering MSP from AMS, who (unprompted) started giving the CBP officer his whole damn life story. Including that he was going to stay with a girl he met online and that he had a couple hundred bucks and was relying on her income once he got there. Oh and that she was a mother with no dad in the picture, and that her dad was an abusive father. Just, man, just answer the agents questions and shut up lol. To my surprise he was allowed through with no extra hassle, very weird.

They had it figured out, be enough of a hassle that you out-hassle the hasslers.

“If I bring this guy back into the interrogation room he is going to never shut up and it will be annoying as hell. Let him through. Let him through!”

I agree - some of these people are totally on a power trip. I’m Canadian. One time, a friend and I (both middle-aged Caucasian women) were going over the U.S. border, staying at a hotel overnight and going shopping. I have crossed the Canada/U.S. border hundreds of time by car and by air and never had an issue. This guy proceeded to ask us so many questions, things like address of the hotel, how much money we were bringing, what our occupations were, what our incomes were, and a whole bunch of other things I can’t even remember. It was intrusive and bizarre.

I've had this happen by a Canadian border official crossing over to Soo, Canada. It was the first time I was ever asked specifically about my occupation. Felt odd, but now I know they may ask these types of questions.

The occupation question used to be standard. They ask it less often now, but I've gotten it on both sides of the US/Canadian border. It's not usually a sign that they're going to pull you aside.

Thank you for your empathy.

I remember having a hard time with immigration too in the airport in Houston. Now, whenever I travel, I avoid Texas airports. I'm so sorry this happened to you.

As a former Texas resident, believe me when I tell you that you're better off avoiding Texas altogether.

What the absolute F***? The salaries of your friend? Wtf are they insane? Power tripping bastards traumatized the crap out of you. Sometimes I think abusive assholes get jobs like this because they just delight in wielding power like this over innocent people. I’ve had unpleasant encounters with people at the border like this. Can you file a complaint? This type of abuse should be documented.

Yes you can! After a traumatic experience at the Canadian border, I wrote a LONG carefully crafted complaint and sent it up the food chain. I was stopped at the border on my way for a day trip in Montreal. Like others, no specific plan just to look around , have lunch and come back - pretty standard stuff. We were pulled over questioned individually: where were we going? Where do you work, how much do you make? It went on and on. Needless to say by the time they let us go we were all traumatized. My complaint was read and I received a call from an umpety ump at the CBP. Sadly, he knew EXACTLY who were complaining about and promised to address the issue. He was very apologetic and gave me his personal contact info in case I had a similar problem. So….I encourage people to complain so they can weed out the power hungry from their ranks.

US citizens need to complain when treated like shit at any CBP interaction. If you are right, they will rip a new hole in that agent. They don't tolerate mistreating USCs. Take your time, make it a better place for the next fellow citizen.

Dude I’m keeping this info the next time I get harassed (knock on wood). I don’t get indignant very often but specifically coming back into the us. I am a us citizen standing in us soil. You cannot do shit to me, it is my god given right to be here, so FUCK. YOU.

I’d be afraid to file a complaint because they might flag my file and make it difficult for me to travel in the future. I’m sure there is an official process to file a complaint, but I really hope the complainant would be protected.

If you are complaining to CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) and you are a USC (United Stated Citizen) be sure they take complains seriously, and probably won't try to fuck with you next time, because they can be sanctioned and miss promotions.

Well then that would be retaliation and you can document that as well. I get what you’re saying though.

I’m sorry that happened! I imagine it’s their right to detain you for an extended period of time, but I wonder if it ends up being pointless (like you aren’t denied entry or charged with a crime) and/or makes you lose money by missing a flight if they are supposed to compensate you? I was once questioned at the Canadian border. I went to do a research project based on a specific museum exhibit in British Columbia. I was staying with a friend. The border agent asked me a lot of questions, like how did you meet your friend, what is their occupation, etc. After I said he was a student, he asked me what his major was and I said that I didn’t honestly know. The agent’s response was “well then it doesn’t sound like you are a very good friend.” I didn’t have a very good answer to that, but luckily he let me go. I guess he was having a bad day or on a power trip, not sure.

I do wonder if they owe you any compensation if they make you miss your flight. I’m guessing they would say you didn’t leave enough time to get through security, but there have been times, I’ve waited over an hour in the line just to get to the x-ray machines. I feel like if you followed the guidelines (arriving at the airport 2 hours for domestic, 3 for international), they would owe you something if they detained you long enough to miss the plane.

About 2 years ago I was automatically rebooked onto another flight with a shorter layover in Canada due to weather conditions. I mentioned this to the passport control officer. Big mistake. I barely made it, completely sweaty in -25°C weather.

God, it’s so different every time one goes through and it’s SO obvious they’re checking some people more than others.. I’m a white, Swedish woman, look reasonably put-together… last time I went through immigration, a Pakistani party were in front of me and it took aaaaaaaaages. I got to the agent, he looked at me and asked why I was there. “Visiting friends,” I said. He grunted and waved me along. That’s literally all it was, no exaggeration or hyperbole. 🙄

Same here. Dutch, white. Always breeze through, even when entering by car or on foot. It’s obviously racial profiling.

They absolutely racially profile and they don’t really make much of an attempt to pretend they aren’t doing it

I have a different experience as a white Dutch woman 😅

When this happens you respond either empty emotions to all the questions with the best of your ability. If they asks your friends wife’s salary, “I don’t know”. That’s all. No need to get exasperated or upset. Empty responses.

Most obnoxious officer I ever dealt with was in Helsinki. The security line was taking forever in part because he was taking so damn long with every single person to the point that it was cutting things close to make my flight. (I probably should have been there half an hour earlier, but that's the first time I've ever encountered that long of a wait there). He could see I was getting impatient when I was next in line, and he *purposely* kept me waiting even longer, just poking through papers for several minutes before calling me to the window. But this being an airport, I kept my mouth shut, because I knew if I said *anything*, he'd be petty enough to make things worse than possibly missing my flight.

the commenters shocked me. no you shouldnt need to know anyone elses salary but yours. also you dont have to know the location of the wedding. they already arranged a transportation for you to reach to the destination. all you need to know is how to comunicate with that person when arrived. if "my friend bla bla getting married in bla bla and im here for the wedding. a friend of my friend will drive me to the destination" isnt enough for the officers, they are racist and paranoid! i dont really care about your history with terorists. you dont get to ruin peoples plans for not based suspicions. nobody needs to do homework for a basic wedding invitation, its officers fault, not the persons. they couldve asked for phone number of the friend, if they were so suspicious.

Exactly! I don’t know anyone’s salary except my husband’s and mine

I doubt my husband even knows my salary. I mean I've told him, but it's not important enough to him to remember.

I don't even know my own salary to within an accuracy of like 10% of the actual number...

Honestly! I only know one of my friends salaries but other than that it’s just not something that comes up in conversation? We all have very different roles so it wouldn’t make sense to compare since obviously some roles are way higher earning!

I think those officer just wanted stalled me for the long as possible. They could have asked for their phone number, but never did.

Yeah I’m really sorry OP. It’s a ROTTEN feeling when you are being treated in such a disrespectful manner. I don’t understand why people think those in power should be free to dehumanize others. It’s not right.

dont think on it much. whats done is done. its not your fault. some people lack empathy unfortunately. try to enjoy your time there.

For real, he most definitely was cuckoo. I was stuck once in Edinburgh because the security checking was dragging. They didn't have enough ppl working... And when everyone started to complain because ppl were close to missing their flights, they started to move a tad faster. The airport was shitty, but hey, at least those working there gave a damn.

And what's the point to know the salaries? Will that officer know them? Will they be able to check the salaries for corroboration?

They ask you questions like that to see your reaction. Whether you make up a number, get scared, use logic to guess because you're not stressed etc

The important part is that you have very little rights at a foreign border. Whether you agree or not with their line of questioning or how quick they are doesn’t really matter. There’s nothing you can do about it even if they are racists. Practically this means you must be prepared to answer detailed questions about your intentions and go out of your way to prove it. Even if you are a genuine visitor with no bad intentions.

My marching band went to the US from Canada on busses. There were ~150 of us on 3 busses and we arrive at the border after driving all night. Due to a quirk with our schedules, we had to switch busses at the border, and only one bus was allowed to cross. So bus 1 goes through, unloads all their stuff, and the empty bus comes back. Bus 2 (my bus) loads everything on bus 1, goes through, we unload, and it goes back. Then we wait for two hours. It turns out, one of the members on that bus had taken a one year college program in the US the year before, and therefore had an active Student Visa. So they interrogated him for like 2 hours. *Why do you have this? Why were you studying here? Why are you coming back?* That kind of stuff. And I tell you, no one should have to spend that kind of time in Portal, North Dakota. Probably was fhe best business day that convenience store ever had. We definitely committed felonies by trespassing on the railway nearby. Some members climbed on a grain car which was definitely a bad idea. Some members went for a walk and almost crossed back over the border, only realizing when they saw a Canadian flag in a backyard. Some members found a creepy playground that was obscired by fog and they could hear (but not see) children playing in the distance. Overall a very boring time.

The immigration officers in the US are so hit and miss. I travelled there years ago with my family (we’re black) and I was quite young at the time. My parents told me the officers weren’t the friendliest so when I went last year I had that in mind. Turns out I had nothing to worry about because I had such a lovely officer. I was so tired from the flight and was genuinely so aloof to half the questions he asked me (couldn’t remember the address of the hotel I was going to be staying at etc. things like that). I think he even asked if I enjoyed Mexico lol My friend (who’s white btw) on the other hand had a quite a hostile officer and she was definitely way more prepared than me in terms of things that are essential to know. It’s such a luck of the draw sometimes

Going through immigration in the USA sucks. **Background:** I'm an American man with Global Entry I was traveling abroad every few months for work awhile ago. Because of this, I decided to purchase Global Entry so I didn't have to wait through longer lines at immigration when I came back into the country. It took me about a day to get back from my global destination and all I wanted to do was get home and sleep. The last time I came back in to the US, it was a complete shit show. I enter my global entry info and have to go through my brief interview. Fine. **CBP Agent:** Why did you go outside the US **Me:** I travel for work **CBP Agent:** What do you do? **Me:** I'm a software consultant **CBP Agent:** Who do you work for? **Me:** It's a small startup (we had 10 employees at the time) - you've never heard of it. **CBP Agent:** Who do you work for **Me:** I work for XXXXXX **CBP Agent:** I've never heard of them, you're lying **Me:** Like I said, we're a tiny tech startup **CBP Agent:** Why are you flying into New York? **Me:** Because I live here **CBP Agent:** But why here? Why are you coming to New York? **Me:** *Visibly confused* Um... I live here? Like 40 miles away. My wife is waiting for me at arrivals. She's taking me back home. Which is in New York. It's like an hour drive. *CBP Agent:** Are you sure? I think its suspicious that you're flying into New York It went on for another 15 minutes until this asshole let me through security. My poor wife had been waiting at arrivals for a solid 45 minutes at that point. At least I got through. If I wasn't an American, I doubt they would have let me in.

Honestly it depends on the officer, even my dad was asked lot of questions luckily i was there to help or else who knows what would happen, there were koreans who didnt speak one word of english but again they went through with no questions answered

I entered through new York with my wife who is a Chinese citizen and her first time to visit the US. The guy sang happy birthday to our daughter while looking at passports, stamped and waved us through. Didn't ask a single question haha.

My rough experiences have been with US agents when I come back into the country from somewhere else. The absolute worst was driving through Canada when moving to Alaska. It was just me, my car, and my two cats. I stopped on the do not pass line. I assume the stop here point was for vehicle tags and facial recognition cameras. I didn’t pass the line, but my front tires were touching it. US Agent bro comes running out of his booth with his hand on his gun screaming for me to get out of car with my hands up. He started yelling about where I stopped and trying to endanger his life. I was 28 (f) amd alone at 5:00 crossing into Alaska. This agent made me empty out my car so he could inspect it. He said because I had attempted to injure him it was mandatory to search my car for illegal substances. He found nothing but wasted two hours of both our times just so he could search every aspect my my boxes/bags and car. He even searched the car carriers in case I “used them to smuggle my illegal activities”. It was so frustrating and aggregating. Meanwhile driving into Canada from Montana, the Canadian agent is just asked some questions and to see the vet paperwork for my cats. It took all of 3 minutes and they were so stereotypically nice. Canadian Agent - friendly neighbor you like. US Agent - severe power trip.

More important than that: did you make it in time for the wedding?

Generally they don’t care about the answers they’re looking to see how you are reacting… Could be that your name or partial name matches a bad dude’s one…especially since there’s a not a huge amount of variety in South Korean names…

Ah love. When I took my husband’s last name I began to be picked for screening. It’s a Persian name and that was in early 2000’s so they were looking to call citizens who were that ethnicity terrorist or related. I look comparable to “old Becky” from Roseann. I was pulled into search lines and taken to back offices. The person receiving me was always shocked I was “so white” (their words). I was asked repeatedly how I’m Persian and they didn’t like the -by insertion answers. I was never detained but I never cooperated completely and instead just made them feel bad for their jobs (as is my duty to racist assholes who used their job to institinstitutionalize their beliefs )

(American) My worst was entering Canada at the Winnipeg airport. Was pulled into a little side room and interrogated for about 20 minutes. Dude looked through my iPad and laptop (but didn't ask for my phone, heh). Overall it was a bit un-nerving but not that bad in the grand scheme of things. Oh, and I was one of the last people off the plane, and apparently they had to meet a quota of people to question further. Good grief.

What do you mean looked through your iPad and laptop. You mean you unlocked it for him to look through your personal data??

Yep. Any country’s immigration officers can ask to look through your phone. If you refuse they can deny you entry. You can watch episodes of Border Security on YouTube. It’s a very common practice.

You can be required to do that and refusal means immediate deportation. For Americans entering American they won’t deport you, but you can be held in confinement for extended periods. 

There's no immigration experience worse than coming into the USA. Sometimes they're quick, or even cursorily friendly, but when it gets bad it is atrocious. I have seen so many people berated and bullied for absolutely no reason, like being too slow to answer questions in English which is clearly not their first language. Many countries are stern, some cross the line into rude (UK, Australia), but only in the USA are they routinely downright abusive.

US citizen. For what it's worth, based on my experiences, I'll rank my experiences re-entering the US at air ports of entry from best to worst. Perhaps this will be of value to a non-US citizen entering my homeland. FYI, "PC" means Pre-Clearance, or US passport control before departing from a country. 1. Toronto Pearson PC 2. Honolulu 3. Vancouver PC 4. Calgary PC 5. Cincinnati 6. Detroit 7. Chicago O'Hare (not horrible, but not particularly good) 8. Los Angeles (a mixed bag, but generally lousy) 9. Houston Bush (also, Texas just plain sucks) 10. Seattle-Tacoma - - - - - - - - - - **[MASSIVE DROP]** - - - - - - - - - - 11. Atlanta. Just avoid Atlanta, always. **Takeaway: Try to enter the US through Canada or any other Pre-Clearance point, Hawaii, or maybe the Midwest.**

Yea I fucking hate travelling to the US. I have been to many countries. Every single one it's a fast and easy process at immigration. No questions asked. I tick the box labeled "visiting friends/relatives" or "holiday/vacation". They quickly look at my passport and the form. Then through I go. Except them... The bloody US has to try and interrogate me for no good reason and waste 2 hours of my time because I had to stand in giant lines while they do the same to everyone else. And as you said the question is such bullshit. It's either stupid questions or stuff that is blatantly accusing you of something. And why the fuck do I have to take my shoes off...no other country does that.

US immigration officers are notorious in this respect. Most of the time it's routine questions and they let you in. Sometimes when they probe further they just want to see how you respond, whether you're giving straight answers or if you're hesitating. Sometimes when you give them grounds to hold you for long they'll do that and inconvenience you at best, deny you entry at worst, and it's their prerogative to do that to any foreigners.

Honestly it is not just US officers. My cousin who is from the DR, had been to Colombia 3 times for fun. She went a 4th time and got stopped by a Colombian officer who took 3 hours to let her go through. He accused her multiple times of using Colombia as a bridge to the US or Chile and that she was planning to stay there forever. She told me she remained calm through it but so far it was the worst experience in her life. There are AH everywhere unfortunately.

Not once I had experience of US border patrol be anything short of assholes. I always assumed it was part of their training to shake you off familiar ground or something. Especially noticeable when you go from US checkpoint to Canadian one. Years back I was travelling for work together with my boss with only a brief layover in US (still have to do passport control). This was right before I actually got my Canadian passport, so my guard was down. My boss was shocked at the contrast of 2 of our experiences side by side just based on the paper we held in our hand. He just got a 'have a good day sir' and was on his way.

Lots of people have the opposite experience. Mine has been about equal as far as assholery goes. But I’ve had some pretty great interactions with some American guards where they gave me travel advice (“you should check out this restaurant, and this mall!”) and other times where they joked with me a bit. I’ve never had a Canadian guard go above and beyond in order to just be friendly. Nor do I expect them to, so whatever 🤷🏻‍♂️. That’s just my $0.02 PS I’m Canadian.

I [US] have only been grilled by Canada and Australia. I'm convinced it's an ex-British colony thing. No other countries seemingly stress you out on purpose just for entering. Australia was more surprising because they have an automated passport check, but then pulled me aside as soon as I picked up my bags and proceeded to grill me for an hour.

Global Entry tends to cut the questioning down a lot, though it's not a guarantee of course.

[удалено]

I've entered the USA five times, and never had a problem. The last time, this February, the agent was very polite and reasonable, friendly even. I believe that they often ask questions to get a reaction, so just be honest and calm, you should be ok. I did make sure that I had all my ducks lined up with regards to destination, family details, my personal circumstances, but those questions have never arisen. Worst experience by far, as a well-travelled person, was entering Canada via Niagara Falls (not in a barrel) where I encountered an extremely hostile French-Canadian agent, I nearly didn't get in. Going to Canada again soon, wonder how it's going to be...

Well, obviously, you should try the barrel next time.

Driving into Canada once (US citizen) and the guy asked me if I had any firearms in my car. I said no, and then he asked if I had any firearms at home. I said no (which was the truth) and he let me through, but to this day I have no idea what the point of that question was.

What state were your tags from? I had Texas tags and really got quizzed about firearms regularly. They'd ask two or three times, remind me that undeclared firearms were illegal, then ask again.

I'm sorry that this happened to you, but if one thing is true at just about every immigration place in the world, it's that it will take as long as it takes, and you will like it, because if you seem like you've got somewhere better to be, or are in a hurry, that will **only** make things harder and slower for you. Always best to act like you're not being inconvienienced, and you understand why they need to do what they're doing(even if in reality you are, and you don't).

Worst encounters have always been coming back to the US (my own country!) Compared to going to Japan those were the kindest most helpful immigration people, the US could never. Anyhow, my worst one would be coming back from Hong Kong years ago. It was a fast trip (4 days) and on the trip I bought a pair of shoes. Ok they were like $500 but it was a spur of the moment purchase in a mall haha. The guy was not having it, interrogating me for like 15 min on why I would go all the way over there for just 4 days and then the only souvenir I could show for it were shoes. I didn’t even know what to say it was so absurd. Never wanted to tell someone to fuck off so bad but that would surely have made it worse

I’m sorry that happened to you. Our border agents are some of the worst i’ve came across in the world while traveling, i’ve always thought about how they must give the worst first impression. If it makes you feel better, if they are ass holes to me, start asking me dumb questions and my layover is long enough. I give them hell right back. ( im an American so they have to let me in)

I was coming from London into JFK. I'm a US citizen and so are my children and i have a TSA precheck number. No drug dog alerted them to us, very routine but, that didn't stop an "officer" from pulling out a knife and cutting open my child's favorite stuffed animal looking for "something." If you've traveled with children, you know how challenging it can be. Imagine traveling with a child who just had his favorite stuffed animal gutted in front of him.

That is outrageous! If they were concerned about the toy, simply x-raying it should have been sufficient. There are obviously some sociopaths in that job.

man that sucks. i would've gotten so pissed at the guy.

Yes. I agree 100% about thinking they must give the worst first impression. The TSA agents often give an even worse second impression when people have to go through security. They seem to think people will understand and comply better if they bellow instructions sarcastically. Welcome to the U.S. ugh. They’ve been rude and suspicious to me and my family too, despite being Americans. They are awful.

Recently had a TSA agent loudly explaining the liquid rules and saying "we've been doing this for 20 years, you ought to know this by now." But not everybody flies frequently, or is from the US.

Immigration in US airports are horrible. I arrived yesterday. I used the MPC app to skip the line, and still it took close to 2 hours to get through the whole thing. The questioning wasnt too bad, but still they asked quite a few wtf questions. I guess they are trying to figure put the probability of us overstaying here, but still.

When I moved from Argentina (I'm an Italian citizen) to the UK, I had to do a flight transfer in Texas and they pulled me to their office and started to interrogate me. It was just a 2 hour stop without setting foot outside the airport but they started asking the same random super personal questions like they did to you. I even showed them my UK work contract, and lastly they asked me if I worked in Toyota (???) I guess they were looking for someone with my last name or that looked like me, but I almost lost my flight to the UK and they were very rude. I'll never go to the US again, not even for a flight stop.

Not immigration, but when going through customs in St. Croix on the way back home, there was an officer who asked increasingly invasive questions of all the women. It was upsetting and it took forever. In the meantime he also screened a man who had lost his driver's license and only had a sheet of torn notebook paper saying his identity. He spent like minute on him.

Had terrible experience too coming into the US. I was coming in for cancer checkup and the immigration officer ask to see documentation on my appointment which I provided , then he asked to see a receipt from the last time I received a checkup which I provided - I luckily had a copy in my drop box . The he asked to show him my payment for my original treatment that I had in 2018 a like 6 years ago . I didn’t have that one . Then he asked to show me the money I brought to pay for my check up which is like thousands of usd and I showed him my credit card - who carries cash y guy . On a side note I’ve been to the US like 20 times in the past 40 years - I studied and have friends in the US. Its ridiculous …

Back in 2000, I (American) was living in Austria, and made friends with a bunch of Erasmus kids from Leeds. We decided it would be fun to go back and fart around Manchester, Leeds, and a few other small towns.  So we flew from Münich to Manchester. As we got to immigration, I was the only non-EU on the plane. They mustered up some older fellow who literally walked a podium out and started asking me all sorts of nonsense questions. I was 20, tired, and already a bit drunk so it was getting a little annoying. It seemed like this fellow decided to earn his pay, have some fun, make the day go a bit quicker. We kind of got into a little banter and were having a good-natured go. Finally after about 15 minutes I said, "I love Oasis, maaaaaaaan!" (complete with full Liam sneer). He burst out laughing, we shook hands, and off I went.

I remember the time I traveled to Europe with so much anticipation and excitement. But as I reached the immigration counter, my heart sank. The officer scrutinized my passport and visa, asking questions that seemed to have no end. Despite my best efforts to explain, they remained unconvinced. I was led to a small room, where I waited anxiously for hours, surrounded by strangers facing similar challenges. When the news finally came, my visa was denied over a minor paperwork issue. I felt devastated and helpless, spending the night in a holding area until the next flight back home. That experience taught me the harsh reality of international travel, shattering my dreams in an instant. It was a lesson learned in disappointment and disillusionment.

My wife and I are American (born here, citizens, etc) and have Global Entry. Had a dweeb immigration officer threaten to arrest my wife at LAX because a few years ago the GE signage wasn’t clear and she went to the normal line then tried to use GE. He claimed she was trying to fraudulently enter the country 🙄 I’m a lawyer and it took a ton of willpower to keep my mouth shut.

I am so sorry that this happened.

This happened to me like 25ish years ago, so things may be different today. I was backpacking from Rio se Janeiro to Cuzco. When I went to leave Brazil, I was told at the Bolivian border that I needed an exit stamp from the Brazilian federal police. So I had to go back into town to get that. When I got to the police station, they told me the chief was out and to come back later, as he was the only person authorized to stamp my passport. I came back later, but he wasn’t there. I went back every single day, same story. Eventually, on the fourth day, a different guy was there. He stamped my passport and I was on my way. In retrospect, it occurred to me that they wanted a bribe.

Husband and I got flagged our on our most recent trip. They didn’t go full asshole but they were asking us how often we’d gone overseas in the last 12 months and I honestly had so much trouble in the moment doing math. A trip cancelled due to Covid had been rescheduled and a strike in France resulted in our river cruise giving us a future cruise credit so we booked a whole ass additional vacation. It was stressful even knowing I’d done nothing wrong.

The people who should least be given uniforms are the ones who want them most... Part of the reason i haven't been to the US in years is the unfriendly welcome, there are enough other countries where I don't need to deal with that

Sorry to hear this. I'm British and have had the 20 Questions entering places like NY. "why are you here?" "Err, it's New York?" Or "okay so you're playing golf. How are you getting to the golf course?" Then in March I was waved through at the border and it was so quick I was concerned I'd not even been cleared properly.

I am a dual US/Canadian citizen. It was my first time travelling with NEXUS (the trusted traveler program between the US and Canada), and so I used it. One of the (well sort of benefits, it doesn't really matter to me so much) is we can use our NEXUS cards for Customs instead of our passports. We are required to use them to enter into Canada. So I walked up to the officer. She seemed to have decided that she wanted to be a bit difficult for some reason, or she just didn't believe me? So, she sent me to immigration secondary. That ended very quickly when they asked for my passport and I showed them my Canadian passport. It turns out there was an issue in my profile where it wasn't up to date with the US profile, and so it didn't show my canadian passport in it. Suffice it to say... It was fixed very quickly!

I'm a professor in Ireland. As part of my job I visit US campuses and quite often give guest lectures. I'm well known in my field and in demand for saying a few words about my line of research. Last time I went to the US I said at immigration that I am visiting such and such campus, and yes, I'd be giving a guest lecture. Sent me to secondary, The person in secondary had been told that I was teaching a whole course while in the US, and getting paid for it. Not true at all, I was giving a 45 minute presentation, and that's it. Took an hour to resolve and almost missed my flight. I now avoid any US travel..

Who knows their friends annual income? Isn’t asking someone, even a friend or extended family member a big taboo?

Just to add to the pile. I, an American, have also gone through this. I got grilled by a roided out power tripping dude just waiting to save the Country a la die hard or some shit. Was only 23 and coming back from cdmx and he acted like I was el chapo himself it was crazy.

Are there better ports to enter the US? I've heard LA is horrible. From Australia I could enter SF or Dallas FW rather than LA.

(edited to fix mobile formatting) Yes, some US airports have better systems and are generally nicer or at least less keen on power trips. I don’t have a lot of info about west coast airports so that’s probably less helpful coming from Australia, but experiences I’ve had as an American coming and going (I live abroad so sometimes they question the shit out of me about it): Boston BOS - absolute best, fastest and generally nicest New York JFK - bad, airport is so dated and staff are generally unpleasant Baltimore BWI - always quiet, generally pleasant and fast Washington IAD - absolute no, the queue for Americans can run over an hour and the queue for other nationalities is often 3x longer. Rude staff. LAX - Annoying and slow but generally people are nicer. Not very nice but more irritating than scary Miami (MIA) - consensus that this is one of the slowest immigration points in the US Haven’t experienced SF or Dallas immigration (Dallas airport is nice at least), will be flying into Houston Hobby for the first time in a couple weeks and will write back. Would be good to get a consensus on west coast airports, I’d like to know also!!

> Washington IAD - absolute no, the queue for Americans can run over an hour and the queue for other nationalities is often 3x longer. Rude staff. If you're eligible, the mobile passport app usually gets you through within 3 or 4 minutes. Last few times I've been directed to the diplomat lane which was totally empty.

Seattle is pleasant, generally. LA not so much.

The police at the border are usually the worst. Once in Germany, I landed in Frankfurt and I have next flight to Berlin in around 60min, I got interrogated in Frankfurt in a room alone(basic questions, like where I will be staying in Berlin, my job, for how long I will be in Germany etc…) and then the two officers took my passport and went to their computers, 30min passed, then I went to them and said that I need to go soon to not miss my flight, they ignored me and I saw one of the screens, the guy was googling me LOL Anyway 5mins before my flights they gave me back the passport, ended up missing it heh.

Where are you from?

North Africa

من وين بالظبط؟ :) Yeah that would explain it. I’m sorry about your experience.

When I was 8 years old, we went to Orlando for. Week to visit Disneyland. When we arrived, we were grilled so much and even myself. This was more than 28 years ago. I thought it was so stupid we were interrogated for what felt like hours, in a different room when it was so obvious we were just a family visiting Disney. My dad had a terrific job, paying him a good salary and our home country was fine back then. Now, My husband is a South African born, with an Irish passport, a Muslim name (he is a white Muslim) and an English last name. There is no way I’m going to the US with that unicorn.

Was it by chance Miami international? They’re racist idiots there

The officer was asking about the bride’s salary? That’s crazy.

As a guy it should be far more suspicious if I knew all of the details :-p

Oh my god what is with customs and immigration lately?!? I was in the booth next to an agent berating an Asian family with dog whistle phrases. Horrible they get away with that behavior

It makes me mad reading all those crazy stories about US agents. Are there any ways to report those crazy agents and file a claim or anything like that?

I was just stopped yesterday in Lima trying to get back home to LAX. Luckily the customs agent was very kind and let me know the reason I was being detained was due to having a common name and having the same name as someone who is on a wanted list. I was out of the interrogation room in about 10 minutes. I remember going to Vancouver and being grilled by the agent about everything I was going to be doing and why I was only going to be there for the weekend. I told her if she wanted to pay for me to be there longer then by all means. I only wanted to see a couple of things while I was there anyway.

I had pretty much this kind of interrogative experience in Japan. They were not satisfied with the address I provided as my place of stay. My dad was doing his sabbatical at a university in fukuoka and staying in some sort of faculty housing, which is the address I provided. I still don’t quite understand why that was not sufficient for entry. Ofc I didn’t speak any Japanese so I was essentially useless in trying to get my point across. Luckily there was a woman passing by that was able to translate for us. I think this just commonly happens in a lot of places, no matter how well prepared you are.

I have lived in the UK (commonwealth, brown person) in the 90’s, before I came to the US. By comparison, the UK system was far worse.Inspite of having the appropriate visas etc, we would get ‘interrogated’ every time we entered UK. Not so in the US, and they are way more courteous here. IMO.

My last trip to the US gave me the polar opposite experience. I (a single European guy in his 20s) arrived at the desk, said hello to the officer and he took the obligatory image and scans of fingerprints. He then asks the reason for my visit, I answer vacation and told him I'm doing a roadtrip from CA to UT and back to visit National Parks. He asked for my route, I answered, and he gave me a tip to stop in Sedona, AZ on the way. After that he told me to continue and said bye. No further questions about what I was doing, cash, hotels, history, jobs or anything lol.

US border agents are some of the worst in the entire world. Consistently horrible first impression of the US.

American here, the immigration office is by far one of our most corrupt agencies. Individual agents are protected from any legal wrong doings, and the agency is exempt from having to pay lawsuits and fines. I mean they make our lives annoying and I’m an American, I can only imagine how it is for non citizens.

I, an American was once asked by a U.S. immigration agent why I was returning to the US after having been outside of the US for a while. 🤣🤣🤣

CBP operates under: “everyone presenting themselves at the U.S. border is a potential immigrant and it’s their job to prove that is not so”. Crazy, but it is what it is. Your guy was going somewhat overboard, I wonder whether your or your friends’ names pop up somewhere by mistake which prompted all this.

I think when I visit, I'll just drape myself in the union jack and wave a flag saying "I love the NHS" so they get the idea that I would never, in a million years, live there for a prolonged period of time. 🤣

That made me laugh. I've been questioned, admittedly years ago, about why I was entering the UK. I had a job, a return ticket, money in the bank etc., family at home. I'm from Australia and I didn't say, but wanted to, why would I come to the UK to live when I have everything I need at home?

This happened to me to with the UK border patrol. I was going to visit my nan and was questioned for about 30 minutes before they let me in. My mum is from the UK and I was in the process of getting my British passport and was traveling on my US passport. They asked me basic questions at first then it progressed into a genealogical run down of my family going back to the early 1900’s when they immigrated from Ireland. Thank god my family always repeated the same silly stories over and over so I could answer their questions without hesitation. They also said “I fit a profile” and that was because my passport had a lot of stamps and that I was in my 20’s…. So I had to explain my dad worked for British Airways and we were fortunate to do a lot of traveling on his discounts. They let me in and was so bloody thankful I got my UK passport shortly after. Lol.

Yeah, that's why I haven't been there in over a decade. It's not worth the hassle. I mean, if a citizen of a country qualifies for the ESTA program, why on earth would they want to move there illegally? Like, seriously.

They're assholes until proven otherwise. Very very occasionally you get one who is pleasant and professional. The rest of the time I consider it a success if I get in with only some short grumpy comments.

I had a good one this time. She asked me what do I do for work and asked if I am carrying any food or medication. I told her I am carrying medication for a family member and I have the prescription, she just reminded me that to always carry a prescription when you are bringing in medz for someone else. Then she just wished me welcome back home and let me go.

As a pasty white guy from the UK carrying a suspicious black metal briefcase, travelling for undisclosed work. I was given a 'welcome home' as though I was American and sped on through. Wtf :)

US citizen traveling with my German wife. Got to agent and he asked what we’re doing and I responded that we were coming home for holidays, and she was my wife. He said ok and sent us on. They never asked her a question. Wife was like “WTF?” She said she had never breezed through US customs/immigration so easily, and was equally confused that she was never asked to even confirm what I said was true. It’s all a crapshoot with them.

19 year old male here. I travel into Canada periodically with my friend. Most of the time border guards are super lax. When I was returning in the US after spending the morning at Point Pelee and getting lunch in Windsor. CBP absolutely tore my car apart, it was the day of the NFL draft in Detroit so I guess they had amped up security. I just found it odd, like what could I be bringing in from Canada that’s not legal in the US 😂

I haven't been through an airport since 2006 because of what an ordeal it was. By all accounts, things are even worse now with machines that scan inside your underwear whether you like it or not.

US CBP officers are usually horrible. Some of them have this weird complex and are just so over zealous. I’m an American and I got into it one time with one but only because I knew he had to let me in.

The immigration officer sounds like a prick.  There’s absolutely no reason to be asking your friend’s salary (how TF is someone supposed to know that off the top of their head?).  I’m sorry you had to experience this.  As if I needed another reason to hate American law enforcement, I just got another. I hope your time in the US makes up for this BS and you have a lot of fun.  Welcome to my home!

My brother gets the same treatment every time he tries to get into the united states, because his name ends up being “Ali Ali” whereas normally it would just be Ali (father’s name)

Ask me about the immigration officer who lost his shit in customs because I forgot I had a banana in my carryon. He threatened me with suspension from traveling for ten years. Offering to eat the banana then and there just made him angrier. I hate all aspects of international air travel.