What questions can you ask at the border, if you often fly to the USA

Even if your documents are in perfect order, the purpose of your visit to the USA is clear and you have no intention of violating the visa regime, you may be stopped at the border. First, to ask questions. What happens next depends on the outcome of your conversation with the officer.

You may encounter problems when passing through customs control, if you frequently visit the United States. What difficulties may arise and how to behave while doing this, ForumDaily learned from those who were stopped at the border.

According to the Bureau of Transport Statistics (Bureau of Transportation Statistics - BTS), at US international airports, over 10.5 thousand people are delayed daily for additional checks. Looking at these statistics, it becomes clear why the World Tourism Organization (World Tourism Organization - UNWTO) in its ranking for 2016, the year included the United States among the “most unfriendly” countries of the world. The reason is that tourists are not very willing to choose America for travel, for fear of being detained at the border and lasting many hours (and maybe for many days) staying at the terminal.

Prepare phone numbers

Tatyana, a dentist from Moscow, flew to New York to take a course in aesthetic dentistry. Training is quite expensive and is structured as follows. The first 3 days are lectures and work with patients - they are planning to have veneers installed, making impressions of their teeth, which are sent to a special laboratory for production. Next, students have a free month, and then another 3 days of practice - installing ready-made materials. As a rule, everyone who attends these advanced training courses has their own job and clients who cannot wait that long for a doctor. Tatyana is the owner of her own clinic in Moscow. Having completed the first part of the course, she returned home.

When she flew to New York to complete her studies and receive the appropriate certificate, at customs control she encountered a situation that she did not expect at all: “The officer began to ask about the purpose of my visit, I told her that I had come to study for 4 days,” says Tatyana . “Then he let me go, I exhaled and was already walking towards the exit, when suddenly they called me and asked me to go into a separate room. There they told me that a piece of paper confirming completion of the course was not enough, and they were worried about why I was flying so often, since only a month had passed between visits.

They asked to open the bag and asked why there are so few things in it. She replied that this is logical, but I’m only at the 4 of the day. But they did not calm down and asked to open the wallet. Cash was only $ 200, which also caught their attention.

It was strange for me, because in the USA everyone uses a card - it’s more convenient. After I answered all their questions, they said that I should dial the phone number of a representative of my educational institution, who was obliged to confirm that I had already been and was going to class again. Can you imagine what a madhouse this is? The phone number is Russian, I haven’t figured out roaming yet after the flight. In the end, I called the curator, she answered all their questions, and I left the airport with a terrible aftertaste.”

If you find yourself in a similar situation, do not be surprised. By law, you have the right to check as they see fit. To prepare for this situation, have on hand the telephone numbers of those who can confirm the reason for your frequent visits to the United States.

Ask if you don't understand the question

For the first time, Tonya received a tourist visa in Moscow. Prior to that, she rested in other countries, decided to see the States. She had all the confirmations that in Russia she was held by various circumstances: her own company, real estate and getting a second higher education.

But even here there was something that embarrassed the officer. He asked why, in 28, a girl is single.

“Do you agree, it’s strange to hear this from an American?” — Antonina shares her misunderstanding. She hesitated and didn’t know what to say: “I answered that I have a boyfriend. Then they asked me how long we had been together. She said 2 years. The officer raised his eyebrows and asked why there was no wedding. I was confused again. I remembered the advice for such situations - to ask again, citing the fact that they did not understand the question, apologizing for their English.”

Be prepared for unexpected questions.

Natalya arrived in 2012 on a study visa from St. Petersburg to New York for an acting course. I learned 3 of the week, returned home and wanted to go to America again. Her second visit was already on a tourist visa.

“I wanted to visit the Christmas sales and just see the city at this magical time,” says the girl. — I stayed for a week and returned to St. Petersburg. After 3 months I flew to Los Angeles just to take a walk and take a break from work. And about 5 months later I flew to New York again. Why not? If I can afford it, and the visa is for 2 years. I had no purpose in staying; I had a return ticket in hand. But as soon as my fingerprints were taken, I was immediately invited into that strange room where representatives of different countries were sitting. It was some kind of horror. I feel like I'm in a courtroom. When it was my turn, they asked me what I did last time and why I was going now. She said that I wanted to visit famous sights and do some shopping.

When asked what I was going to buy, confused, I answered the first thing that came to mind - Victoria's Secret lingerie. Then they asked me to show my hands and asked what type of activity I had, since my hands were very dry.

I answered that I work as a designer. I was released. By the way, it was funny that at the time of the end of the conversation, my palms were already wet ”.

Unexpected questions may be asked not only at the US airport, but also at the American embassy of your home country. You must be prepared for any turn of the conversation. And, if your pranas are not related to breaking the law, say everything frankly. If your main goal is to buy underwear in America, say so. Questions during a conversation can be repeated in different interpretations, and if the answers seem too different and suspicious, then instead of going to Victoria's Sicret You can wait for the return flight back home.

Before your trip or interview at the embassy, ​​prepare your story by answering questions about the purpose of the visit, with a clear picture in your head. Let there be more specifics from the series “I’ve always dreamed of taking a photo in Times Square”, “I’ve wanted to visit Santa Barbara since childhood”, “I love plays and musicals, but I never fulfilled my dream of attending a Broadway production”, “I want to see a bird's eye view of the city, just like in the movies.”

Do not hesitate to talk about shopping, about what you want children to buy clothes for school, because in America it is much cheaper. This does not mean at all that you want to deceive someone, because each of you, indeed, has some kind of desire associated with this country, a kind of American dream.

If you are invited to “that same room”

If your documents or arguments about the purpose of your visit do not satisfy the immigration officer, you may be invited to undergo a secondary inspection. One of the reasons that raises suspicion is that the purpose of the visit does not match the type of visa issued.

If the passport is a visa category B1 / B2, and the visitor says that he is going to work or study, he will be denied entry to the United States. Detailed information on the rules for the use of certain categories of visas can be obtained at US State Department website.

If you are called in for a secondary inspection, you should follow the officer to a separate room for more detailed information.

This procedure is arranged in the following way: your documents are transferred to another immigration officer, and he performs a more detailed analysis using the databases available to them. You may be asked additional questions about the purpose of the visit, the length of stay in the United States, ask to submit some documents.

Just make sure everything you need is at hand. In addition to a passport with a US visa form DS-2019, I-94 and customs declaration, you may be asked to review job offercontact information of the employer in the US, the agency through which you participate in the program Work & Travel, and contacts of the sponsor of the program.

All this information and phone numbers of listed organizations must be carried with you on a piece of paper or in a notebook. Using your mobile phone in this area is strictly prohibited.

The inability to provide the requested information may be grounds for refusing to stay.

Who causes suspicion on the border

The instructions for American Customs officers (US Customs and Border Protection) there is a list of suspicious individuals entering the US.

These are confused speech, nervousness, sweating, alertness, abstract and inaccurate answers to the questions asked. This, as stated in the instructions, may serve as a reason for detention.

Officers are advised to follow the eyes, facial expressions and gestures that give a person’s psychological state during deception. If they are noticed, the officer has the right to detain the person.

Excessive vigilance is needed, first of all, for the security of the country. But she became the cause of more than 19 thousands of complaints that came to customs officers from people entering the country. Moreover, 20% of them are US citizens.

Also filed by USCBP, 0.02% of people detained at airports are indeed fraudsters using fake documents or wanted criminals.

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