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I've entered the US dozens of times. Visa waiver, 6 month visa, multi year visa. Never been asked to show electronics. Never been to a special room. Most of th
by Swizec 10y ago
I've entered the US dozens of times. Visa waiver, 6 month visa, multi year visa.
Never been asked to show electronics. Never been to a special room. Most of the time they ask one or two questions, take my fingerprints, and welcome me to the country.
Now that my passport has a US address in it, even though I'm technically not a resident, they politely say "Welcome Back".
Last time I entered was on Monday. The lady was extremely polite, even smalltalked a bit while the computer was giving her trouble because my visa is in an old passport and my new passport is 7 days old. Guess she had to sync up the system.
Time from entering the queue to being in the country was 24 minutes. I ran a stopwatch.
That said, my visa process did involve checking my social accounts and internet activity because I explicitly listed it as an argument for why I qualify for an O-1.
Anecdata, I know. But that's my experience. I'm white and from eastern-ish europe.
- StavrosK 10y agoHuh, really? My experience was roughly the same, except the border officers were generally acting very serious, and the queue took 1-2 hours. I wish I could enter in 24 minutes. No random searches here either, though, but I haven't been to the US for at least a year.
- Swizec 10y agoI find they're nicer when you give them the passport in such a way that they first see your O-1 visa. Covertly letting them know that you're an "exceptional ability alien" right off the bat, sets the relationship off to a good start. The time when I said "Oh just coming back from vacation" before the lady saw my visa ... well, she was much less nice about it.
- StavrosK 10y agoAh, I don't have a visa, I only travel to the US to visit friends, more or less.
- antisthenes 10y agoThe queue will depend on the airport and the number of border agents on duty. A difference between 24 minutes and 1 hour is only slightly more than 2x, so it's not extremely significant in the grand scheme of things. Security lines on domestic flights can last longer than 24 minutes.