3 ms·

Does even China does that? Go through pics on your personal device at the border? Refuse entry over memes.

by oceansky 1y ago

paxys 1y ago
Have been to China multiple times and no, this does not happen.
- gruez 1y ago
  To be fair something that makes the news isn't necessarily indicative of the median experience either. If US and China both looked through 0.1% of traveler's phones, that'd be both compatible with horror stories making the news, and widespread anecdotes of "weird, never happened to me".
  - TheOtherHobbes 1y ago
    US visa applicants are required to disclose five years of social media history and to make listed accounts public. https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/06/announcement-of-expanded-screening-and-vetting-for-visa-applicants/ https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/20...
    - gruez 1y ago
      >disclose five years of social media history Where does it say that? Your source only says profiles need to be public Moreover your description is slightly misleading because it only applies to "all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas", which notably excludes tourism visas (B-2). The visas listed all seem to be academic related, presumably because the administration wants to crack down on woke ivy league students or whatever.
      - perihelions 1y ago
        It was on HN yesterday, > "THE US EMBASSY in Dublin is tightening its visa requirements, saying that future applicants looking to visit the country will be required to divulge “all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last five years” on their visa application form." https://www.thejournal.ie/us-visa-changes-6740830-Jun2025/ https://www.thejournal.ie/us-visa-changes-6740830-Jun2025/ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44354298 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44354298 (209 comments)
        everfrustrated 1y ago
        Irish citizens aren't using the US Embassy in Dublin to travel to the US. That is servicing non-Irish citizens with Irish residency.
badgersnake 1y ago
Not in my experience. They check your passport and your visa. Didn’t go anywhere near my phone. I wouldn’t be sharing Winnie the Pooh memes on WeChat though.
knorker 1y ago
Not when I went there. I needed a lot of paperwork for the visa at their embassy, and to surrender my passport for a few days, and a signed statement from my employer that I was not a journalist of any kind. I got in. I was sent to some form of secondary screening, but they apparently couldn't find anybody who could speak English, so they just let me in. Edit: I'm from a rich western country, in case it matters for anybody getting an understanding of who gets treated what way.
- nine_k 1y ago
  Did they check your social media accounts? Did these accounts contain any memes involving the current PRC administration?
  - knorker 1y ago
    I don't recall them asking for any social media at any point. But I don't have Facebook, tiktok, instagram, snapchat, grinder, myspace, or other muggle social media. I of course wouldn't know if they tried to find my profiles.
    - nine_k 1y ago
      BTW not having profiles on mugg^W normie social media may be sometimes considered a red flag by itself, so I keep e.g. a reasonable Facebook profile, without posting anything.
      - account42 1y ago
        YMMV but at least for US entry just listing GitHub (it's one of the options in the ESTA application) hasn't caused any "random" inspections for me so I'm not sure how much of a flag it really is on its own.
- AnotherGoodName 1y ago
  I did get a weird interaction in China fwiw. Let in fine but at one point i sat down to have lunch at a restaurant and 2 English speaking police officers sat down at my table and started asking if i was doing well etc. I just chatted making sure not to say anything negative about the government, talked about tourist sites and they left, they were fine, no issue. Just a weird interaction. I guess it's a routine part of China's paranoia. They definitely do do weird things to check if tourists are causing trouble in some way i guess. I imagine that sort of interaction alone would scare off trouble makers and it's probably effective honestly.
throwawaysleep 1y ago
Visited PRC several times. They didn’t even ask much of a reason for my visit beyond “tourism”.
seanmcdirmid 1y ago
They have never gone through my phone, although I guess if they wanted to nothing would stop them. The immigration agents don't even ask questions most of the time, heck, I don't even here them speak on most of my entries.
- raverbashing 1y ago
  China is not worried about who enters. They're worried about who leaves
  - olalonde 1y ago
    They don't ask any questions when you leave either, unless you overstayed your visa. In that case, they just ask you to come back with money to pay the fine. It's actually kind of funny: they don’t detain you or anything, just politely tell you to find an ATM and come back when you have cash to pay the fine.
    - seanmcdirmid 1y ago
      This happened to my wife in Japan when we were trying to board the second try of our flight cancelled the day before. I told them "we don't have any Japanese money, and anyways, this was Delta's fault, so just get them to pay." We sat around for a half hour while they got Delta to pay her fine.
      - throwawaysleep 1y ago
        I’m impressed that was successful.
      - account42 1y ago
        Do they not have ATMs at the airport? Seems unnecessarily risky to not just take the opportunity to pay the fine as quickly as possible - visa overstays can easily end in detention in many (especially Asian) countries and not just in the US. And while the delay might have been the airline's fault and possibly you could have a civil claim against them for damages incurred it is still your responsibility to have a valid Visa and not overstay it and also your responsibility to pay any fines for it (which you may or may not be able to get reimbursed).
iLoveOncall 1y ago
I'm sure it happens, and they also don't systematically check phones when entering the US, it's probably exceedingly rare and I've never witnessed it despite travelling to the US 3 times since Trump got elected. Case in point this is only the 2nd story ever to come out about someone being detained / refused entry for content that was on their phone since Trump is president.
olalonde 1y ago
Nope, they barely even talk to you. I've crossed the Chinese border literally hundreds of times, mostly from Hong Kong. They usually don’t ask anything and if they do, it's just a basic "What's the purpose of your visit?" I’ve never had my bags searched or been sent to secondary inspection. Even crossed with one barefoot once (long story) and wasn't even asked about it. In contrast, my worst border experiences have been in the U.S. and Canada (and I've traveled to over 30 countries). In the US, I was nearly denied entry at SFO while on a valid TN visa simply because I didn't have a business card with me. The officer also referred to my wife as a "Chinese bitch" - within earshot (this happened during the Obama years). I had to let them handle my phone a bit to verify work emails, etc. But they didn't really search through it beyond that. In Canada, I was sent to secondary inspection, had my bags searched, and was asked to show the photos on my phone. I was questioned for over an hour and they never told me the reason for it. It felt like they suspected me of smuggling drugs because the guy kept asking me what I had for breakfast... I'm Canadian btw and don't do drugs.
- account42 1y ago
  > They usually don’t ask anything and if they do, it's just a basic "What's the purpose of your visit?" I’ve never had my bags searched or been sent to secondary inspection. FWIW in the US you usually also don't get asked more than that (not including questions on you Visa / visa exempt application) and searches are not standard procedure that everyone goes through.
throwawayq3423 1y ago
Yes they do, once you connect to cell service in China your data is comprised. As well as unlawful detentions and exit bans. But we don't talk about that for whatever reason.
- throwawayq3423 1y ago
  compromised*

Does even China does that? Go through pics on your personal device at the border? Refuse entry over memes.

paxys 1y ago

Have been to China multiple times and no, this does not happen.

gruez 1y ago
To be fair something that makes the news isn't necessarily indicative of the median experience either. If US and China both looked through 0.1% of traveler's phones, that'd be both compatible with horror stories making the news, and widespread anecdotes of "weird, never happened to me".
- TheOtherHobbes 1y ago
  US visa applicants are required to disclose five years of social media history and to make listed accounts public. https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/06/announcement-of-expanded-screening-and-vetting-for-visa-applicants/ https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/20...
  - gruez 1y ago
    >disclose five years of social media history Where does it say that? Your source only says profiles need to be public Moreover your description is slightly misleading because it only applies to "all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas", which notably excludes tourism visas (B-2). The visas listed all seem to be academic related, presumably because the administration wants to crack down on woke ivy league students or whatever.
    - perihelions 1y ago
      It was on HN yesterday, > "THE US EMBASSY in Dublin is tightening its visa requirements, saying that future applicants looking to visit the country will be required to divulge “all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last five years” on their visa application form." https://www.thejournal.ie/us-visa-changes-6740830-Jun2025/ https://www.thejournal.ie/us-visa-changes-6740830-Jun2025/ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44354298 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44354298 (209 comments)
      - everfrustrated 1y ago
        Irish citizens aren't using the US Embassy in Dublin to travel to the US. That is servicing non-Irish citizens with Irish residency.

badgersnake 1y ago

Not in my experience. They check your passport and your visa. Didn’t go anywhere near my phone. I wouldn’t be sharing Winnie the Pooh memes on WeChat though.

knorker 1y ago

Not when I went there. I needed a lot of paperwork for the visa at their embassy, and to surrender my passport for a few days, and a signed statement from my employer that I was not a journalist of any kind. I got in. I was sent to some form of secondary screening, but they apparently couldn't find anybody who could speak English, so they just let me in. Edit: I'm from a rich western country, in case it matters for anybody getting an understanding of who gets treated what way.

nine_k 1y ago
Did they check your social media accounts? Did these accounts contain any memes involving the current PRC administration?
- knorker 1y ago
  I don't recall them asking for any social media at any point. But I don't have Facebook, tiktok, instagram, snapchat, grinder, myspace, or other muggle social media. I of course wouldn't know if they tried to find my profiles.
  - nine_k 1y ago
    BTW not having profiles on mugg^W normie social media may be sometimes considered a red flag by itself, so I keep e.g. a reasonable Facebook profile, without posting anything.
    - account42 1y ago
      YMMV but at least for US entry just listing GitHub (it's one of the options in the ESTA application) hasn't caused any "random" inspections for me so I'm not sure how much of a flag it really is on its own.
AnotherGoodName 1y ago
I did get a weird interaction in China fwiw. Let in fine but at one point i sat down to have lunch at a restaurant and 2 English speaking police officers sat down at my table and started asking if i was doing well etc. I just chatted making sure not to say anything negative about the government, talked about tourist sites and they left, they were fine, no issue. Just a weird interaction. I guess it's a routine part of China's paranoia. They definitely do do weird things to check if tourists are causing trouble in some way i guess. I imagine that sort of interaction alone would scare off trouble makers and it's probably effective honestly.

throwawaysleep 1y ago

Visited PRC several times. They didn’t even ask much of a reason for my visit beyond “tourism”.

seanmcdirmid 1y ago

They have never gone through my phone, although I guess if they wanted to nothing would stop them. The immigration agents don't even ask questions most of the time, heck, I don't even here them speak on most of my entries.

raverbashing 1y ago
China is not worried about who enters. They're worried about who leaves
- olalonde 1y ago
  They don't ask any questions when you leave either, unless you overstayed your visa. In that case, they just ask you to come back with money to pay the fine. It's actually kind of funny: they don’t detain you or anything, just politely tell you to find an ATM and come back when you have cash to pay the fine.
  - seanmcdirmid 1y ago
    This happened to my wife in Japan when we were trying to board the second try of our flight cancelled the day before. I told them "we don't have any Japanese money, and anyways, this was Delta's fault, so just get them to pay." We sat around for a half hour while they got Delta to pay her fine.
    - throwawaysleep 1y ago
      I’m impressed that was successful.
    - account42 1y ago
      Do they not have ATMs at the airport? Seems unnecessarily risky to not just take the opportunity to pay the fine as quickly as possible - visa overstays can easily end in detention in many (especially Asian) countries and not just in the US. And while the delay might have been the airline's fault and possibly you could have a civil claim against them for damages incurred it is still your responsibility to have a valid Visa and not overstay it and also your responsibility to pay any fines for it (which you may or may not be able to get reimbursed).

iLoveOncall 1y ago

I'm sure it happens, and they also don't systematically check phones when entering the US, it's probably exceedingly rare and I've never witnessed it despite travelling to the US 3 times since Trump got elected. Case in point this is only the 2nd story ever to come out about someone being detained / refused entry for content that was on their phone since Trump is president.

olalonde 1y ago

Nope, they barely even talk to you. I've crossed the Chinese border literally hundreds of times, mostly from Hong Kong. They usually don’t ask anything and if they do, it's just a basic "What's the purpose of your visit?" I’ve never had my bags searched or been sent to secondary inspection. Even crossed with one barefoot once (long story) and wasn't even asked about it. In contrast, my worst border experiences have been in the U.S. and Canada (and I've traveled to over 30 countries). In the US, I was nearly denied entry at SFO while on a valid TN visa simply because I didn't have a business card with me. The officer also referred to my wife as a "Chinese bitch" - within earshot (this happened during the Obama years). I had to let them handle my phone a bit to verify work emails, etc. But they didn't really search through it beyond that. In Canada, I was sent to secondary inspection, had my bags searched, and was asked to show the photos on my phone. I was questioned for over an hour and they never told me the reason for it. It felt like they suspected me of smuggling drugs because the guy kept asking me what I had for breakfast... I'm Canadian btw and don't do drugs.

account42 1y ago
> They usually don’t ask anything and if they do, it's just a basic "What's the purpose of your visit?" I’ve never had my bags searched or been sent to secondary inspection. FWIW in the US you usually also don't get asked more than that (not including questions on you Visa / visa exempt application) and searches are not standard procedure that everyone goes through.

throwawayq3423 1y ago

Yes they do, once you connect to cell service in China your data is comprised. As well as unlawful detentions and exit bans. But we don't talk about that for whatever reason.

throwawayq3423 1y ago
compromised*