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Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by StavrosK on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @06:09AM (#14254350)
People who have recently travelled to the US, what's the probability that you will be asked to unlock your stuff and have random employees search through it? Is it something that happens a lot?
Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by Swizec on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @10:03AM (#14255692)
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.

Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by StavrosK on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @10:17AM (#14255831)
Huh, 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.

Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by Swizec on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @10:57AM (#14256198)
I 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.

Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by StavrosK on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @10:15PM (#14261910)
Ah, I don't have a visa, I only travel to the US to visit friends, more or less.
Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by antisthenes on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @12:05PM (#14256978)
The 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.

Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by dbbk on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @06:47AM (#14254541)
It has happened to me. They looked through my emails and text messages. It was extremely terrifying to experience.
Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by afandian on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @07:11AM (#14254651)
Mind sharing your story? And, though it's unfortunate to ask, can you think of any reasons why you in particular were singled out?
Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by dbbk on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @08:00AM (#14254941)
I was just going to the US for a convention then staying for a few weeks afterwards. The question that arose suspicion was why I'd booked to stay in a hotel rather than stay at a friend's house. Ridiculous.

Anyway yeah, I had to collect my luggage and they then opened it up and rummaged through it. Asked why I wasn't taking a video game console despite ostensibly going to a video game convention. My response was of course that this would be quite impractical.

They then demanded access to my phone and read through my messages. They couldn't find anything other than my friend asking when my flight would arrive and a photo of him holding up a bottle of vodka (he was under 21). I think they just gave up at that point and let me through.

Fortunately I narrowly managed to make it to my connecting flight but it was such a stupid thing to have to go through.

Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by afandian on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @08:14AM (#14255009)
Were you just picked out when your passport was being stamped? When you handed your immigration form in? Did someone approach you in baggage reclaim?
Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by dbbk on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @09:24AM (#14255410)
Passport stamping. I'm on the Visa Waiver Program.
Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by street on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @01:14PM (#14257854)
Was there a moment you lost sight of your phone, while it was unlocked?
Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by dbbk on Thursday May 04, 2017 @06:34AM (#14263845)
No.
Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by praneshp on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @12:58PM (#14257659)
My wife and I have entered the US twice since President Trump came took charge. We're Indians, I'm on H1b and wife's on F1. The second time was a breeze, the agent was in a great mood and we just chatted about how she loves my company's product while she did her stuff.

The first time was more difficult, because I said something (technically correct) about my documents that confused her (understandably) for a while, so she had to lookup some extra stuff. She also asked my wife a lot of questions, because she was under the (wrong) impression that her school was blacklisted. That was seriously incompetent IMO, but she apologized after her supervisor (or some other superior) explained things to her. She also marked that we needed to go through customs, which the first time I've had to do that in almost 10 entries. I chalked this as a negative experience because of the customs thing, we felt she did that just to inconvenience us in some way. I cannot link this in anyway to President Trump, however.

Both times, we were one of the first people to be off the plane's economy section, but the wait before we got to the counter was 1+ hour. SFO is ridiculous.

My worst experience came when entering during President Obama's tenure (but nothing to do with his policy) in 2016. The agent went through my entire 9-year old passport, asked me why I had visited country X in 20YY, why I lied to my visa officer back when I got a F1, etc (that I'd go back home after studies. I did not lie, I happened to get a job and the employer happened to want to apply for a H1. I did not even know back then that there was a real or fake "shortage" in tech workers).

Hopefully more anecdata helps. If you're on the fence about visiting the US as a tourist I hope you end up deciding to come!

Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by baby on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @06:30AM (#14254459)
It hasn't happened to me, but when I go to the US embassy in France they take my phone for the entire time I'm waiting there.
Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by cr1895 on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @07:29AM (#14254768)
The US Embassies in the Netherlands explicitely disallow you from bringing most electronics* and they say they are unable to store things for you.

https://nl.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/amsterdam/access...

*It used to be no electronics, but now you are apparently allowed to bring a mobile phone provided you turn off Bluetooth.

Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by cesarb on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @08:46AM (#14255169)
The USA consulate in Rio de Janeiro is also like that. Of course, it's become a business opportunity: right next to the queue outside the consulate, there are several people who offer to store your electronics, for a price.

Contrast with for instance the Germany and France consulates a few blocks over (they're in a single building), where as far as I know no such rule exists.

Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by baby on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @08:32AM (#14255093)
The US Embassy in Paris did refuse to let me in with my laptop. I had to run everywhere to find a place that accepted to keep my laptop for me :/ you definitely get a reality check as soon as you enter the Visa process with the US.
Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by germanier on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @09:34AM (#14255486)
Now I'm curious. Does anyone know why they ask you to switch off Bluetooth specifically (and nothing else)?
Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by baby on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @11:24AM (#14256477)
in France you have to turn off your phone, then handle it to them. I couldn't turn off mine (it was badly broken xD) so I just took the luminosity to the lowest and they didn't see anything.
Re:International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees by reirob on Wednesday May 03, 2017 @09:08AM (#14255295)
Same for the German embassy in France, the phones are asked and kept by the security at the entry.