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There’s always more to these stories …
Yes, one of them said she was going to work remotely while in the USA. That’s a red flag straight away when you’re on an ESTA and they examined her email and saw proof by all accounts. So their ESTA status is now recinded and if they ever wanted to go back they’d need full visas.
There’s always more to these stories …
Yes, one of them said she was going to work remotely while in the USA. That’s a red flag straight away when you’re on an ESTA and they examined her email and saw proof by all accounts. So their ESTA status is now recinded and if they ever wanted to go back they’d need full visas.
Was this one of the two German’s mentioned? I can’t find any outlets reporting this bit about intention to work, do you have a source?
To the comments above about having accommodation booked for duration of trip, surely there are loads of scenarios where folk (at least up to now) don’t do that – round the world travellers/backpackers, road-trippers, hikers, cycle tourers, etc. Are all these types of visits now off the menu unless you make a detailed plan for every day of your trip?
Th UK Home Office site on travel to the USA says that travellers should check eligibility to enter the country on the US government website site. 30 seconds of Google finds this:
(4) Public charge
(A) In generalAny alien who, in the opinion of the consular officer at the time of application for a visa, or in the opinion of the Attorney General at the time of application for admission or adjustment of status, is likely at any time to become a public charge is inadmissible.
(B) Factors to be taken into account(i) In determining whether an alien is inadmissible under this paragraph, the consular officer or the Attorney General shall at a minimum consider the alien’s-
(I) age;
(II) health;
(III) family status;
(IV) assets, resources, and financial status; and
(V) education and skills.
Also this:
(5) Labor certification and qualifications for certain immigrants
(A) Labor certification
(i) In generalAny alien who seeks to enter the United States for the purpose of performing skilled or unskilled labor is inadmissible, unless…
It’s naive to waltz up to a country and expect to be let in, just, because…
It’s clear. If you look like you’ll be working, you won’t get in. If you can’t demonstrate you can afford the trip, you won’t get in.
If you didn’t have a hotel booked but we’re able to show a savings account with £20,000 in it, I doubt you’d have a problem.
@Scott, they said it themselves!
https://onemileatatime.com/news/backpacking-german-teenagers-denied-entry-us-jailed-deported/
The pitfalls of US immigration are well-known (or should be). There was a British mother making sad face and complaining bitterly that her son, who had lived in California for some years, had been detained on trying to re-enter the country. Further into the interview she let slip that he had acquired a drug conviction while living there and that there was also an outstanding court summons for him!
The work thing doesn’t just apply to the US. If you’re found working without a (difficult to come by) permit in the Cayman Islands (so a British territory), you’ll be deported and very likely banned from returning. You can’t even apply for jobs while you’re on the island as a non-resident, this is illegal and will also get you deported.
I thought it was rule #1 – be able to show that you had:
a. somewhere to stay when you arrived, even if just for one night, and
b. be able to demonstrate you have enough resources (cash, credit, etc) for your whole stayLet’s not forget that US CBP can request access to your phone/devices, and that refusal will likely get you denied entry and possibly your devices seized. Don’t mess with or lie to the CBP!!
I thought it was rule #1 – be able to show that you had:
a. somewhere to stay when you arrived, even if just for one night, and
b. be able to demonstrate you have enough resources (cash, credit, etc) for your whole stayThat’s the minimum. I got questioned once coming back to the mainland from Friday Harbour and the jist was how can you afford to travel etc. I’ve not even left the continental USA but unbeknownst to be the ferry had come from BC, Canada so everyone was mixed together on landing.
Rule #1 is don’t mess with the CBP, they’re right, you’re not.
Never argue with anyone who can screw up your travel plans.
We probably have it relatively easy coming from the U.K. Entering the US at FLL from Bahamas all luggage was re-screened and we got quite the grilling about what we might be bringing with us!
I have a funny non-example!
During the first Trump rule, I was “between jobs” for a while. So we decided to visit family/friends in NYC (I have no US passport).
In Dublin customs on the way to JFK, they asked me what I do. I said nothing at the moment. They asked to see my return flights. I said i haven’t got any. Then, they asked me how long I plan to stay. I said I’m not even sure.
The guy sighed and stamped my passport! My wife still can’t believe how it worked. I said honesty and charm!
Our kid was just an infant at the time, maybe his cuteness eased it 🙂In Dublin customs on the way to JFK, they asked me what I do. I said nothing at the moment. They asked to see my return flights. I said i haven’t got any. Then, they asked me how long I plan to stay. I said I’m not even sure.
The guy sighed and stamped my passport! My wife still can’t believe how it worked. I said honesty and charm!Would you like to try this again now?
Not sure.
My arrogance at US border knows no limits. Combined with my “charming demeanour”, I often get by.Rule #1 is don’t mess with the CBP, they’re right, you’re not.
Exactly that! Tried a joke with a CBP officer in my 20s – never again. Yes Sir, No Sir!
On a different travel (also in my 20s) I was interrogated by a customs officer (short of a strip search) and asked “Do I need a lawyer?” to which the response was “I don’t know – do you?”. Play nice with CBP
Exactly that! Tried a joke with a CBP officer in my 20s – never again. Yes Sir, No Sir!
Yup, ditto. I walked into a completely empty immmigration hall at JFK once and said to the elderly officer that I’d never seen it this quiet and quick before. His answer was that we can make your stay longer if you’d like sir.
As you say, Yes Sir, No Sir is all they get out of me now.
If you’ve seen What We Do in the Shadows you may agree that Nandor the vampire’s interview with a US immigration agent is hilarious and spot-on. “It’s like their souls are dead or something. I don’t detect any human in him.” 😂
I think we’ve been lucky. Entered the US twice in the last 6 weeks. Once collected bags, through immigration within 5 minutes (admittedly small airports and we were at the front of the plane). Immigration agents friendly and chatty.
Been here for more than a week. Not a iota heard of the orange one. Prices are not as insane as thought they’ll be, I would say on par with UK increases and worldwide. Many incredibly cheap specials to be had during midweek. If you eat out only at Michelin locations then that is another story.
Got through MIA in 5mins with MPC. Officer were their usual stern self but thats been the same since 20 years back.
In regards to these young German teenagers. Apart from the unacceptable treatment they received after their arrest, these numpties explained to the officers they would be working during their time in US after having clearly stated on their ESTAs that they would not be. Also only having money for 2 days and 1 night hotel booking. They’ll probably be influencing something “travel” related in a few weeks.
It’s a good thing they didn’t try getting into Brazil. For Austrailians (and Canadians and Americans) the requirements for entry are now:
Hold a passport valid at least six months on entry with one blank visa page.
Hold proof of sufficient funds. ($2000)
Hold proof of onward/return airline tickets.
Hold documents showing proof of purpose of trip.
Hold all documents required for the next destination.Reciprocity at work here for those countries.
But if they’d tried and been deported from Brazil it wouldn’t have been globally newsworthy of course.
Slightly off topic, but people also don’t realise how hard-line Oz and NZ can be in respect of immigration. We had a regular “customer” in my old job who was known as “Skippy” due to having the only Australian accent most people had heard in real life. He had emigrated Down Under with his family as a small child, then 30 years later had been sent to prison for assault. On completing his sentence, he was automatically deported to the UK because he wasn’t a native-born Aussie. No ECHR over there …!
I feel like a lot of these stories are likely from people for whom their main experience of overseas travel is pre-Brexit intra-EU travel, and they’re completely unprepared for proper immigration as a result. Even post-Brexit the rules for entering the EU aren’t exactly arduous.
It’s the same people who pull sad faces in the press when they get denied boarding because their passport is invalid because they haven’t bothered checking the rules post-Brexit.
Clearly no one on here is being hypocritical enough to suggest they are not going to the US because of Trump but will happily travel on Emirates, Qatar etc etc? The affordability issue is interesting though as we don’t really see it when visiting our condo in St Augustine. Eating out is still very affordable. Groceries are expensive though, but always have been when compared to the UK. While Trump is an order of magnitude worse, we weren’t exactly blameless when electing a lying buffoon either. At least we’re both still democracies.
Make that 2 lying buffoons in our case. But yes, people go nuts about the USA while happily visiting China, Brazil, India, Egypt and other countries with appalling records on human rights. China executed 4 Canadian citizens not long ago and it barely caused a blip in the media.
I think it’s fair to have a bit higher expectations from the US, which is the second oldest surviving democracy, than China or the UAE.
This issue keeps coming up, but visiting a country or people does not necessarily suggest one should agree with their politics.Like many of us here, I crossed many many borders in all continents, except for Antarctica yet, but the US has been by far the rudest and the dumbest. I swallowed it many many times, but I’ve had enough. I still have some self-respect, particularly when I didn’t do anything wrong.
I think it’s fair to have a bit higher expectations from the US, which is the second oldest surviving democracy,.
Do you mean behind the Isle of Man, which has had a continuous
parliament since the year 979? And where women started voting in 1881?No I didn’t mean IoM. I never assumed having a parliament equates one to democracy, nor am I an expert on IoM’s political history.
I think it’s fair to have a bit higher expectations from the US, which is the second oldest surviving democracy
Voting Rights Act of 1965 entered the chat.
Make that 2 lying buffoons in our case. But yes, people go nuts about the USA while happily visiting China, Brazil, India, Egypt and other countries with appalling records on human rights. China executed 4 Canadian citizens not long ago and it barely caused a blip in the media.
When people are listing the countries to which they object, Vietnam usually escapes mention presumably because people think it’s a lovely cuddly country when it’s in fact incredibly oppressive and authoritarian.
I’m not sure how many people really adjust their travel plans to a country’s human rights record, but how does one assess that anyway? The US is a relatively old democracy but as many will say, the reality is that it’s just the best democracy that money can buy. The US two party system, the money that drives it, and judicial roles that are political elections are different to most people’s notions of democracy. If you are a poor black person, I don’t think you will feel you have much in the way of human rights. Owing to the swingeing criminal sentencing regime, 95% of federal cases result in convictions as so many plead rather than risk these sentences. Is that right?
While you refer to executions in China, the US has capital punishment and large numbers of people on death row. The US is a rich country yet doesn’t afford people proper medical care, social care, denies women reproductive rights, has no proper social security safety net and while it has a totally barbaric penal system still has a dreadful crime and drugs problem. China offers its people good healthcare, social care and an orderly, relatively crime free environment. Which is net better?
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