I’m referring to the Customs & Border Protection workers who check passports and profile you while you pass through the customs area.
I have been to 60+ countries and my least favorite experiences with people checking passports at the border have been right here in my home country, the US. I’m just wondering if it’s my bad luck or it happens to other people.
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…they looked at my passport, asked like two questions and if I had anything to declare (one thought “bankruptcy” was *slightly* funny) and said “welcome home” while handing it back.
It’s been fine every time. I don’t need a hug.
And I’ve never really noticed a significant difference between countries. They always seem bored and would prefer that I leave.
My least favorite were the Brits and Austrians in 2016. The US is consistently the worst though.
The Brits were incompetent and rude, the Austrians overbearing.
I’ve never had an issue, even when traveling with complicated gear and timelines and such.
Canada on the other hand, the Canucks are so uptight.
The last time I went through, they didn’t even ask me if I had anything to declare. Just called me up, looked at my passport, and waved me through. The only other time I’ve been through was when I was young so I don’t remember it.
They asked me a couple questions, told me to put my short back on, and let me back in.
I never had a problem when going through as an American by myself. They just sort of wave you through. But, just a couple days ago, I was traveling to the U.S. with my partner who is from New Zealand, and the guy was a massive dickhead. For people coming in for the first time, it would really sour your experience coming in before you even have a chance to enter the country.
Canada is actually pretty finicky when it comes to traveling for work.
Netherlands was easy. They just asked what I did, and were like, “oh, cool.”
US asks “why were you traveling there?” “For how long?” “Anything to declare, like alcohol?” “Ok cool, go on ahead.”
Canada has been the worst out of the countries I have been, but that’s through the lense of work, not tourism.
I once had the immigration officer let us cut in front of everyone when he saw my 6 month old crying. So that was nice
US customs are dicks, but in my experience British customs are far ruder. Canada, YMMV.
EU customs usually seem like they really don’t give two shits
It’s been fine ,never had any issues going through passport control.
Completely boring and non interesting and routine.
I have global entry so I don’t really even talk to anyone anymore. I just scan my passport and take my picture at a machine and then hand the receipt over as I walk out. Prior to global entry, I don’t remember having any issues, either. They would just ask 1-2 questions and I’d be on my way.
I’ve only done it once, and it was fine other than them pulling me over to put my bag through an x-ray again. I assumed since I was the first one through, but realized I may have triggered something as I unpacked at home and found some poppers I meant to throw out before I left europe. Whoops.
I’ve been to 18 countries around the world and taken probably a total of 60-70 international trips. I’ve literally never had a problem at any country. It’s always extremely smooth.
It was fine. He asked me the standard questions and sent me on my way. It took *forever* to get through the line at ATL, but that was a whole different issue.
CBP at the airport is typically pretty chill. CBP at border crossings tend to be dicks and/or racist in my experience.
Never had a problem. Some basic questions sometimes, nothing more than a “anything to declare + welcome back” at other times.
I’ve traveled with some very red-flag raising groups before (ex: multiple unrelated people, all of different nationalities and different citizenship/visa statuses with me as the only American) and the only thing that took longer was explaining how we knew each other and them checking their paperwork.
Although now I have Global Entry so I no longer deal much with CBP….pretty much just walk back into the country.
That said, I am an average white guy….so that doesn’t hurt.
Signage at IAD sucks, went through last Friday. Other than that it was painless once I got I to the right line.
Last time I went through CBP passport control was a lane crossing at the Canadian border. This is how it went:
CBP: Passports please
*hands passport*
CBP: Why did you go to Canada?
Me: To go the Bruins game
CBP: Did you bring anything back with you?
Me: No
*hands passport back*
Overall not a very notable experience.
I used to travel regularly between my home in a well known offshore banking destination and Colombia. I became very familiar with the extra screening room in the Bogota Airport. I even joked with the officers that they didn’t need to lead me, I already knew the way.
Got extra treatment transiting Miami on my way back from these trips. Learned to book a longer layover.
When I got back home I was cleared in, no problem. You see, I worked in a law enforcement field and had regular professional contact with the Customs and Immigration enforcement officers.
CBP officers are just doing their jobs. Be polite, truthful, and don’t try to smuggle anything and you’ll be fine. They have tremendous power to make your life miserable if you give them a reason to.
I remember this one guy at Charles de Gaulle who seemed VERY put out to be there at 5am. Kept sighing dramatically while looking at his watch, “Comment allez-vous cette ***tôt*** le matin” and holding his hand up to halt conversation while he sipped his coffee.
After my husband and I got through we looked at each other and whispered “but I am le *tired”*(from the old End of the World video) and burst out laughing. Can’t blame the guy tbh.
My favorite is when I get a Southern or better yet Texan agent when coming back. Nothing like “Welcome back, darlin’!” when you’ve been in colder climes.
With global entry, I don’t have to talk to anyone and it is amazing! That said CBP have always been good to me.
In Heathrow, however… the worst, they get particularly annoying/suspicious when you visit a lot in short order for work reasons, literally demanding meeting guests/itineraries sometimes.
Global Entry makes life so easy. The entire customs process takes like one minute, no standing in line or any of that BS.
“Got anything to declare, therealjerseytom?” (Nah) “K. Welcome back to the US!”
I got randomly stopped and asked about my trip and job and what not on one occasion, coming back from Brazil through Miami. Even that was like, maybe a minute or two at most.
I got annoyed with all the passport checks at the Frankfurt airport. They checked at our baggage check-in, then again at security, then there was another checkpoint halfway down the terminal for some reason. We were there for two hours and I wanted to pick up food and some souvenirs for my kids. Couldn’t walk to those places without having my passport checked yet again.
Although I have to say back in the US, I downloaded the CBP app hoping to get through customs quicker, and I was prepared when I got to the window and had my QR code ready. Then the guy goes, “oh we don’t have the scanner for that” and goes through the process manually anyway..
One time when I came back from Europe I got asked if I brought any food with me. I replied chocolate. He got this look in his eyes, like “European chocolate. I should confiscate this for dessert” and I got nervous. Luckily, he did not.
Just entered the U.S. on Thursday last week. It was pretty easy. I always find that CBP is less intrusive when you enter the country by plane than when you enter by car. I’m a U.S. citizen and my partner is a permanent resident. They just asked us if we had all our bags, if we were bringing back any food, and if the city we were coming from in Mexico was crowded. They did scan the fingerprints of my partner. And that was it.
I never had a bad experience with customs coming back in. And since getting Global Entry, it’s like a 15 second interaction.
One did give me shit about the Dodgers losing the NLDS in 2019 because I wearing a Dodgers cap.
TSA are way more annoying. There’s some nice people working it, but there’s a percentage that are complete lowlives.
I’ve never had an issue at any of the spots i’ve gone through customs. Spain was the only problem I had but that was I kept getting yelled at to get in another line even though I was in the correct line, then when I switched someone saw my passport and made me get back in the original line. But that was only 1 time in the mid 90s, since then I’ve never had an issue, but I’ve only gone to western european countries, Canada, Mexico and Morocco, so maybe elsewhere is different. But into or out of American has never been an issue for me.
Some of them are average humans, but unusually many are world-class assholes
I think American CBP workers at airports are usually just doing their job and kinda thorough but the “welcome home” always feels good
My experiences with CBP are usually decent, but JFK agents were assholes.
I’ve never had an issue but my wife did when she brought back a bottle of rum from the Caribbean to the US. Apparently it wasn’t packaged correctly at the duty free in Jamaica.
Border agent took her into a private room and asked if she observed who put it into the bag, could there be any unknown substances in the bag, did anybody have access to the bag after she took ownership of it, was the bag ever left unmonitored….they almost didn’t let her take it…a bit silly but I understand they’re doing a job.
We now don’t buy anything from the duty free anymore lol.
For most of a decade, every time I’d cross the border into the US I would be pulled aside for “additional review.” I’m a white dude with a very common name and nothing worse than a speeding ticket on my criminal record but something got flagged somewhere that warranted me getting extra attention, usually in the form of waiting for an hour or two in a sterile sitting area until someone came over, punched some info into a computer for five minutes, and told me I was good to go. When I renewed my passport this seemed to finally stop, but I don’t travel abroad much to have tested this theory.
By all accounts this is pretty benign for what CBP can do to you if they don’t like you. I work for a big tech company that is huge on corporate security in trying to do everything we can to prevent corporate espionage and trade secrets from leaking out, but our company policy is that if CBP asks you to unlock your work computer that you immediately oblige and let them look at whatever they want. Being someone whose politics lay strongly in support of civil liberties I’ve read enough to know that the CBP exists in a very scary place in that you often don’t really have rights until they say you have rights if they’re dealing with you – if they put you in an icebox for five hours for questioning, you demanding a lawyer will be met with chuckles. This is largely backed by the courts in that you’re not in the US until they say you’re in the US.
It’s been fine, for the most part. Only jerk I’ve had to deal with was at Miami-Dade at 4am (this is common for Miami-Dade as God has forsaken that place).
Neither the agent nor I wish to be there so I guess that influences our interactions, somewhat
Nah. US customs are dicks. Every time I cross the border to Canada, it’s fine. Sometimes they make me pull over and wait a while. But they are usually pleasant and never make me feel like I’m inherently guilty of something.
Whereas returning to the U.S. More than 50% of the time they are rude jerks and on more than one occasion they made me pull over to search my car for some bullshit. Because traveling alone must mean I’m a drug smuggler or something.
I’ve never had an outright negative interaction internationally or in the US. Some are friendlier than others but no one has actually been rude.