Usual US Port of Entry Questions - Tourist

[k_heart]

sis k_heart ...oo nga sis meron nanaman mga pinoy goodies sa Seafood Market kaya sabi ko next time hindi na ako mag dadala...last time kasi nag dala ako ng 555, yun ang request ng mga tito ko...nung pag punta namen sa Seafood, meron naman pala, complete den hehe...

bakit sis? saan ba niya nilagay yung chicharon?...ako nun nakapag dala pa ako ng Boy Bawang (musta naman at todo sealed hehe, kasi baka kumapit sa damit)

sis somethingreal ...welcome sis goodluck, kaya mo yan... wala na nga atang NorthWest kasi nung pag dating ng letter namen Delta Airlines na ang nakalagay parang ng merge na yung airlines (di ko lang sure) ...yung miles kasi namen credited na sa Delta

Kaya lang sis, mas cheaper pa rin kung galing dito. Kagaya nung Ligo Sardines nila, jumbo yung size.Ngek!

[purpleish]

^ oo nga sis ali, sabagay hinahanap-hanap den nila yung mga dried fish, meron man dun pero onti lang laman ng pack hehe...at hindi mawawala saken ang Chocnut, ewan ko sa kanila hehe

[lakwatsa]

haha! bawal na pala ngayon. swerte pa pala ko noon punta ko ng US 2005 at 2006. pinuno ko maleta ko ng de lata, instant noodles at mga chichirya! ang pasalubong ko pa na dinala noon e yun mga hopia ng eng bee tin. puno ang bagahe ko e di ba 32 kilos pa noon ang baggage limit. buti na lang di ako natapat dun sa binubuksan ang bagahe. hehe. =P

mag isa lang din ako tapos first time ko pa mag travel nun. wala naman masyado tinanong sa kin yun IO kasi work naman talaga main purpose ko kaya ako andun. sidetrip lang ang lakwatsa hehe. 3 mos binigay nya kasi 2 mos yun duration ng training ko.

sis aquacharly, winner ang mga sagot mo sa IO ha haha! 

sis somethingreal, try mo Japan airlines Manila-Tokyo tapos American airlines Tokyo (Narita airport)-Chicago (O'Hare airport) baka mas mura yan.

sis purpleish, may baon din akong chocnut noon! haha! nun dinala ko sa office, aba e pinagkaguluhan ng mga pinoy na officemates ko! iba talaga chocnut. 

[chuzzle]

I think if tourist ka mas-strict talaga sila sa mga ipapasok mo, but if you are a citizen, di naman nila pinakikialaman. every time umuuwi mga relatives ko, they bring suka as in galon, danggit, polvoron, bagoong, etc. di naman daw pinakikialaman dun. 

[purpleish]

^^ o diba sis winner ang choc-nut...pag yung mga matagal-tagal ng hindi nakaka-kain niyan kulang pa ang isang plastic hehe hindi den sis inopen yung luggage ko, tinanong lang ako nung officer kung nag dadala ba daw ako ng delata hehe....smile lang ako (alam na niya yun)

^ gnun naman talaga sis usually pag mga tourist...

[empot]

kakagaling ko lang sa US last January point of entry ko eh O'Hare. Nag tanong lang yung officer kung [textspeak!] gagawin ko dun, when balik ko at [textspeak!] work ko dito sa Pinas. Pina open lang bag ko kasi may dala akong dried fish eh di makita sa xray kasi naka foil. Pansin ko lang mas strict sila kesa pag LA point of entry mo. 

[Mom_S]

questions that were asked from us (with me is my hubby & 2 kids) during our US trip last december:
- how long will you stay
- where will you stay
- any relatives/friends in US
& the most intriguing part for us is: how much money did we bring on our trip? we were quite surprised as for our last 3 trips to US, ngayon pa lang kami nakarinig ng ganyan na question from the immigration officer. parang ang sarap sagutin ng "anong paki mo?" but of course, we just answered politely & give him the exact amount of pocketmoney we had...

our point of entry was at detroit kasi it's a connecting flight to orlando via northwest airlines... i noticed also they are quite strict with bringing of laptops as you are required to take it out in the bag. i brought also some chichiria, some packs of noodles & delicacies like chef tony's popcorn. di naman na-question sa customs...

[aquacharly]

SOMETHING REAL -- when you are asked how long you are gonna be making lamierda in the US - say you INTEND to  finish your itinerary in 2 months (or 1 month, depends on what  itenerary you indicated in your visa application form -- or depends on the return date on your ticket).   Even if you say 1 month -- pag nakampante sa yo eh you will automatically be given 6 months.

Don't say you have no job waiting for you here.  As I said, they wouldn't know that.    So prep yourself if you are asked what your work is =--  just describe what your last job was.
Hwag kang kakabahan ha... do not let them rattle you.
Basta isipin mo -- you are in recession, you need me to shop to contribute to your GNP.

Good luck!  Enjoy!

[purpleish]

^ yes sis shopping ang kasagutan

[somethingreal]

thanks sis aquacharly! that made me feel so much better!

[princess_angel]

mga sis, bawal nang magdala ng delata at instant noodles ngaun sa US? punta kasi ako doon this saturday. although working visa naman ako. i will stay there for 12 weeks. sayang din naman kasi yung matitipid ko kung magdala na lang ako ng food ko. hehe! port of entry ko is Chicago, pero going to Minneapolis ako.

yup totoo yan sis... meron pa den 2nd interview pag dating na sa immigration dun sa US

nung nasa US ako nung 2007 meron report sa Chanel 2 na dalawang mag kapatid na babae na ang point of entry nila is sa Detroit... ilan beses na daw sila nakapunta ng US pero di nila akalain na ganun ang mangyayari sa kanila, ang main purpose nila is mag bakasyon lang talaga pero hindi na niwala yung mga officers, pinapaamin sila na mag wowork lang daw sila siguro kasi nga medyo mga bata 2x pa ata (i guess mga 18-23 sila), ang ginawa pag hinawalay yung 2 mag kapatiid at ininterview...in short hindi sila pinayagan pumasok and bumalik na lang dito sa Pinas..na discriminate daw sila

sis, i think i know the two sisters. anak sila ng officemate ng dad ko. college grad na sila pareho pero mukha lang talaga silang bata. sabi ng dad ko, galit na galit daw yung officemate nya nung pinabalik yung mga anak nya.

[purpleish]

^ baka nga sis....pinakita kasi yung dalawang mag kapatid sa TFC nun, kwinento nila yung nangyari sa kanila...talagang nakakagalit kung ganun man mangyari kasi sympre expense den nila sa plane, ok lang sana kung mababayaran yung ginastos dun..kaso unpredictable kasi yung decissions ng mga I.O. ...meron talagang mga instance na ganito ang pwedeng mangyari...

[aquacharly]

SOMETHINGREAL   relax, most people do not have that 2nd interview.
                            But should you get that, it is better than outright being denied entry at ma airport to airport ka --- coz that is done at the 1st interview after you get off the plane.

Per my experience/observations,  those who "win the award"  LOL of getting that 2nd interview are the following:

     1.   Families bringing in a total of over $10thou altogether
If you bring in US$100 that entirely fill up your carry-on -- you will be given your own Detention Room like a VIP hostage.  LOL
(hindi, never did I merit such VIP Treatment)
IF just over but not enough for your own Detention Room,  yes -- as cited by the others here ... the family members are separated... specifically, 1 member is singled out for interrogation.  The others are on stand-by about 10meters away  ... this all happens in that area after baggage retrieval.

   2.  Students without  scholarships.. just spending entirely for their studies... yan kadalasan may 2nd interview coz of 9/11

   3.  People who have once upon a time lost a passport, lalo na kung may US visa in that passport... like my Atchi.

   4.   People who year in and year out .. stay for 6 months, like clockwork.  Yan obvious ba?

    5.  Yung natapatan ng hourly random checks.

[hunny_ally]

^ i won that award aquacharly lol

when i went to US Oct/Nov 2003, i didnt set a return flight date though i have a return ticket. i was in the US to attend a cousin's wedding. since i still dont know when the 2nd sem starts (for college), I didnt set a specific return flight. sayang naman my stay if uuwi kaagad ako eh may extra days pa for me to stay in US.

some questions the IO asked me:

whats the purpose of my stay?
why didnt set a return flight?
do i have any plans of staying in the US? i answered no and explained that i only have a semester to go before graduation so why would i stay there and waste almost 4yrs of hard work in school. i even showed her the final paper i was writing that i had to submit to my professor once I get access to internet

then she made pakialam my wallet and cellphone. she asked me to translate the message (it was in tagalog) i sent to my tita about immigration. i texted her kasi that we might miss our connecting flight from detroit to cleveland (we only had an hour to spare). and whats weird ha she actually went thru each of my messages and asked if sinu-sino yung nagpadala. talk about being ochosera. 

the IO then asked me if i have a driver's license. i said no. then she asked me how do i go around MNL. i said i have a driver. the IO then asked my lola (who was travelling with me) if she has a driver too. she answered yes.  then the mahaderang IO sarcastically asked me "so i assume you have a maid too". i said yes, it's normal in the PH to have a maid. then she asked my lola "how about you. do you have a maid as well?" my lola answered "no. i have 4!" 

winner!

[hunny_ally]

btw, our interview was not a detention room but in an area which similarly looked like a bank, may waiting area then you'd have to approach the counter when it's your turn.

my lola was so funny pa. she was so livid that they "asked" us to go to that area. at that time i think bush was in the philippines (i think he came in the day we flew out to US). she kept on saying "hindi nila tayo papasukin? papapatay namin si bush duon" i kept telling my lola to shut up esp americans are so paranoid at that time bec of 9/11

[chuzzle]

^ haha your lola is adorable

ano ba yun..she even went through your text messages. I don't let my bf read my inbox nga so kung ako yun, I'll feel weird. Well, what can anybody do diba...she's the officer in charge.

[purpleish]

^ sis totoo yan may times talaga na pwedeng gawin nila yun sa immigration, lalo na kung may doubt sila...talaga iccheck nila yung gamit mo, may instance talaga na may nahuhuli silang mga tao na nabubuko nila sa pag check ng gamit (ito yung mga nag babalak mag TNT hehe)...

[chamonix617]

Mga sis! What about preggy like me? I'm two mos pregnant and punta ko NY sa August. May question din ba sila sa situation ko? If ever [textspeak!] 6mos [textspeak!] bigay nila sken I'm planning to give birth na rin dun na. possible ba un? Thanks:)

[lakwatsa]

^ay sis, as a tourist, its a no-no to give birth dun sa US. parang sinamantala mo naman ang hospitality ng US di ba. pag nanganak ka dun, since tourist ka, libre ang hospital bills mo c/o the taxpayers. kaya naghihigpit tuloy sila sa mga tourists dahil sa mga ganyang pangyayari. i think mas mahigpit sila sa mga buntis dahil nga sa mga ganung cases na dun lang gustong manganak. i think mga 2wks lang binibigay nila pag nakita nilang pregnant.

[purpleish]

^ oo nga sis lalo na kung medyo umbok na ang tiyan...baka malabong maka 6months... parang natatandaan ko dun sa form, parang may question kung pregnant ba?