Usual US Port of Entry Questions - Tourist

[Vera]

@theflygirl: off-topic to and since I don't want to start a new thread, would like to ask you, since you're an airline insider.

Is it OK to sell miles to someone else? I have more than 250,000 PAL miles and around 100,000 United Miles left and I plan to dispose most of them since fully booked na ako this year. Can I buy tickets for someone using my miles and have that person reimburse the tickets? Some people do it but not sure if it's illegal or what.

[aquacharly]

About DENIED US TOURIST VISA APPLICATIONS
            IF  the reason for deniall is the absence/lack of supporting documents -- the consul does not stamp anything on your passport
            BUT if the denial is a firm denial.. as in the consul is of the opinion given everything you presented and answered, you are not deserving of a tourist visa -- the date of your interview is stamped in your passport.

When you apply for a tourist visa with any embassy, you hold your passport until the interview.   So that stamp is not really supposed to affect your applications lodged with other countries.  HOWEVER,  some forms of certain countries specifically inquire if you have been denied a visa by any country.

The above info given by my sister who owns a travel agency.

Now, I will share more with you... for those who have been denied tourist visas but still want to land in the US... another route is to get a student's visa.  Work it out.  Even if you have been denied a tourist visa, you can still get a student's visa.
But then, again, as a tourist you weren't intending to stay for long, right?  So that student visa is a feasible alternative ONLY if you just wanted to enter the US for more than "tourist"  reasons... no judgment. 
  If you want info on the easiest way to get accepted by a school in the US .. PM me.  (I do not believe in being swapang about info)

[theflygirl]

^^Vera-I am not familiar with UA's mileage rules but for PR (although I am not from PR either ha), you can have tickets issued using your miles for someone else as long as they are also mabuhay miles members. So I guess bahala ka na how much you will charge them for the tickets...hehe..internal agreement between the two of you na siguro...also, the passenger has to adhere to the rules and regulations of using the mileage ticket.

Sell miles? You can actually transfer miles in certain increments to another person for a fee.

Do check out https://www.mabuhaymiles.com/Images/travelawardredemptionform_tcm42-4735.pdf for PR's rules.

[Vera]

^^Vera-I am not familiar with UA's mileage rules but for PR (although I am not from PR either ha), you can have tickets issued using your miles for someone else as long as they are also mabuhay miles members. So I guess bahala ka na how much you will charge them for the tickets...hehe..internal agreement between the two of you na siguro...also, the passenger has to adhere to the rules and regulations of using the mileage ticket.

Sell miles? You can actually transfer miles in certain increments to another person for a fee.

Do check out https://www.mabuhaymiles.com/Images/travelawardredemptionform_tcm42-4735.pdf for PR's rules.

Oh thank you. So that person needs to be a Mabuhay Miles member din pala. OK I will check the link that you gave me.

[ais730]

I went to the US alone in 2008 via Korean Air.. Port of entry ko sa JFK airport. Mga questions lang sa kin nun is what's the purpose of your trip? so i said vacation.. where are you going to stay? i said with my aunt.. tapos yun na.. i was giving pa nga my return ticket pero the officer said no need. I remember 1,000 USD lang cash ko nun and then my master card... I guess you just really need to answer confidently.. and keep it precise para wala ng follow up questions.

[Romina]

Questions asked to my guy friend when he went here for vacation last May;

Where are you going to stay?
What is your job in the Philippines?
Did you pack your luggage yourself?

And then he's in my loving arms na. He gave the officer straight answers and then ok na.

[aquacharly]

Arrived at LAX last night and never saw it that busy before... looks like every 15min a plane would land fully loaded.   Never saw such snaking lines just to exit after the carousels.

What was asked?  1 question:  What is your purpose for coming to the US this time?   (gave the same answer as given earlier this year/April): shopping.   (We frequently stay for just a week, max 10 days all the time, so there).  No more questions.

(Of course, na 2nd interview kami later on due to our bringing in over USD10thou.   What for you bring etc etc etc...  As usual, ako tagasagot... shopping and eating, whatever else for? )

The thing is nga as I always say, 1 tanong 1 sagot.  I could have answered the 1st question at the 1st interview with the bigger truth... to check on our condos, to look at other condos to invest in.  And where would that have gotten us?  A 2-3 hour wait for our turn at the bigger 2nd interview. 
One can really bank on that Management Classic:  KISS  (Keep it simple, Stupid).  hehe

[theflygirl]

^Correct! 

[reese**]

first time ko last march makapag US. the officer just asked me what's my purpose. i said im visiting my best friend, then ok na. sa lax pala iyon.

[maddie_girl]

went to the US just this month. Port of entry was JFK airport in New York. the officer just asked 2 questions. what's my purpose in coming, i said for vacation and how long i was going to stay. yun lang and he gave me 6 months. i didn't even bother to dress nicely. i looked like a refugee actually.

[avpoohlar]

Port of entry during our trip last year was at McCarran airport in Las Vegas.  Questions directed to my hubby were: 1) what is the purpose of your trip? 2) where do you plan to go? 3) what is the nature of your business in the philippines?  Yun lang, then when it was my turn, no questions na.

[mintlair]

When my brother and I went to the US last April 2004 and LAX entry namin, the officer asked us where we will stay and what we are going to do. I just answered that we will stay with my cousin and we will go see places, sight-seeing. then tinatakan na ang passports namin, 6months stay. Pero we stayed there for a month lang. That time I just started working and my brother just finished his 1st year in college. Mukha naman siguro kaming harmless kaya kami pinayagan, hehe..

For my mom naman, when she went there for the 1st time nung March 2002, her point of entry was Minneapolis and matagal siyang kinausap ng immigration officer. na-hold baggage nya and after the questioning, pinapunta siya sa isang kuwarto tapos nasa lamesa yung bagahe nya at nakabulatlat na ang mga damit.  She was going to Nebraska that time to visit her good friend and doon kasi ang entry tapos connecting flight to Nebraska na. Napagdudahan yata siya kasi nga katatapos lang ng 09/11 nun so strict talaga sila sa mga Pinoy tourists. Na-trauma tuloy nanay ko. Simula nun, LAX na lagi ang entry nya na sa tingin ko maluwag talaga.

[design21]

WARNING: DETROIT.  i hate this port of entry! sabi sakin friends ko from NY, hay pinaka worse daw talaga yang port of entry na yan and from my experience true. Wala naman kaming choice kasi yan ang port of entry ng delta ailrines which i will never ride again.

Sa ilang beses na ako nagpunta sa US, sa detriot lang ako nahold sa immigration. We have 8k USD for the three of us (family). they kept on insisting na we should declare if it is more than 10k USD. So we said we only have 8K. Aba binilang pa talaga yung money. So ok lang kasi true naman 8K talaga yun. We were attending a seminar back then eh may bayad yung seminar. Nakakainis lang sa hassle kasi may connecting flight pa kami hinahabol.

Sa LAX naman, i never encountered any problem.

[bertinelli]

ay oo strict talaga sa detroit.

jfk medyo maluwag.

[Vera]

Some questions are weird, I must say, e.g., Did you pack your stuff yourself? LOL.  I think now I should be all smiles when the immigration officer says, "How was your trip? Welcome back to the U.S.!"

[bertinelli]

^important question yon.
kaya tinatanong ang did you pack your luggage by yourself is because baka may illegal items kang dala. kaya if you said yes at may nakitang contraband item e fully responsible ka.

[theflygirl]

^^It's SOP to ask that question...di lang nasusunod usually na i-ask...there are lots of people who don't pack their own stuff, which is actually dangerous (AND stupid)...problem is, especially in the Philippine culture, uso sa atin yung mga padala padala...who knows what's in the packages, diba...di ka naman pwede magbeg off ng ignorance in case mahulihan ka ng illegal item...

[somethingreal]

I know I started this thread and I just wanted to share my experience when I arrived in Chicago (it's my first trip to the U.S.).

The line was super long and there were a lot of Indians. I just noticed that it takes a while for an IO to interview them, they are probably asking a lot of questions. There were staff there to guide you which window you're supposed to get in line in. Nung malapit na turn ko, nawala sila and so I had the freedom to choose which IO to go to. The IO basically asked me about my work in the PH. What do I do, how long have I worked there, who am I going to visit here, and what does that person do. Medyo mahaba din, pero mabait si IO and he stamped 6 months on my I-94.

[somethingreal]

Thank you for all your help here!

[prettymom]

it'll be our first Us trip this October, and during our interview in the US Embassy our eason for our travel is for my husband to attend a convention in Orlando, which is really true and what we intend to do, but since tickets are relatively expensive in going and out Orlando we planned to enter in Las Vegas and stay to his cousin's house for 3 days, then proceed to Orlando after that, then exit from there going back here.
My Questions:
1. as sis aquacharly said that the reason we said to the US Embassy will pop out in the US IO, if we'll be aske of our puspose of travel, can we say, To have a few days vacation here in Las vegas, then move to Orlando on the 3rd day to attend the convention? or just say for vacation?
2. is it ok to bring dried fish for husband's cousin there and some ensaymada as they made bilin about?

thanks a lot in andvance