Usual US Port of Entry Questions - Tourist

[m_lim]

pwede ba magdala ng Misua noodles and knorr sinigang mix sa check in baggage?

[mom_G]

^ok lang yung misua noodles & sinigang mix.  yung lagi nilang naco-confiscate lately is magic sarap, i guess it has some meat in its ingredients.

[m_lim]

girls, akala ko magkakaproblema ako sa immigration kahapon. sobrang dami tinanong! sa totoo lang takot na takot na ako.

maybe because i was travelling alone. grabe talaga kaba ko kahapon

[little_princess]

sis! wow, nasa states ka naman ngayon! what did they ask you? kami last entry namin natanong din kami, they questioned bat ang dami daw namin cash tapos pina bilang pa sa customs! kala namin we will miss our connecting flight.

[m_lim]

ako namiss ko na talaga yung connecting ko! ganun ako katagal na question. feeling ko nga namumula na ako sa takot sa dami ng tanong! kaya unang una dapat be calm kahit ano pang itanong sa yo.

tinanong una ano purpose ng trip then bakit hindi ako sumabay sa husband ko nung pinadala siya for an 8week seminar. how much cash and credit card ko. kelan ako last nagpunta ng US. kung kelan ako kinasal. nasan return ticket ko. may anak na ba ako.

then pilit niya ako pinaamin na may 3 na akong anak kasi yun daw lumabas sa records nila. sabi ko wala talaga. dito kami natagalan kasi feeling ko gusto niya sabihin na sinungaling ako. turns out  mga kapatid ko pala yun at ewan ko bakit lumabas na mga anak ko sila.

hanggang customs na dapat bagahe lang ang pakialaman, na question ako sa purpose ng trip. ayaw maniwala ng shopping. then nung nalaman niya na nandito husband ko, sabi niya dapat sinabi ko daw na to visit my husband kesa sabihin kong shopping. mas believable daw yun.

gusto ko nga sumagot ng secondary purpose lang yun dahil bakit pa ako pupunta dito just to visit my husband eh uuwi na siya next month. pero di na ako sumagot baka mAinis pa saken.

traumatic talaga! then dahil nga namiss ko ang connecting ko, na delay pa ako ng 7hours dahil may thunderstorms sa Chicago. gusto ko maiyak! i am three months preggy at grabe ang tinakbo ko para makahabol sa flight pero wala, binigay na sa iba yung seats.

feeling ko mali na sinabi ko na shopping ang main purpose ko. kahit na yun ang totoo.

kaya hindi mo rin talaga alam kung kelan sumpungin ng mga topak itong officers na ito. hahanapan ka talaga ng butas.

never na ako mag ttravel alone!

[nicaa]

^ nakakainis naman yun, sila pa talaga nag suggest kung anong mas believable na reason, e kung yun naman talaga reason mo to travel. at talagang pinilit ka pa na may anak, edi sila na lang kaya ang sumagot ng interview mo?! haha kidding aside, traumatic nga yun lalo at pregnant ka pa. anong lahi ng nag interview sayo? sakin lagi nagkakataon na half filipino, di na ko tinatanong masyado, lalo na port of entry ko lagi is California maluwag sila dun, unlike sa Chicago baka mas strict nga sila dun.

[mama squeak!]

traumatic talaga! then dahil nga namiss ko ang connecting ko, na delay pa ako ng 7hours dahil may thunderstorms sa Chicago. gusto ko maiyak! i am three months preggy at grabe ang tinakbo ko para makahabol sa flight pero wala, binigay na sa iba yung seats.

Chicago din yung port of entry ko last month. I was travelling alone din pero dalawa lang tinanong sa akin ng IO kung saan ako nagwo-work and gaano ako katagal mag-stay this time. I had an easy time probably because in and out ako ng US. They can see that kasi sa records nila.

Ang hindi lang maganda sa trip ko was na-delay din ako because of thunderstorm sa Chicago. Resulta na-cancel yung flight ko and I had to go to the city to catch the last train out to my final destination. Kaya sabi ko my next trip ayoko na sa Chicago during spring/summer kasi madalas bad weather dyan.

[m_lim]

sis sa detroit ang POE ko. pansin ko lang ang higpit nila doon kasi ang bagal talaga ng usad ng pila dahil mabusisi ang tanong. puti itong officer na napuntahan ko.

nainis talaga ako kasi ewan ko kung nayabangan ba sila sa sagot ko na shopping ang reason ko (sinabihan ako wala bang shoppingan sa manila?) maski totoo naman. ewan anong trip nila

[nicaa]

^ oh no detroit pala! ang dami nga nagrreklamo sa detroit, dun yata talaga pinaka strict kaya sabi nga nila iwasan daw mag enter dun.

dapat nga matuwa sila na magsshop ka sa US at makakatulong yun sa economy nila. sana di na rin sila sumasagot ng pa-kontra like wala bang shoppingan sa manila. nakakainis nga yun, parang imbes na mageenjoy ka e sa simula pa lang mabbadtrip ka na dahil sa kanila. ang labo talaga nila minsan, kasalanan pa nila na namiss mo yung connecting flight sobrang hassle pa yun. pero buti na lang nakapasok ka rin kahit pahirap sila, e wala naman silang reason para di ka papasukin sa US. d bale, mag enjoy ka na lang jan at kalimutan yung mga officers na yun

[little_princess]

what's with detroit ba? kami dun din POE namin and na-hold kami. if i remember right, black guy yung IO that time and we were all sleepy and groggy then he asked my mom how much cash do we have. she hesitated then num sinabi yung amount, sabi niya why do we have so many cash.. i answered that we're going shopping and 5 kami and he didn't want to believe us. then we were sent sa customs and they counted our cash. i complained after dun sa customs na girl because she seems nice and she said madami daw hindi nag dedeclare tapos ang dami palang dalang cash

[theflygirl]

Went to the US for my annual summer break trip last May. I was only asked how long I was staying & how much money I had with me. Although sa kakabalik2x ko dun, twas my first time to encounter an IO (Mexican descent) na approaching pa Lang ako sa kanya, naka-frown na agad. I'm not sure though if it was me, but I think it was the person before me that he had a problem with. He didn't give me a hard time anyway. Kainis Lang his facial expression.

[marssie]

May nakaexperience na bang pumunta ng US ng buntis? yung tipong 2months nalang manganganak na..

[estellebunyi]

Hi.. i just got approved for 10 years.. ano mas magandang airlines? Delta or united.. i just enrolled in their frequent flyer skymiles and mileage plus.. i have lots of questions since it's my first time..  i will visit my grandma in corpus christi texas in november..  i tried seaching for flights going to corpus christi... Sa united airlines, guam ang 1st stopover 2nd is honolulu 3rd is houston before corpus christi..ang dami stop overs! Ang concern ko is san ang port of entry ko if ever i chose that flight from united and sa dami ng stopovers what if delayed yung isang flight so baka mamiss ko connecting flights ko di ba? Sa delta naman walang flight to corpus christi...sa houston lang..papasundo na lang daw ako..most flights may stopover sa detroit, narita airport sa japan, atlanta etc before houston..if my stopover is in detroit or jfk or atlanta doon di ba port of entry ko or sa houston na? need pa ba ng transit visa sa narita?          Thanks

[mooncake and leaves]

^ corpus christi is closer to los angeles than detroit is. why don't you try getting a flight to los angeles? from there, there are direct flights to corpus christi.

i've tried delta, friends have tried delta. nothing significant to say. so-so. united, i haven't tried but i heard bad reviews regarding their customer service.

[estellebunyi]

Corpus christi is in texas (3hour drive from houston)so very far from los angeles...

[mama squeak!]

^Of course it's too far to drive to Corpus Christi coming from LAX. What she is suggesting to you is get a flight to Los Angeles instead of Detroit as the former is nearer in distance compared to the latter. There are a lot of direct domestic flights to Corpus Christi from LAX.

[mooncake and leaves]

^^ my bad. no direct flights from LA to corpus christi pala. talagang there's a stopover at houston or dallas. but what I'm saying is you can fly with PAL and enter thru los angeles. Or even if you don't like PAL, you can still enter thru LA, doesn't have to be detroit if you don't like that POE.

[theflygirl]

No direct LAXCRP flights. Mostly via DFW or IAH on either AA or UA.

[estellebunyi]

Thanks.. i will travel alone kasi..i might try united na [textspeak!] pero 3 stopovers...guam,hawaii, dallas then corpus... Sa guam ba poe or sa hawaii?   If delta i will choose siguro the flight with stopovers to japan or atlanta..need pa ba transit visa sa narita?

[mama squeak!]

My bad too! There used to be direct flights of the legacy airlines like AA, UA and NW from LAX to CRP. Now most of these airlines including LCCs go via HOU and DFW.

Aside from Delta, you can take Cathay Pacific via HKG to LAX connecting with their oneworld partner AA to CRP via DFW.