Being turned away from a U.S. airport

[Damian P 92]

Kim, this is why I only ever spend a week or two at a time per visit, and make absolutely sure that each visit is seperated by at least 3 months. I'm never gonna give anyone at immigration reason to refuse me entry.

This has made me a little nervous now.

I stayed in the US for 6 weeks on the VWP and then returned to the UK on July 21st. I've been working to make sure my rent is all paid here, and I plan on going back to the US around August 25th-September 25th.

Do you think this will be a problem?

I have a copy of registration from my university stating that my course ends in June 2009 - and also a copy of my apartment contract ending in July 2009.

Gemmie, I didn't want to put the frightners on you - I'm sure you'll be fine. How long are you planning on spending out there this time? How long did you stay out there last time, and what was the time span between that visit and the one before?

What immigration is looking for in particular, are people that seem to be spending more time in the U.S. than they are at home. As long as you don't fall into that category, and can produce the kind of evidence linking you to the U.K. that you speak of, I personally can't see a problem. But then I'm not an immigration official.

[sunnybear 0]

Gemmie you should be fine I think! Gareth had no rent anymore as he had just moved back in with him Mum to save money and had nothing else at all to tie him there so I can see (kinda even though I don't wanna admit it haha!) why he was sent back....

Good luck and I am sure all will be good to go!

[franklie 0]

hhmm, I knew a girl from Ecuador who flew into LAX from Chile where she was studying at the university to see her boyfriend. She was asked at immigration why she was coming to the US and she said to marry her boyfriend.

She did NOT pass Go. She did NOT collect $200. She went to the INS jail and stayed there for 2 days before she got shipped back to Chile. She then had to buy a ticket to get back to her home country of Ecuador.

While she was in jail with the other "illegals" she could not bathe, was given minimum food, slept on the floor and NOT allowed to call her BF.

Ironically, she had previously come to the US many times previously and had even gotten her maestria (Masters degree) at a well known American university.

[Gemmie 142]

hhmm, I knew a girl from Ecuador who flew into LAX from Chile where she was studying at the university to see her boyfriend. She was asked at immigration why she was coming to the US and she said to marry her boyfriend.

Why would she say that? Did she really have intent to get married or did she think it would help somehow?

[Yiyi and Chris 0]

Scary stories....

**IT happens!

[Ms. Squirrel 11]

All this POE talk is getting me worried now. I was there in June (for 10 days), now flying over there again end of the month (two weeks) and going over there for Thanksgiving for another two weeks.

What should I bring with me to prove strong ties? Argh, being turned away at POE would be my worst nightmare!

[Krikit 1,163]

All this POE talk is getting me worried now. I was there in June (for 10 days), now flying over there again end of the month (two weeks) and going over there for Thanksgiving for another two weeks.

What should I bring with me to prove strong ties? Argh, being turned away at POE would be my worst nightmare!

I find this to be a pretty thorough and helpful link:

Visitation FAQ's

[Ms. Squirrel 11]

Thanks Krikit!

I am just putting way too much thought into this.

[przy 0]

My friend's daughter comes over several times a year but over stayed her visa by a few days on the last visit. The next time she returned for a visit she was denied entry, interogated by the nasty immigration officers and made to wait in a dingy little room for 24 hours then put on a plane back to her home country! No hot meals or place to sleep after her 14 hour flight here. She refuses to ever come back to America.

That's intense and pretty poor treatment, but to play devil's advocate here, she did overstay her visa at one point... not a wise choice. I am sure a lot of cases occur like that where people 'test' the waters with visa overstays and then return for longer periods of times and even don't bother to return back to their home country (and this is not refering to your friend's daughter, this is just a generalization).

Edited August 13, 2008 by przy

[Moto-zutto 0]

There is no reason for treatment like that, I thnk some people might be confused with some of the questions that's all. Maybe something flew up a red flag or something??

[KimandRuss 0]

Oh, Red Sox suck, btw.(you know how I like to put a completely random statement into my posts!!)

HEY!!!! Don't make me hurt you!

I think anyone coming in at this point is nervous. We did have reason to be turned away so our case was a little different. No ties to home... basically living here for over a year leaving the Country for a weekend every 90 days. We sure got what we could out of it. Usually, it's not a problem as long as you have no previous overstays, have ties to your own Country and a ticket home.

What disturbs me most is the treatment of these everyday folks who are just coming to spend time with the person they love. Why on earth is it necessary to handcuff and abuse a human being like that?

I think some people are just on power trips and are getting terrorism confused with intent to immigrate. Sad really.

[foreverido 2]

I am also planning a trip to the US to see my wife. Wanna visit for about 2 weeks. this is my first trip since we submitted the I-130 in April ( our case is almost completed now). i am just worried that when i say i am here to see my wife...they will have a problem with it. But whatever happen happens...cause i am not gonna lie.

[Wei&Shu(Joe) 2]

One of our group just had in laws come for visit, the father in law was jailed over night and next day they returned home

Yes, this was a very very sad story. I hope that they are all recovered from that trauma.

[Damian P 92]

Oh, Red Sox suck, btw.(you know how I like to put a completely random statement into my posts!!)

HEY!!!! Don't make me hurt you!

Not my fault you support a suckass team now is it!!!

Got Albert...................

...??????????

LOL!! Anyhoo..................................

[britty 1]

Ha you are talking of me and nope he did not get to "freshen up" in fact he got questioned in customs at Detroit for 4 hours....including two calls to me I believe it was from customs and then a third call from him as they let him callme to let me know they weren't letting him in.

They then handcuffed him and brought him to jail in Dearborn.....he got to wear his clothes but did have to remove all piercings....he then sat there for 14 hours where a guard offered him some beef jerky and then made a joke how he "was feeding the alien"......sigh gotta love the impression Americans can make.....

He then was again police escorted onto a flight back to London and only given his passport once in the air.....

And no we did not get refunded for any plane tickets.....

Customs officials really need a kick up the *** I think the power of being able to decide "who stays" and "who goes" really does go to their head. The UK and US are supposed to share a "special" relationship, and even if they didn't, there is no need to handcuff someone and then offer them beef jerky, possibly the worst food stuff in the western world. I was totally oblivious to all the regulations when my husband and I applied for the K-1. I was made redundant and decided to visit the US for 3 months, and it was during that time he proposed and we made the application. Two days before the 90 day max for visiting the US, I went back to the UK and stayed for a week before returning to the US. I stayed in the US another 2 months, returned to the UK, and came in again for a third set. On the third occasion, the immigration officer asked me why I was coming in and I said, in all my ignorance, "oh Im going through the K-1 visa process as Im marrying a US citizen. I dont have a job in the UK anymore so I thought I would spend the time here with my fiance. Also, Im selling my house now too so pretty soon I wont have my home in the UK either". He wished me luck with my marriage and told me to enjoy my stay !!!