I returned to the US through Houston from India yesterday for the first time after receiving my GC. The officer greeted "hello," then asked me "where I went," "how long I was gone for," "why I was gone for." Then she swiped my GC and started clicking on a whole bunch of stuff on the screen. Then she stamped my passport and wrote ARC and also stamped the Customs form. I said "thanks" and left. It took about 3-5 minutes. The silence while she clicked away was the most awkward part. You can't make a conversation or small talk- at least I didn't think that was appropriate.
Then at the Customs Exit point, the officer asked me rudely (maybe they are trained to be aggressive) if there were "aam" "barfi" and something else in Hindi that I couldn't understand. I barely understood "aam" and "barfi." To the third item I kept saying "what? what?" as I didn't have a clue and he started laughing and so did I and then he let me go.
The whole thing from immigration to exiting took me about 45 minutes. The longest part of course was waiting for my bags at the carousel. Overall an OK experience.
Then at the Customs Exit point, the officer asked me rudely (maybe they are trained to be aggressive) if there were "aam" "barfi" and something else in Hindi that I couldn't understand. I barely understood "aam" and "barfi." To the third item I kept saying "what? what?" as I didn't have a clue and he started laughing and so did I and then he let me go.
The whole thing from immigration to exiting took me about 45 minutes. The longest part of course was waiting for my bags at the carousel. Overall an OK experience.
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