Questions I was asked at JFK airport.

B

BananaRepublic

New Member
I was out of the country for 2 weeks and when I came back at JFK airport in New York the officer at border control asked me what am I doing here after I gave him my US pasport. I told him that I live here, he then asked me how long I was out of the country and what I do for a living here. I answered his question and then he put arrival stamp in my pasport and gave it back to me. The question here is why did he ask me these weird questions? Is it because I am a citizen of another country as well or is it because he thought I live in another country and come to US once every 5 years? I always thought that once I am US citizen I can stay abroad as long as I wish without the risk of losing my US citizenship. I traveled out of the country last year and noone asked me any questions at the airport when I came back. Has this happened to anyone?
 
At passport control they don't only question foreigners, and it's not always about residency issues. They have to check everyone for inconsistencies. Illegal activity is a big problem, no?
 
The CBP officer was constipated, unless you came back from two weeks in Cuba, I don't see the problem in your case.

Cafe,

You are completely wrong, any government that was consistency in the travel patterns of people who life in a free society is on the brink of dictatorial powers. The CBP officer was just full of squash juice...
 
Thought I would ad my experience at POE yesterday. This was the second time I entered as a US citizen. The first time I also got asked a couple of questions similar to the OP. On this occasion I entered from England via Chicago O’Hare en route to San Diego where I live. I went to England to visit friends and was away for about 10 days.

Similar to some other’s experience I was subject to much more detailed questioning compared to when I was on H1-B or GC. I was tired and wanted to go through as fast as possible so I don’t recall all of the questions.

The questioning starts with a very detailed look at my photo to see if it looks like me – so much so I raised my eyebrows in surprise as it was somewhat over the top IMO.

Questions I recall –

How long have you lived in the US

Have you always lived in CA.

Where have you been.

How long

What do you do for a living

What’s your DOB

HE then goes through my passport and spots an entry stamp to Canada, More questions

Can you tell tell me what that stamp is about – where did you go, who did you go to see etc.

Asks again how long I was out of the country probably trying to trip me up.

Next goes to customs form and starts asking questions there – are you bringing money, meats etc.

Finally after all he stamps the passport and says “Welcome home Sir”.

He seemed to spend a long time with the previous two people also and kept swiping the passports multiple times so it is possible his computer was down and was trying to verify things by questioning people although I did not see this many questions being asked of the people in front.

It was no big deal to me but I left mildly irritated. I was thinking that one of the benefits of being a Citizen is that return would be less of a hassle but based on this experience it appears to be more. Hopefully I don’t keep seeing this each time I return
 
Next time, assert your rights as a citizen and don't play their silly games! They have to let you in. They just like to pick on naturalized citizens who have become afraid of immigration officers as a result of years of lack of rights as an immigrant.

I am looking forward to putting an immigration officer in his place after I become a US citizen!
 
LOL Jack - you are probably correct. Otherwise I have no explanation as to why so many naturalized citizens seem to have similar expereinces when re-entering the country. Had he asked the same question the third time I would have asked to see the senior officer in charge. I certainly was not intimidated and spoke with him in the same manner as he spoke with me.

Have fun putting them in their place :cool:
 
2 words: Global Entry

(Global Entry is your express pass to process through the United States' international arrival areas. Automated kiosks are designed to process pre-approved, low-risk international travelers who qualify.)

$100 for 5 years of not standing in line and not answering stupid questions.
 
Jackolantern said:
Next time, assert your rights as a citizen and don't play their silly games! They have to let you in. They just like to pick on naturalized citizens who have become afraid of immigration officers as a result of years of lack of rights as an immigrant.

I am looking forward to putting an immigration officer in his place after I become a US citizen!
Click to expand...
"Asserting your rights" will most likely lend you in a secondary inspection area where you will spend several hours and may miss your connection flight. Sure, they cannot refuse entry to a citizen and will let you in... eventually, but at what cost?
 
König said:
"Asserting your rights" will most likely lend you in a secondary inspection area where you will spend several hours and may miss your connection flight. Sure, they cannot refuse entry to a citizen and will let you in... eventually, but at what cost?
Click to expand...

There you go, carrying your old fears from being an immigrant. That rarely happens to citizens who assert their rights and refuse to play their stupid games. And the POE is usually my final destination so I'm not worried about connecting flights.
 
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Jackolantern said:
Next time, assert your rights as a citizen and don't play their silly games! They have to let you in. They just like to pick on naturalized citizens who have become afraid of immigration officers as a result of years of lack of rights as an immigrant.

I am looking forward to putting an immigration officer in his place after I become a US citizen!
Click to expand...

Hey Jack...When are you planning to apply N400?
 
Risah said:
2 words:

(Global Entry is your express pass to process through the United States' international arrival areas. Automated kiosks are designed to process pre-approved, low-risk international travelers who qualify.)

$100 for 5 years of not standing in line and not answering stupid questions.
Click to expand...

That sounds like an interesting idea and I did see those Global Entry booths. Looking at the website and reading about the process it does not seem like you are guaranteed not to get sent to a booth. The machine will print a receipt telling you whether you can exit or you need to go to a booth - I guess maybe when fingerprint authetication fails. So enrolling may help but not a guarantee against having to see an officer.
 
Jack, I am with you on exercising my right as a citizen. But what exactly are you proposing a person should do if he finds himself in the OP's situation?
 
Jackolantern said:
There you go, carrying your old fears from being an immigrant. That rarely happens to citizens who assert their rights and refuse to play their stupid games. And the POE is usually my final destination so I'm not worried about connecting flights.
Click to expand...
I am being practical, that is all. If a natural-born citizen decides to "assert his rights" in the manner you have suggested, he will be dealt with in the same way. CBP does not like when you assert your rights and they have the means to inconvenience you enough... not to assert your rights in the future. Being immigrant or not has nothing to do with this scenario. Also, since you hinted at my "old fears from being an immigrant" - I did not have much of them while being a LPR and I do not have much of them now.

seadull said:
Jack, I am with you on exercising my right as a citizen. But what exactly are you proposing a person should do if he finds himself in the OP's situation?
Click to expand...
Read this topic. If you decide to go ahead and exercise your "rights" as a citizen, do not forget to write back about your experience.
 
I finally re-entered the US as a US Citizen a little over a week ago. I have never had a smoother and easier entry. My passport was scanned and returned to me with a simple "thank you, go ahead." No questions at all. I was pleasantly surprised as I was expecting at least a couple of questions, and I definitely wasn't expecting them to thank ME.
 
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cfiler said:
I finally re-entered the US as a US Citizen a little over a week ago. I have never had a smoother and easier entry. My passport was scanned and returned with me with a simple "thank you, go ahead." No questions at all. I was pleasantly surprised as I was expecting at least a couple of questions, and I definitely wasn't expecting them to thank ME.
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Hmm... never happened to me - it's always a whole bunch of questions and then some. I am surprised they did not ask you at least customs-related questions.
 
I had my first POE experience at Newark, NJ as a naturalized citizen when I returned after visiting UK for a week. It was totally hassle free - I was not asked a single question. It was almost like the person scanning your boarding pass before you get inside a plane - quick and easy. The CBP officer scanned my passport and returned it saying "there you go". I said "Thank you" and off I went. He was not friendly but then he was not even remotely unfriendly either. All in all, a smooth homecoming experience for me.
 
Maybe tonnes of questions from CBP is a West Coast thing? Particulary, SFO and SEA, and also always at the Canadian border.
 
Jackolantern said:
Next time, assert your rights as a citizen and don't play their silly games! They have to let you in. They just like to pick on naturalized citizens who have become afraid of immigration officers as a result of years of lack of rights as an immigrant.

I am looking forward to putting an immigration officer in his place after I become a US citizen!
Click to expand...

Jackolantern,

I am sure that we all would like to hear that story. When are you taking the oath?
 
König said:
Read this topic. If you decide to go ahead and exercise your "rights" as a citizen, do not forget to write back about your experience.
Click to expand...

Well this is a classic case of showing rudeness and expecting nice behavior. I do acknowledge that many immigration officers/passport control officers can be rude, but there are many many which are very nice. I personally have seen both.

What Jackolantern mentioned is that if the officer tries to play games to increase the fear factor. It doesn't mean that Jackolantern implies to be impolite or rude from the beginning.

You also have to give some slack to those immigration officers. They are humans and have to deal with hundreds of people everyday. It could happen that he/she had to deal with a moron and was still in a bad mood when you got their.

Anyways, this is an endless debate. If someone is nice with me, good enough. If not, then I will remain nice because I do not want to go to the lower level of humanity.
 
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