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Comment by mhd | Hacker News Reader

Quick question from a foreigner: Did they ask him that because he went to China, or does this happen for other "less suspicious" nations (France, UK etc.), too?

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I just recently came back from Japan. It was my first time leaving the country. Going into Japan was great, very straightforward, polite, and fast. I actually had a question; they ask "Where are you staying?" on the form, but I didn't know. I was meeting my girlfriend in-country, and she had made all of our reservations, and I forgot to ask her for a copy. The woman smiled and said "No problem, just write Tokyo" and that was it.

Coming back into America was terrible. I did answer these questions, and the officer tried to imply that I had tripped up, and was getting in trouble. (I live in PA, but my ticket was back to LAX only.) Then, while walking through to the 'collect your baggage' part, another officer stopped me, told me to get in a different line, since I'd collected no checked baggage. I told him I didn't have any, his eyes narrowed, and he started asking me more questions. I was like "Dude, I'm a guy. I have this huge backpack. I was only gone a week. Why would I need a suitcase?" and after a few more questions finally let me go.

I don't fly unless I absolutely have to. It's just not worth the hassle.

Counter-experience: I walked through customs with just a backpack after being in Europe for 2.5 weeks. Guy looks at me and says "you didn't check any bags?" and I responded "I travel light," with a bit of a grin on my face. He says "welcome home." It was a touching moment.

I've heard US customs described as an additional penalty on Americans who travel abroad.

This is an example of the douchebags they have to deal with at LAX:

http://laist.com/2009/05/05/14_birds_found_tied_to_legs_of_s...

They see that stuff all the time, and they get suspicious about unexplained features of baggage.

Counter examples:

I fly in and out of the country all the time (I believe I've returned the the US five times this year alone). I only ever have a backpack and it's not huge and I never check any luggage. I'm not dressed in business clothes, nor do I look particularly affluent. My passport is fully of "dangerous" countries (Colombia, Guatemala, China, Russia...) and is as beat up an scruffy looking as I am.

I have never once has trouble returning to the US.

In fact, I flew back from Mexico (several years ago, but post 9/11) without anything but a driver's license and even then didn't have any problems other than answering some reasonable questions.

I've heard anecdotally that it's more difficult for foreigners entering the US, but that's to be expected. Pretty much every country on the planet is harder for non-citizens to enter.

Oh, and for the record, I'm in Japan right now (for the first time) and their CBP was far more serious than anywhere else I've been and took longer to process everyone than anywhere I've been except Dulles (fuck that airport). I was finger printed and photographed (yes, yes, I know the US does this for non-citizens too) and this is highly atypical.

I visited Japan last year, and while I was fingerprinted and photographed, the process was very quick. I spent about the same amount of time at the customs official's desk as I did when I returned home to the US, where I was asked the typical none-of-their-business questions about my trip.

So there we are... more anecdotal non-evidence.

Actually, this reminds me of my return from a business trip to Amsterdam a couple years ago. The customs official made some kind of drug-related joke/question, which I didn't respond to (aside from just smiling slightly). It made me a bit uncomfortable and felt like he was trying to get me to slip up and say something I'd regret.

> They ask "Where are you staying?" on the form, but I didn't know.

Note: as you might have suspected, if the situation was reversed you wouldn't get away so easily. Suppose your girlfriend is not American and she visits in you US. She must answer that question. Otherwise she might have to go thru some hassle or even be denied entry.

I usually print out my hotel confirmation email before I leave to bring along, but often I forget, especially when I'm on a biz trip and transportation to my hotel has been prearranged. Really, no one cares. I'd wouldn't suggest admitting to not knowing, but instead just write something -- anything -- down. No customs official knows the name of every hotel in the nearby city (pick an obvious one... "Tokyo Marriott" or whatever). If you're asked about the address, you can just say you're not sure, but you have a car waiting to pick you up.

Now, this is from experience as a US citizen traveling to Asia and Europe. I have no idea if US border control verifies the name and address of your hotel before letting you through.

I'm not sure about US citizens but of all the places I travel to, the experience of entering the US is the worst of all. I'm a UK citizen and we supposedly have a visa arrangement that should negate any hassle but it frequently takes more than an hour to clear border control.

During which time you have sniffer dogs almost clawing you and really aggressive questioning. I'm sure this must have a negative effect on the tourism industry as most people I know have had similar experiences.

I've just come back from traveling around Asia and they seem to take the opposite approach and employ polite and helpful people to work in border security, often when you're traveling this is the first impression you get of a country and bad experiences really leave a bad taste.

It sure does have a negative effect. I've been to the US, and I'm not going back unless I really have to due to their beyond anal border security.

Of course they're increasingly exporting that to their allies in Europe too, the UK is especially bad in this regard.

The U.S. border is awful. It was awful when I used to travel under visa waiver and if anything it got worse when I got my green card (currently fingerprinting, soon iris scans, in addition to abusive questioning). Edit: it is like a welcome mat that has dog vomit on it and spells FUCK YOU. I really appreciate it, makes me feel right at home.

Citizens are in a slightly better position as the fellow demonstrated but the U.S. border is worse than any of the other 35 or so that I have crossed.

I'm a US citizen, and while I don't share the pain you describe, I do feel like it's easier and more pleasant (for me) to get into other countries than to get back into my own.

You gotta admit those dogs are pretty cute though.

Interestingly, that's about the exact experience I had as an American flying into London City. The UK is one of the most obnoxious border I've ever crossed (Nicaragua was worse, but that was a lot more complicated because I was bringing in a vehicle).

In my experience it depends largely on the airport you're flying into in the US. Dulles, Philly, and any of the NYC airports all see to be the worst. Seatac, SFO, Houston, and LAX aren't really that bad in my experience.

US CBP is always a pain in the ass. I never have as much trouble entering any foreign country as I do reentering my own. Ludicrous, really.

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