U.S Costumes

[PianoGirl25]

Hey, I visited the US for the first time to meet my partner in June, I'm 17 and when I went through customs the officer must have thought it was sketchy that I was coming to the US alone to meet my boyfriend whom I've never met before. So they had to take me to another room and ask me a whole lot of questions which really stressed me and ended up calling my mother. Of course they ended up letting me go because I had nothing to hide but I suffer from anxiety and that incident made me really anxious about visiting. I'm going to see my partner again this January and I'm very anxious they'll stop me again and something will go wrong. Do you guys have any tips on getting through without any issues? Have any of you experienced something similar?

[Lio]

If some people tell the officers in the airport that they are going to meet their bf/gf, these officers may believe the person is not going to stay the intented length of the visit, but longer - which would be illegal if you stay there longer than the visa stamp in your passport allows you to.

I didn't go to the USA, but when I went to Japan, I got asked "What is the purpose of your trip ? Where in Japan will you be ?", then that's it, and then no problem, they let me pass. Same happened when I went there with my SO. Speaking about her, when I came to visit her in South Korea, nothing happened. Just showed the arrival card, had to put two fingers on a machine, then everything was fine.

[Kerry92]

Hey, I visited the US for the first time to meet my partner in June, I'm 17 and when I went through customs the officer must have thought it was sketchy that I was coming to the US alone to meet my boyfriend whom I've never met before.they had to take me to another room and ask me a whole lot of questions which really stressed me and ended up calling my mother. Of course they ended up letting me go because I had nothing to hide but I suffer from anxiety and that incident made me really anxious about visiting. I'm going to see my partner again this January and I'm very anxious they'll stop me again and something will go wrong. Do you guys have any tips on getting through without any issues? Have any of you experienced something similar?

I currently went through the same thing last month when I went to visit my boyfriend in the US. I didnt get taken into a room or anything but I did get stopped by TSA as I didnt have any checked in luggage for a two week trip I just had hand luggage and they thought It was weird. They went through all the usual rigmarole questions as to why I was there alone and what my boyfriend did for a living etc as the US customs are really focused on illegals and people over staying there alloted time.

My guess is your age is what concerned them as you are still young and they found it concerning that you were travelling alone so thought best to rule out the possibility of you being a run away or this being some sort of scam. I wouldnt worry about it too much as I get stopped a lot for this reason yet I am 25 so my advice to you is just be honest with them about your visit as you have been and try not to worry about the what ifs. Just focus on keeping yourself in a calm and stable frame of mind and it will go by smooth and easy.