Entering the United States-Nervous!

[Polly]

Hi all,
This is my first time posting on here after having a bit of a look around

In a couple of weeks I will be visiting my boyfriend who is living in California. We are both Canadians but he is on a 3 year work visa in the States so I try to visit him when I can. I've tried finding a job in the States but have had no luck so we are doing long distance until he returns to Canada.

I am really nervous about entering the States and being denied entry by the border/immigration officer.

Each time I have been asked my reason for visiting, I am always upfront and tell them it is to visit my boyfriend and other than being asked some extra questions, I've had no problems.

This time, I guess I'm just worried they'll see my history of visiting him, which is about every 1-2 months and freak out over that or something. Since he moved in October, I've visited him for every long weekend holiday and for almost all of my visits it's always been only for about 4 days because of the limited number of vacation days I can take from work. This visit I'm going on this month will be the longest I've visited him, which will be 9 days.

If I have a return ticket and am only visiting for 9 days, do you think I'll get any trouble entering the States?

[lucybelle]

Canadians, for the most part, have very very few problems entering the USA. Your frequent entries is actually a good sign. It means every time you've gone in, you've left right when you said you would. As long as it's just a few days every two months or so, you'll be just fine.

[Emilia]

I went to the United States for the first time in March to stay with my American boyfriend as a holiday for two and a half months. I honestly thought that I was going to be turned away. Every answer I gave him seemed to make the situation worse eg. My boyfriend is American, I am unemployed because I had just finished my internship and wanted a holiday before looking for work back in Australia.

I was standing there for the longest time whilst everyone else was getting through quickly. The officer demanded to know why I was planning to stay there for so long. His final question of "Are you planning on working in the United States?" made me realise that he actually thought I might try and get a job illegally. I was still allowed entry.

I believe the reason I was allowed through was I told the entire truth and I answered the questions directly. Nervous people or those trying to hide something will often talk past the question and ramble on. I am so glad that he could see that I was telling the truth. It was a scary experience, but I have learnt how to deal with it better next time.

lucybell is completely right. A long history shows that you are more likely to be telling the truth and not at risk of living in the USA illegally. I think you are going to be absolutely fine.

[lovefrom2800milesaway]

You should be completely fine. I'm also Canadian and my boyfriend is also American. Although I don't visit my SO as often as you visit yours, I stay for much longer periods of time. I've stayed up to ~21 days and was fine at immigration/customs. However, I find that when I tell the truth (that I'm visiting my BOYFRIEND), they become skeptical and ask way more questions. On the other hand, if I say that I'm just going to visit a FRIEND, they let me through no problem. Whenever my boyfriend comes up, they always take him into secondary inspection at the airport because he's a single male traveller. I guess it looks sketchy, haa. Anyways, you should be fine.. 9 days is not a long visit. Plus, you have a good history of returning to Canada after all your shorter visits.

[Hollandia]

The first time they gave my Dutch SO a hard time the second he got in pretty easily. I think the main advice is dress nice. Not like a prom queen but like you are not struggling for money and it will help you get through. Show you have attachments to your home country and you should be fine.

[Mims27]

My SO lives in the USA and I'm in Canada.
I visit her A LOT...lately, once a month if not more. I've never had any issues.

[Alma]

well, this is one of my biggest fears. I will see my SO in october and I am soooo scared of the IO. Should I tell him that I am visiting my BF or would it also be okay if I just say that I am visiting a friend? This will be exciting anyway so I don't want to put myself into much more "pressure" than I acutally need lol. I don't want to faint haha.

[Emilia]

I wouldn't lie about anything. If they catch you lying, you would probably be turned away.
They have the right to call your boyfriend, and if your stories don't match, you are going to be in huge trouble.
Have a read what I wrote earlier. My story was sounding worse and worse with each answer I gave and they still let me in.

[kittyxuchiha11]

I'm from the Uk and visited my SO in the US in june there and i was so nervous about getting in because a lot of people told me about how they were interrogated and such. i have to say though it was actually the easiest security point i have ever had to pass through in my life. they just asked how long i was staying for and then told me to have a good day. if anything i got the worse treatment back home before checking my bags in because they asked a lot of questions (being half asleep thanks to an early flight was not good for being bombarded with questions >.<)

[Alexandra]

My SO is from Canada and I live in California~ We don't visit each other as often as you guys would, but he has stayed longer periods of time. The first time was 2 week and the second time was 4 months. He had a bit of a problem the second time around because they asked him how long he was staying and how much money he was taking with him. He didn't have much money with him at the time and I was the one who offered to take care of any the financial issues for the trip. He told the truth and the person didn't like the answer that he was staying for so long with little money. But he showed him his return ticket and was approved So you should be fine showing your return ticket either way.

[Pepp67]

Here is a bit of my own story :

I am French but leaving close to the german border. I visited my girlfriend of two years this July (I was nervous about the IO too as it was my first time flying to the US) and departed from Frankfurt, Germany. Aside from being asked, still in Frankfurt, when I was flying back to Europe (they already had checked my ticket QR code so I guess the information was displayed on their screen) I really had no additonal questions to answer.

While flying there the crew attendants handed us out this little piece of paper that we had to fill out and show at the customs at the airport (I'm talking about the paper that every travelers have to fill in, even Americans flying back to the US). At the customs I just said "Good afternoon sir" to the customs officer and handed my passport and the paper I had filled in while on the plane to him. He checked my fingerprints and scanned my eye to see if it matched with my passport and that was about him. He stamped my passport, wished me a good day and that was it.

Just relax and I'm sure everything'll be good !

//Florian

[lovefrom2800milesaway]

Thanks for sharing your experience!
You're really lucky that you had an easy experience entering and leaving the USA.
Personally, I've had good experiences at the airports too; I've never been pulled aside for secondary inspection or been asked questions outside of the ordinary (Where was I going? How long? What for?).
My SO, on the other hand, always seems to run in to bad luck, haa.
He's been pulled aside twice for secondary inspection and they looked through ALL his stuff and asked about me and where I live, what I do, etc.
I think it really depends on the person who's working the security line up you're in - I've had nicer and meaner people. I also think they're a little more skeptical when it's a single male traveller, but that's just based on my SO's experiences that I'm saying that. :P

[Alma]

It really seems like you just have to be lucky...
SInce it's just 2 month left until I meet my SO, I still don't know what to say when the IO asks me where I will live and if I should mention that I am visiting my boyfriend.

I've heard alot of opinions and it confuses me. Some say that I should never ever mention my boyfriend because this is a huge red flag. Others say that they had no problems with it.

I would mention him but I am afraid of being turned away and that I am so close to him but have to fly back on that day. That would break my heart million times.

My plane will land in New York (JFK). Does anyone of you have any experience with this airport and their IO's?

[bubblehits]

I would just tell the truth, answer direct question but try not to volunteer too much. If you lie it might catch you out later and then they have a reason to kick you out. I guess if you have your return ticket it isn't so bad.

I have to say I'm just going on things I have heard because I fly out to the US in November to meet my SO for the first time so I'm trying to figure it all out too.

Good luck

[digitalfever]

I normally get cheerful guards. We normally have a pretty decent exchange. One Gaurd once asked me why my trips were so frequent and I responded with "Shopping!" and he was "Oh, gotta get that economy up!" and I was like yes "I come for the USA for the shopping and return to Canada for the free health care." He laughed and let me through.