Fingerprinting and photo when entering USA

[thadocta]

US immigration control is also undertaken in Ireland - can't remember which, can never remember my Belfast's from my Dublin's.

Dave

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

The US immigration at Canadian airports is a pain in the butt. But can see it makes some sense. Better to have disruption at maybe a dozen Canadian airports than at hundreds of US ones whose only international flights may be to/from Canada.

 

[Warks]

At Seattle flying to Vancouver I had to do the exit thing with US guys. But it was just a couple of blokes standing by the fingerprint scanners/photo booth. They gave me some sort of receipt. I could easily have just got on the DASH 8 without doing it I suppose but the Canucks might have checked. The LAX immigration folks on the way in told me not to give back my green visa waiver departure slip until I was flying back to Aus. So I didn't.

Will be interesting to see the set-up in YVR with US officials when I leave.

 

[Yada Yada]

That is Toronto, Canada :?: :roll: US immigration official :?: :? Is that because of the heightened security in the US :?:

John - yes, Toronto International Airport in Canada (YYZ). Passengers flying into the USA are processed through immigraton and customs there, presumably to reduce the load at the other end. It was great to be able to get off at the AA terminal in LAX, pick up my luggage, and just walk out to the curbside and get in a shuttle.

 

[NM]

US immigration control is also undertaken in Ireland - can't remember which, can never remember my Belfast's from my Dublin's.

Dave

Shannon

 

[inpd]

I got a pasting from a US immigration official at Toronto (checking in for a flight to LAX) because I was talking to my wife on the mobile phone as I approached the desk.

As a general tip be very nice to the immigration officals.
Many of them are wankers of the highest kind, and they
can be very nasty. Read the instructions carefully,
refer to them as sir or officer, be polite etc.

This is very hard to do in general because they are
not very pleasant. Unfortunately, I've seen some really nasty
stuff done to passengers: i.e. go to the end of
the queue, detention for questioning etc. Whether its
done out of vindictiviness or not, the end result is
that you inevitably miss your plane and I am not
sure what the obligations of an airline are if
you are detained by immigration and hence
miss your flight.

 

[Yada Yada]

I got a pasting from a US immigration official at Toronto (checking in for a flight to LAX) because I was talking to my wife on the mobile phone as I approached the desk.

As a general tip be very nice to the immigration officals.
Many of them are wankers of the highest kind, and they
can be very nasty. Read the instructions carefully,
refer to them as sir or officer, be polite etc.

This is very hard to do in general because they are :roll:
not very pleasant. Unfortunately, I've seen some really nasty
stuff done to passengers: i.e. go to the end of
the queue, detention for questioning etc. Whether its
done out of vindictiviness or not, the end result is
that you inevitably miss your plane and I am not
sure what the obligations of an airline are if
you are detained by immigration and hence
miss your flight.

Yes, indeed.

In this instance it was a female officer. I immediately ended the call and put the phone down and began apologising profusely, saying I was talking to my wife who I hadn't seen for two weeks, etc. She still read the riot act to me, saying that as she was about to "interview" me and therefore I could not have any recording devices blah blah blah. I just nodded and kept saying sorry because I did not want it to escalate. Thankfully she cooled down. The "interview" was just the usual routine questions. :roll:

Contrast this to a week earlier when I was departing HKG. My wife phoned while I was in the taxi on the way to the airport - bad news about a friend. I was on the mobile the entire time from the taxi, through check-in, and through immigration, just with brief pauses to answer a few questions. The phone even went on the conveyor belt while still connected and I picked it up on the other side and continued talking all the way until I reached the CX lounge! I wouldn't normally do this but it was an important call, but the point is that no-one challenged me.

 

[tuapekastar]

On my few US immigrations through LAX I have had a mixed bag as far as the demeanour of the officials goes:

1) A business-like, but not unpleasant middle aged woman. She was thoroughly bemused though as my passport had 3 US visas, all issued about the same time, but two of them "cancelled without prejudice". A consequence of a bungle by US consulate in MEL which, had I not turned up at the airport several hours early, would have caused me to miss flight and pay lots more money.

2) The absolute pits. The rudest immigration official I have ever met. Was ridiculing my surname, among other things (and there sure aint anything bizarre about it). Just kept the lip buttoned, yes sir, no sir type thing, not worth upsetting them, they have WAY too much power...(and funnily enough I have never forgotten his name...if you're ever unfortunate enough to encounter S Bridges, heaven help you.

3) A younger, very pleasant bloke. Couldn't have been nicer. Complete anithesis of 2) - maybe because I was heading straight on to YVR?

My sister once gave some lip back to a rude LAX immigration official and I think had her passport confiscated. IIRC, it took a special trip to get it back.

Oh, and JohnK, Custer was Major-General of Volunteers; Brevet (a term meaning temporary promotion, common during US Civil War) Major-General, U.S. Army; and Lieutenant-Colonel, Seventh U.S. Cavalry (at time of his death). So he never was a fully fledged general in the regular army.

Cheers.

 

[JohnK]

Oh, and JohnK, Custer was Major-General of Volunteers; Brevet (a term meaning temporary promotion, common during US Civil War) Major-General, U.S. Army; and Lieutenant-Colonel, Seventh U.S. Cavalry (at time of his death). So he never was a fully fledged general in the regular army.

Thanks.

I know it was OT but I have heard the term General Custer used more often than Lt. Colonel Custer.