SusanYVR

That's not entirely correct. (especially at French and German airports)

Of course, it's not as bad as US and UK airports.

zanderblue

I had a similar experience recently..................

Arriving at IAD the immigration official, asked the usual questions about how long and why and then started asking more pointed questions about my travel history.
I am a UK citizen, who owns a vacation home in Florida. I have a pretty unusual work arrangement, where I work for 28 days straight, then I have 28 days completely off. This was my 3rd leave in row travelling to US to spend my leave there rather than UK. I normally travel on my own since my wife will have travelled to FL a couple of days before to open up the house.
(Interestingly, she spends more time there, but same amount of journeys, but she uses TPA or MCO and has never had a problem)
Anyway, the immigration guy then proceeds to tell me that he is considering sending me to secondary investigation for abuse of visa waiver program. He asked me several more questions about my work, before saying that he will allow me entry but that I need to get a visa (B1/B2) for any future trips.
I have been a regular traveller to US for many years and have never overstayed or had anything similar occur.
The actual experience was quite unsettling at the time. We went to the US embassy last week and picked up the recommended visas with no issues, so hopefully my next trip in September will be straightforward.

VH-RMD

how on earth do you 'abuse a visa waiver program'????

n4zhg

By making a CBP "agent" suspicious. No wonder Rio got the Olympics and Chicago got the finger.

König

The funny (and yet tragic) thing is that before too long, the CBP can accuse you of abusing the B1/B2 visa, given your vacation home in FL and frequent travel in/out of the USA.

Also, you are more likely to encounter problems during your next visit because the CBP will become suspicious of a UK citizen travelling on B2 visa. Firebug can comment on this case, including the so-called VWP abuse.

mre5765

In this case the port has a lane, but it is closed.

If

• the NEXUS lanes are going to closed more often than not,
• when they are open, they are slower than normal processing,
• when closed, the processing is the same, including the intrusive questions

then NEXUS for land border crossings is a rip off. Get rid of the program and go with GE across the board.

goaliemn

I'm in a bi-national relationship with a Canadian and disclosure would be very bad. Its a reason that a border agent can use to say you "may" overstay your visa. Its a tie to the country you're visiting. Until I got nexus, I was coming to visit friends, and then acouple of agents asked "are they more than friends?" That is what pushed me to get nexus.

I'd recommend a nexus card. She may have to provide more financial/job info to show she has ties back to Canada.

Ari

What requirement is there for the VWP over and above what is required for a B1/B2 visa? In other words, if a person is actually "abusing the VWP" by violating the conditions (seeking employemnt, immigrant intent, etc) how would that same person not violate the conditions of the B1/B2 visa? Is there any non-administrative difference in the way B1/B2 visa travelers and VWP travelers are inspected at the border?

I'm inclined to go with n4zhg's analysis on this one.

B747-437B

Big difference between B1/B2 status and VWP is that the latter REQUIRES a roundtrip ticket, may not be used with any itinerary that terminates in "contiguous territory" and requires travel on a signatory carrier. VWP also has restrictions regarding the ability to file for status change.

Ari

Is that actually enforced?

B747-437B

Enforcement of the ticket requirements is sporadic at best, but it only takes one enforcement action to cause more hassle than it is worth.

Enforcement of the signatory carrier requirement and of the status change restrictions are statutory and there is no way around these.

bocastephen

The harassment is based on their expectation that someone will be applying for a finance K visa or get married and apply for a green card. They are trained to detect potential applicants for these types of visas and discourage it.

You can either lie about why you're crossing the border (the magic word is always "shopping"), or just put up with it.

As long as you give CBP a chance to suspect you will be applying for a residency visa at some point, they will always be hostile.

mre5765

IME, you are wrong; it is entirely correct.

The longest interrogation I had was when exiting Schengen last year at MUC (going to LHR), and the border officer asked us: "you entered by train in France from London?" (i.e. exactly what the stamp on our passports said). A stupid question of course, but nonetheless a much different experience than I get even when entering my own country.

Looking at http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/wi....html#national I fail to see how you abused the VWP. I don't think getting the B2 visa is going to make a difference.

What would make a difference is getting Privium (UK citizens can apply), then FLUX, then using the Global Entry lanes at IAD.

Gargoyle

I suspect the OP will have the same problems entering Canada after a few trips. Canada is the only country where I've repeatedly undergone questioning upon entry (and no, I don't have a Canadian GF; they're afraid that I'll work or immigrate).

Ari

How would GE help for travel between Canada and the US?

It is a very expensive solution!

Interesting.

So for the OP though, there isn't a difference, as long has s/he is traveling on a RT ticket.