ClassyArtichoke

Hello, To make a long long story sorta shot :

I live in the U.S, my boyfriend lives in Ireland. We met online about 7 -8 months ago. I went to see him late march of this year. I stayed for 5 weeks. I am currtently self employed and when I went through immagration ( questioning ) I was heavly questioned for about 2 hours, they said my story was " unrealistic" they had to call him around 3 times comfirming he was her i " thought " he was and such. ect. ect.

Well we are wanting to see eachother as much as possible, but i keep hearing horror stories of people being denied entry for "traveling too often"

Now we are planning another trip for Aug - Sep then again Dec-Jan
What do you think?

Advice and suggestions greatly accepted

Thanks a billion <3

nrr

Was it Irish immigration that hassled you? [Was the questioning after 5 weeks on your arrival back in the US, or at the start when you got to Ireland?]
In any event, it is best to say that you are visiting as a tourist (want to see the museums, countryside, etc.) If you can book a hotel (at a rate which is totally refundable), you might have such a reservation in place before you arrive--I assume you are staying with him. [Don't mention the existence of a boyfriend.]

mkt

I was given a raised eyebrow by immigration at MAD when they saw a French entry stamp from the week before and an exit stamp from 2 days prior.

squeakr

But yeah, was it US or Irish Immigration who questioned you?

And I don't know if the hassle is "traveling too often." Not justifying it, but IMHO one is likely to get hassled if it appears they may be overstaying or planning to reside somewhere w//out a visa. And from your description you may fit a profile like that.

drewguy

I take it to be US immigration, because it was after 5 weeks.

Plenty of people travel far more often than 3 trips, even long ones, in a year.

That said, something in your profile may have made immigration curious. You're self employed, you were away for 5 weeks, perhaps there are some other "warning" signs. It's very hard for us to guess, and this is not meant to accuse you or your boyfriend of anything.

chgoeditor

The issue isn't that you're traveling too often. If it where, there are hundreds of thousands of people who would be flagged before you are. The issue is that you're self-employed and visiting a boyfriend in Ireland, both of which may be flags to the Irish immigration authorities that you're at risk of deciding to permanently stay in Ireland. (You probably know that the Irish economy has had some troubles. Not surprisingly, they don't want people coming into the country who might a) take jobs away from Irish citizens or b) drain the social services.)

Loren Pechtel

Second this.

You described things that were red flags to an immigration official. The scrutiny you drew was not surprising and it will probably continue.

UshuaiaHammerfest

Assuming you're a US citizen and were hassled entering Ireland, the above two posters likely are correct.

To mitigate this, you might try bringing some evidence with you that you plan to return to the US. (Signed apartment lease, Bank statements showing you have money, support of your self-employment such as tax returns, invoices, and so on.) Mentioning the boyfriend was probably the biggest red flag, however. In the future you'd probably have more luck if you were just visiting friends that you met on your last visit.

GUWonder

As long as it is clear that you are not going to be overstaying or otherwise violating the terms of your entry (as in you have the means to live there without engaging in employment or making recourse to public funds and have medical insurance that covers you while visiting abroad), the Irish and/or UK passport control personnel are unlikely to make much of a stink other than to perhaps ask questions and/or ask to be shown your onward ticket(s). Tickets showing departure back to the US will help make that point without coming across as being "over-prepared"; even other evidence of future trips from the US to Europe or wherever else beyond the UK/IRL common travel area will also help make that point.

Young American women have more issues than young American men when it comes to entering the UK or Ireland to visit a significant other, but the way for both to respond to passport control if pushed on the matter on such grounds is the same: try to keep it simple.

Being "self-employed" makes things somewhat more complicated and can invite questions, but if you are vacationing for short periods of time or have an explanation or ability to demonstrate that you already have an intent to stick to your schedule to leave back to the US (those printouts of return tickets may help), then it is very, very rare for Americans in your circumstances to be given any real problem.

Also, the better looking a young non-EU/EEC/EFTA country female, the more likely there are to be questions when dealing with UK and Irish passport control. However, once you have a history of exiting and entering repeatedly after staying less than 6 weeks at a stretch and having at least a few months in between visits, the likelihood of having a real problem actually drops for quite some time.

UshuaiaHammerfest

Simply bad advice. She's already been flagged (a 2 hour interview on her last visit). At this point OP needs to be "over-prepared." She doesn't need to present all of her evidence at the very first question asked, but she needs to be ready, just in case.

Having return tickets are a given, but I'm guessing she presented those at some point during her first 2 hour interview -- probably within the first 2 minutes.

OP: being over-prepared is always better than being under-prepared. Bring as much evidence as you can. You don't need to present it all right away, but the easier you can answer their questions without saying "Uh... well... um..." the better off you'll be.

Himeno

Sounds like when CBP at JFK claimed that I couldn't afford my holiday. They were confused that my trip had been priced in Yen and seemed to be digging for any excuse to bar entry under a "can't support cost of travel without working" clause. The agent was quite happy to let me in once the term "credit card" was used.

GUWonder

If only, but a fact is never "simply bad advice". And the quoted clip from my post is indeed a fact. [Tickets showing departure back to the US ordinarily will help make the point of intending to depart on time without coming across as being "over-prepared".]

There is plenty of observation and testimony -- given by friendly UKBA employees -- that a visitor coming across as "over-prepared" with documents can cause issues and has caused issues when not demonstrating an accepted explanation for why carrying way more documents than typical for a visitor coming for the purpose of travel provided by the visitor.

Having an appointment book that shows work obligations and client contact information back home won't come across as being over-prepared, but some other things certainly can come across as being over-prepared for purposes of trying to deceive passport control types.

MavSeven

Any one of those statements by themselves is a red flag. It has nothing to do with "traveling too often", it has to do with you not having a steady job and going to see some guy you met over the internet. HUGE potential for overstaying your welcome.

N1120A

Based on the OP, I can't tell if the US was doing the harassing or the Irish.

Anyway, I can assure you that simply "traveling too much" isn't going to flag you. I'm self-employed and travel between the US (my country of citizenship and residence) and Canada (my girlfriend's country of citizenship and residence) at least twice a month. It helps that I have a NEXUS card, but they don't flag me either. I have only been immigration secondaried once and that was 7 years ago when I was still in school and was driving over the border with tons of stuff in my car (was moving between Boston and New Orleans and driving through Canada on the way). It helps now that they know, despite my self-employment, that I'm a lawyer and can afford my stays.

ClassyArtichoke

Hello guy, Thanks so much foreveryones responses!
To furter the information and FAQ i've seen.
I was questioned so heavily because they "were looking out for my own safty" since i met him on the internet and never physically met him, they were looking out for my safty. Which was great.
I went back july12- sep13 had zero issues. it was great. We are planning another trip for Dec.5th. - Feb 15th . and i've talked to countless number of people and they said since i have a great record or not over staying my welcome everything should be fine.I have not missed a flight or exstended my stay. So i'm no longer worried, ( unless you guys see any other reson to be )
When I posted this I have never even been to an airport. So i , beeing the researcher I am, went googling and found awful stories and got truely scared but since i have been twice now and have been on 12+ flights im not worried at all.
If you have more questions please feel free to ask. Or if you have advice i'm very open minded to it.
THANK YOU to everyone

<3 Kristen