SeriouslyLost

Are you saying you have a physical I94 and that you show it to CBP each time you enter the US and they simply accept it?

ironmanjt

Not entirely true. G-visa holders can also use the citizens line.

SeriouslyLost

True, but why would they when they can use the (almost always) shorter Diplomatic lines?

GUWonder

Sometimes those lines aren't staffed or don't exist.

SeriouslyLost

I've never yet seen an Intl POE that didn't have them and didn't combine them with the crew entry and have them staffed. YMMV, but that's IME

catandmouse

On the whole I've found CBP on the West Coast to be relatively friendly, with SFO and SAN probably at the top of the league table.
At MIA, they are particularly unpleasant, many of them can't even speak any English. At JFK and IAD it really depends on how busy they are. I've had both friendly and unfriendly. When they're unfriendly I just do minimum interaction.
I recently went through IAD with a 90 minute wait, the agent I had was clearly tired and hassled and still managed to interact with me in a friendly manner and even make jokes about the system and apologize to me about the welcome I was getting! He was probably breaking about 10 million rules, but it was a pleasant surprise and made me feel a lot better.

agarfield

IME CBP officers at passport control are usually less rude. but the last passport controller I encountered questioned my identity. Somewhat unexpected and ironic... especially when I was questioned by a guy who couldn't speak proper American English. The officer eased up a bit after I commented on his Costco/Kirkland beverage.

CBP officers at Customs/exit control are almost always rude. They seem to be on a power trip and yell at people for no apparent reason. I feel bad for visitors.

Surprisingly, I had GREAT experiences at TPE and mainland China passport controls.

Cassie55

The rudest CBP I have ever encountered was on board a cruise ship coming from Canada (we boarded in BOS).

We had one day at Bal Harbor before arriving in BOS the following day to end the cruise. We were going straight from the ship to the airport.

On the I94, I left the 'address whilst in the US' blank.

The officer asked us where we were staying in the US. I replied that we were going straight to the airport after arriving in BOS the next day.

He then yelled at me "But that's tomorrow - where are you staying today?".

I replied that we were getting off the ship for the day then returning that night to cruise to BOS overnight.

He yelled (he was getting louder and louder, almost screaming at this point) "well then, the ship is your address - don't leave blanks on the form. It's wrong to leave blanks. I can deny you entry to the US you know and I'm considering doing that right now".

He then asked for a print out of the ESTA. When you apply for the ESTA it specifically says that you don't need to print it. Luckily I am paranoid about these things and had copies.

I was tempted to say that we didn't need printouts as per their own government website but my husband who doesn't travel as frequently as me was not willing to have a confrontation and produced the documents (probably a good thing really).

I just don't understand why it's necessary to be so rude and why all the yelling?

FlyingHoustonian

Big guns, Small pee-pees...

Cassie55

I did wonder

Himeno

To date, travelling on an Australian passport, I have passed through boarder control staff in the US, UK, Canada, Spain, Italy, UAE, Finland, Germany, France, Netherlands, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Jordan, Japan and South Korea.

The only times I have encountered any sort of rudeness or other problem has been entering the US, UK or Canada.

Himeno

The first time I passed through CBP (SFO 2005), I had an overnight redeye flight to MSP. I left that space blank on the I94W as I wasn't sure what to put down - staying in multiple places during the trip and on an aircraft that night.
The agent had me get the address of where I was staying in MSP.
Then after I collected my bag and tried to declare what I needed to at the customs checkpoint, that agent said that I had a connecting flight and I could leave before I could declare anything.

greggarious

Only unfriendliness I've ever encountered was returning to the US. Once got grilled a bunch, and once got a guy with a thick Spanish accent at SFO who I couldn't understand. (Finally realized he was asking for a second ID - my passport photo is from when I was pretty young)

Canadians were always super friendly. In Europe they seemed to barely look at my passport, but it wasn't a rude interaction they just always seemed rushed in the non-EU line.

relangford

Thank goodness for Global Entry! I have had rude CBP agents at SFO, MIA, MSP, and DTW on several trips prior to GE. One asked me why I was only staying 3 days in the U.S. I told him I was attending a meeting. He said I should stay longer in the U.S. since I was an American citizen (I have lived in China and Korea for a number of years). Not sure why he even commented.

I was in Shanghai last week; usually the Chinese police (who run immigration) are friendly - not so then. Not one word and a frown on her face. So, I hit the "not smiling face" on the rating keys; I guess she could see my response, so she turned and glared at me. Maybe the U.S. should have a similar rating system and track unfriendly CBP agents.

ls17031

Do you smile like an idiot all day at work? There's a difference between being friendly and courteous. I'd much rather have an expedient processing with as few as possible words exchanged than needless pleasantries.