Have you ever been denied entry to a country?
Aug 2, 2017, 8:47 am
#196
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: FRA
Posts: 229
Never been denied. But, when I used to travel on a refugee travel document, and then a re-entry permit as a permanent resident without access to a passport, I was often nervous.
The scariest time was a night train with my German girlfriend from Ljubljana to Budapest, via Croatia, in 2009 (before Croatia joined the EU). So, that's four border guard groups, in the middle of the night, in a part of the world and mode of transport where a re-entry permit with a DHS seal instead of a national seal would probably never have been seen. She obviously only got a glance at her regular old red passport. The first set of Croatians when we left Slovenia and entered Croatia were the most worrisome. They woke us up by banging on doors shouting 'passport' like the Soviets do in movies. At one point, the guard went off with my RP, and I don't remember why, but I didn't go after her. Eventually when we were pulling into Zagreb and I was worried she would get off with my document, or leave it on some desk. I found her just as she was getting off the phone with someone, probably to talk about my case. She looked at me and said everything is fine, and stamped it. What was annoying was that there was already a stamp from my flight into Croatia a few days before, but there was no exit stamp from Croatia into Slovenia. This might have been the problem. In any case, I did not need a Croatian visa with that document. And, I had a Dutch residence permit, so Slovenia and Hungary were fine.
Travelling with a US passport now is quite boring and uneventful
Hold on, I forgot my trip to Canada on a US passport. It was a night bus from New York to Toronto for a weekend trip. I left Friday evening, so was at the border early Saturday (Peace Bridge in Buffalo), and was returning Sunday evening. The officer asked me why I would visit a friend, whom I hadn't seen since elementary school, for less than two full days. He apparently found it all suspicious, and they tore apart my little roller suitcase. I had to pay duty on a couple of bottles of vodka I was taking, too. I guess my profile was ripe for the picking. The Croatia experience was a little scary but they weren't as rude as this Canadian, and I was actually more worried there as a US citizen than in the Balkans with a strange travel document.
The scariest time was a night train with my German girlfriend from Ljubljana to Budapest, via Croatia, in 2009 (before Croatia joined the EU). So, that's four border guard groups, in the middle of the night, in a part of the world and mode of transport where a re-entry permit with a DHS seal instead of a national seal would probably never have been seen. She obviously only got a glance at her regular old red passport. The first set of Croatians when we left Slovenia and entered Croatia were the most worrisome. They woke us up by banging on doors shouting 'passport' like the Soviets do in movies. At one point, the guard went off with my RP, and I don't remember why, but I didn't go after her. Eventually when we were pulling into Zagreb and I was worried she would get off with my document, or leave it on some desk. I found her just as she was getting off the phone with someone, probably to talk about my case. She looked at me and said everything is fine, and stamped it. What was annoying was that there was already a stamp from my flight into Croatia a few days before, but there was no exit stamp from Croatia into Slovenia. This might have been the problem. In any case, I did not need a Croatian visa with that document. And, I had a Dutch residence permit, so Slovenia and Hungary were fine.
Travelling with a US passport now is quite boring and uneventful
Hold on, I forgot my trip to Canada on a US passport. It was a night bus from New York to Toronto for a weekend trip. I left Friday evening, so was at the border early Saturday (Peace Bridge in Buffalo), and was returning Sunday evening. The officer asked me why I would visit a friend, whom I hadn't seen since elementary school, for less than two full days. He apparently found it all suspicious, and they tore apart my little roller suitcase. I had to pay duty on a couple of bottles of vodka I was taking, too. I guess my profile was ripe for the picking. The Croatia experience was a little scary but they weren't as rude as this Canadian, and I was actually more worried there as a US citizen than in the Balkans with a strange travel document.
Last edited by cafeconleche; Aug 2, 2017 at 9:07 am
Aug 20, 2017, 10:56 am
#197
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,731
No, but my last visit to South Africa resulted in the immigration officer asking me where my South African passport is. I'm not entitled to one because I didn't apply for retention of SA citizenship before becoming a naturalized US citizen. No, that's the wrong way he insisted. Where's my ID book. Don't have one, haven't lived in the country in more than a decade. He let me in with a "warning" that I must file forms with home affairs. Uh, no. According to home affairs there's nothing to be filed and according to the LA consulate, I am indeed not eligible for a SA passport. But whatevs. More annoying than anything else.
Crossing the Canadian border in a new car with a temporary registration and only visiting the country for a few hours had CBP trying to catch me into admitting I'm meeting someone in Canada. I wasn't.
I have been in line at South African immigration and overheard several people who where on their way back after being denied entry into the UK. During the mid-2000s that wasn't an unusual occurrence.
Crossing the Canadian border in a new car with a temporary registration and only visiting the country for a few hours had CBP trying to catch me into admitting I'm meeting someone in Canada. I wasn't.
I have been in line at South African immigration and overheard several people who where on their way back after being denied entry into the UK. During the mid-2000s that wasn't an unusual occurrence.
Aug 23, 2017, 5:14 am
#198
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: London
Programs: BAEC gold, Marriott gold, Hilton gold
Posts: 1,922
I lived in US for a year and then instead of flying back to UK we went to Pakistan and from there to India. Now back living again in the UK, we went back to Pakistan for a short visit the following year. While there the Pakistan cricket team were touring India and they decided to sell 1000 tickets in Pakistan for one of the matches in India close to the border. So I bought a ticket but not having a Pakistani passport I had to go to the Indian consulate in Islamabad to get a visa. The Consul promised me there would be no problems and told me to go the next day to Islamabad and embassy staff would be expecting me. Match was two days later.
Next day I arrived in Islamabad and deposited my application and passport. When I went back in the afternoon to collect the officer looked at me and said "We have every reason to believe your application is dubious". He said I had an Indian visa from year before issued by Indian Consulate in Chicago, I am applying for an Indian visa from Pakistan and I claim I live in England.
After many circular discussions I eventually convinced them and said I had no intention of applying but the cricket tickets came up and their Consul had promised me I could get a visa from Consulate in Islamabad.
So the officer said that as I am from UK they will send my paper to Indian Consulate in London and within 3 weeks I will get my visa. I replied "But the match will be over by then so what's the point of going?". Then after much thought and glancing between them he looked at me and said they can only give me a visa valid for the cricket match only and not for rest of India. I said fine and left the next day for a fantastic tour organised by Indian Punjab Cricket Association.
Next day I arrived in Islamabad and deposited my application and passport. When I went back in the afternoon to collect the officer looked at me and said "We have every reason to believe your application is dubious". He said I had an Indian visa from year before issued by Indian Consulate in Chicago, I am applying for an Indian visa from Pakistan and I claim I live in England.
After many circular discussions I eventually convinced them and said I had no intention of applying but the cricket tickets came up and their Consul had promised me I could get a visa from Consulate in Islamabad.
So the officer said that as I am from UK they will send my paper to Indian Consulate in London and within 3 weeks I will get my visa. I replied "But the match will be over by then so what's the point of going?". Then after much thought and glancing between them he looked at me and said they can only give me a visa valid for the cricket match only and not for rest of India. I said fine and left the next day for a fantastic tour organised by Indian Punjab Cricket Association.
Aug 23, 2017, 5:49 am
#199
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
No, but my last visit to South Africa resulted in the immigration officer asking me where my South African passport is. I'm not entitled to one because I didn't apply for retention of SA citizenship before becoming a naturalized US citizen. No, that's the wrong way he insisted. Where's my ID book. Don't have one, haven't lived in the country in more than a decade. He let me in with a "warning" that I must file forms with home affairs. Uh, no. According to home affairs there's nothing to be filed and according to the LA consulate, I am indeed not eligible for a SA passport. But whatevs. More annoying than anything else.
Crossing the Canadian border in a new car with a temporary registration and only visiting the country for a few hours had CBP trying to catch me into admitting I'm meeting someone in Canada. I wasn't.
I have been in line at South African immigration and overheard several people who where on their way back after being denied entry into the UK. During the mid-2000s that wasn't an unusual occurrence.
Crossing the Canadian border in a new car with a temporary registration and only visiting the country for a few hours had CBP trying to catch me into admitting I'm meeting someone in Canada. I wasn't.
I have been in line at South African immigration and overheard several people who where on their way back after being denied entry into the UK. During the mid-2000s that wasn't an unusual occurrence.
I've encountered some places giving me or my travel party members issues over passports, permits/cards, visas, entry or even exit. But it's only a very tiny sliver of my own travel history, and it's nothing that's really disrupted my personal plans in any material ways. And I've gotten some "not valid" and other such stamps in my passports.