Originally Posted by
Mr.Tea
First of all thank you all for the replies.
Yeah I really do not want to go down a route of embellishing the truth. I am sure from my past visits (especially the last one where the guy did a LOT of typing) that they'll know my deal anyway.
I always print out my itinerary and have it ready to hand to the officer with my passport. Every time they have asked to see one so I figured I'll do the same.
I know that by all accounts and on paper I should be fine, I'm just really dreading being pulled into a room and grilled by some control freak again.
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There is another issue that I am attempting to clear up today. I have NEVER overstayed in the US, and I have ALWAYS been out of the country by the date stamped in my passport.
However, in this last summer, I was due to leave on the 16th of August and my plane was curtailed in Phoenix Arizona meaning that I was going to miss my connecting flight back to the UK in PHL. The airline deemed that it was futile for me to make the trip to PHL, so they kindly sent me back and rebooked my entire itinerary (rather than send me to PHL and put me in a hotel).
I left the next day successfully on the 17th, the date that was stamped on my passport. I contacted the UK embassy when I got home and asked about it, and the man on the phone said I should be fine. But there was no way for him to "check" on any computer system to confirm this.
I am going to contact CBP when they open today to try and make sure I'm not flagged as an overstay. I have a nice letter from airline documenting the whole problem, as well as tickets the from both days on the airline. So I am hoping I will be ok.
Does anyone know if the number at the following link is the correct one for me to contact in this situation?
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/c...er_service.xml
Thank you all again.
You're right - lying would be bad, although common wisdom is to limit your answers to the questions you are specifically asked. A silly example is "Do you know what the time is?" to which the answer would be "yes" (assuming you did). It's a daft example but hopefully you get the drift.
You mentioned that your departure was delayed by a day last summer. On the assumption that you entered under the VWP and you still left within 90 days of arrival then there is nothing to worry about with this. Reply with more detail if my assumptions were incorrect.
The immigration officer will be able to see that you were sent to secondary last time, and - as this is common but nevertheless not the norm - I would day you have a slightly higher than average chance of having a repeat of the process. While it's worth noting that not everyone who works there is an arsehole, you would be best to prepare yourself for a visit but still hope that it won't happen.
Afterthought: you mentioned earlier that a lack of available funds could help as proof that your were not intending to overstay. I wouldn't bring this up in conversation unless asked specifically as this could backfire.