Originally Posted by hfly

We are talking about 3 things here really:

1) Need for visa.
2) Questioning by border control officials.
3) Treatment in country.

These are often different things, and to different nationalities, but let's stick with the Saudis as that has now come up.

Item 1. Saudis have ALWAYS needed a visa for the US, they have not needed them in living memory for Malaysia, neither pre nor post 9/11. Pre 9/11 it was pretty easy and pain free for Saudis to get get visas to the US, interviews often were not even necessary. Post 9/11 for quite awhile it was still relatively easy, but the questioning and interview process was much more intense, then again most of the 9/11 hijackers WERE from KSA, so this was understandable. truth be told, unless a Saudi national has some link to "bad people" they get their US visa, as they always have.

Item 2. For the vast majority of travellers to much of the developing World, border control officers ask little if anything. The higher up the chain you go incomewise, the more border control officers are likely to ask questions, that is just the way it is. I have found German border control officers to be quite questioning of foreigners and Germans when coming back from certain parts of the World for example. The Dutch can be the same, as the British and much of Europe, although it does seem that Northern European countries in general are more questioning than Southern, i often attribute this to language and culture more than anything else. I do concur however that US CBP agents are more likely to question their own citizens than other OECD countries.

Item 3, treatment. Rich Saudis are tolerated wherever they go and often when acting typical engender little love from the people that serve them, whether Malaysia, Bahrain, the US, Pakistan or London. Taxi driving Saudis (or whoever) less so.