Both my partner and I are US citizens and when we return to the US together, we usually approach the passport control desk together - just like we do for the airline and hotel check-in desks, UK immigration desks, everything else we do together in our lives, etc.

Most of the time we are asked "Are you family, with one form - if not, one of you has to step back and wait until I complete the first person's entry and then I'll call up the second person." Sometimes this is said nicely (and almost apologetically) and sometimes very harshly. I think I have been selected for agricultural screening once when we both went up together, because all I had with me was chocolates in a wrapped & sealed box - even the customs/agriculture inspector said "you should not have been sent here."

Of course, if we were allowed to marry each other, we would be "family," have one form and be able to be admitted back to the US together. BUT WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO MARRY, so we find this process very annoying and unpleasant every time we come back home.



JK-SFO