Homeland Security interview (after CAI-LHR before allowing LHR-JFK)
May 3, 2018, 8:11 am
#17
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2015
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 2,447
I can't check into my Airbnb after 11pm, but hopefully they won't want a 6hr interview...!
May 3, 2018, 8:31 am
#20
Join Date: May 2006
Programs: Marriott Platinum, BA GGL
Posts: 237
I do this all the time and other than the standard questions I have never had any problems - I prefer this route as oddly I find it easier! You would be surprised by the number of people that do this.....
May 3, 2018, 8:46 am
#21
Join Date: Dec 2004
Programs: BA GGL, A3*G, Mucci de l'expertise des Apps
Posts: 3,366
The delay last time I met them was that they were in a different terminal so I had to wait for them to finish up there and make their way over. About 90 minutes waiting, then 5 minutes or so while they read through the notes from the questioning at LHR, 2 or 3 more questions then stamped and released.
May 3, 2018, 8:48 am
#22
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: WAW ✈ LHR ✈ GLA
Programs: BA GfL/GGL/CCR, HH Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 2,501
I got invited for a friendly chat after arrival into the JFK on one of the ex-CAI trips last January. Somehow they got I was flying direct from CAI despite arriving on AY5 from Helsinki. Officer was surprised when they saw my ticket and it said CAI-LHR leg was done over a month earlier. They still asked me all sort of questions allegedly to update their records and let me go. They also thought I was bonkers taking a trip from Cairo to Hawaii, but when I told them how much it cost, they admitted it wasn't at all that crazy.
My advice - be honest, don't lie, don't stress and you'll be fine. Officers are there to do their job and if you comply promptly with their questions/requests, they'll finish their job quicker and let you go.
My advice - be honest, don't lie, don't stress and you'll be fine. Officers are there to do their job and if you comply promptly with their questions/requests, they'll finish their job quicker and let you go.
May 3, 2018, 9:02 am
#23
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: BA Gold, DL PM, , Hilton Diamond (from being in a bed), SPG Plat, MR Plat
Posts: 922
Last time I did this journey. GRU-JFK (overnight stop)- LHR I got SSSS at GRU. It was no big hassle and actually got to board before anyone else with a high flying American elite who flew the route weekly in first and got to share his private van with him.
May 3, 2018, 9:14 am
#24
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Brexile in ADB
Programs: BA, TK, HHonours, Le Club, Best Western Rewards
Posts: 7,067
May 3, 2018, 9:20 am
#25
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Henley-On-Thames
Programs: BAEC Silver (but only temporarily) AVIS Presidents Club, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 486
May 3, 2018, 9:55 am
#26
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Las Vegas
Programs: BA Gold; Hilton Honors Diamond
Posts: 3,227
Even without making a TP run you can be asked probing questions at US immigration. On one trip many years ago I was asked if I'd ever lived in the US, whether I had a SSN, did I have a US driver's license, what my middle name was etc. The answer to all was no / never / none etc. It was all very courteous and polite but I asked why the questioning was more thorough than it had been in the past. The officer told me (and he probably shouldn't have) that they had someone on their watch list with the same name and DOB as me but that person also had a middle name etc. Fast forward a few trips and another trip to the US but with a very tatty passport (before they had biometric chips) and the immigration officer notices that the corner of the photo page is peeling away. She was just about to say "Welcome to the USA" and stamp my passport when instead it's a case of "Let's start over" and begins asking me the same series of questions as previously while scrutinising the photo page of my passport with a magnifying glass. So I tell her, without being prompted, that I have never lived in the USA, don't have a SSN, don't have a driver's license etc. and "I presume you still haven't caught him?" at which point she grinned and said that she couldn't comment. She did suggest, however, that I replaced my passport. I was admitted without any issues and have had none since, even when applying for my L1 visa and Green Card.
May 3, 2018, 10:09 am
#27
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: SJJ/AMS
Posts: 4,647
I got a pretty bizarre question last time whilst clearing immigration at DTW and namely - can you remember the number of your boss on top of your head? To which I said that I'd struggle to remember mine, for that purpose. A rather bland welcome to Detroit duly followed.
G
G
May 3, 2018, 10:17 am
#28
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,145
I’ve had several friendly chats at Immigration ... about a diverse range of subjects, including discovering the Agent and I used the same neighborhood bar!
May 3, 2018, 10:20 am
#29
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Bristol
Programs: BA GGL, UA Plat, DL Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,380
I am looking forward to my future conversations with the US authorities.
During Ramadan, I will be visiting Algeria, UAE, Indonesia and Malaysia.
No doubt there may be some questions about the entry stamps in my rapidly-filling passport: just as well I have long connections at my US POEs
During Ramadan, I will be visiting Algeria, UAE, Indonesia and Malaysia.
No doubt there may be some questions about the entry stamps in my rapidly-filling passport: just as well I have long connections at my US POEs
May 3, 2018, 10:22 am
#30
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: UK
Programs: BAEC GGL, HH DIAMOND, AVIS Presidents Club, Karahi Express
Posts: 1,229