First Time In USA
 

I am a US? citizen (dual) who's lived abroad all his life. I just got my US passport & will be making a short trip home(DC) in the coming months.

Can anyone tell me what to expect from immigration at the airport to the city itself? Anyone?

ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) aren't bad people. They don't have the attitude some TSA folks have.

The key is to look them in the eye with a calm voice when answering their questions. They'll likely ask you why you're here, why you've been away, what you're going to do, etc.

I'm assuming you're flying into IAD. The only thing at IAD that I have seen diferent are more sniffer dogs than at other airports.

On departure, I would just caution at the rudeness of the TSA at IAD.

adeyinka....welcome to Flyertalk and the TS/S Forum! And congratulations on your upcoming trip back home.

While I can't comment on DC itself I've been through customs many times. It's always been a triviality for me. They look at the passport and customs form, maybe a question or two (IIRC we got three this last time but that was probably due to my wife trying to talk us out of an ag inspection.) and that's it.

The only thing that's been a nusiance is the agricultural inspections. There's always a *LOT* of food in our suitcases. My wife knows what she can't bring (pretty much it's don't bring fruit or meat), they've never taken anything from us. However it's a nusiance to repack everything when they are done poking. She's been about 50% in talking her way out of the inspection.