How to answer "What is the purpose of your trip?"
 

So lets say I am living in country X and if I travel to country Y I could answer my trip is for business or I am here to sight see

1) But what if I hold a country Z passport and I am going to country Z?

Should I tell them

A) Assuming like I normally answer I am here to sight see, visit family or for business?

B) I am settle/working in country X (most likely their next question is why are you coming back to country Z which leads back to 1)


Now this is where it get really complicated... for me:confused:

2) What if I travel from country X to Z every 2 weeks for 2 weeks work related, would your answer change?

What I am confused is rather the officer is asking me what is the purpose of my trip to country X or what is the purpose of my trip to country Y?

Rather than trying to meander through you confusing post, what is the truth?

The first rule of border checks is be truthful. You don't need to volunteer your entire personal history straight away, but do avoid making misleading statements-- like stating that you're traveling for sightseeing or to visit relatives when you're actually conducting business (even if you're sightseeing or visiting relatives in addition to that). It's illegal, and the penalties can be considerable.

Beyond that it's hard to offer guidance without knowing which countries X, Y, and Z are. If you identify them then community members familiar with policies specific to those countries could offer their advice.

The problem is that country X has a different immigration policy than country Y but only if you're going to country to country G or immigrating from country L to country D via country F on a plane owned by country A which is sublet by a Joint Venture between country H and country C.

How about naming the countries so your post makes sense? As others have stated, rule #1 is don't lie. Rule #2 is don't make confusing statements. Either to immigration or to us. :)

The only reasons not to tell the truth are (a) you are entering a country in order to carry out a crime, or (b) you are entering a country in order to do something that is not permitted under the terms of your entry permit/visa/whatever. FlyerTalk is the wrong place to get advice on either of those.

If you are not in one of those situations, tell the truth. If you are entering a country with that country's passport, you are a citizen coming home even if that's not where you live right now. They pretty much have to let you in no matter what.

If you hold a Z passport and you are entering Z I would find it strange and unusual to be asked for the purpose of your trip. Depending on your willingness to make a point, for most countries you could just say "none of your business, you have established that I am a citizen of this country and you cannot deny me entry."

Although as an Australian living abroad I am often asked (if I don't use eGate) 'coming home?' to which my answer so far has been "no. just visiting".

I'm an American citizen and I get asked all the time in SFO "What was the purpose of your trip?"

I learned the hard way once that being snarky with Immigration in the US is not a ticket to an easy entry.

I agree with you on that, and I'm not recommending people do this, but I recall we had a thread here last year (?) where someone basically said..."FO, there is nothing you can do, the purpose of my trip is none of your business, I'm an American citizen, you have have to let me in." While he did enjoy a few hours in a small room, they eventually let him go because...there was nothing else they could do.

Maybe someone can dig out that thread and merge this.

Sorry for the confusion it was meant to be 2 separate questions, one was for visiting family/relatives the other question was for business.

I am Canadian living in China, so I could be flying to Vancouver(Western Canada) to visit family (Question 1) or Toronto (Eastern Canada) for business.

I am not trying to lie, evade or withheld information to custom officer on purpose.

I am Canadian from Vancouver, living in China as stated above.

X is China
Y is Japan
Z is Canada

So if i travel to Japan for sightseeing or for business I will answer truthfully my intend of visit. I mean I can go there for sightseeing or I can go there for business. So there is no intention to withheld any information or to do anything illegal.

With a Canadian passport living in China, every time I enter China they would ask what is the purpose of your trip, and I would answer I live and work here.

My fundamental question when ask the same question entering Canada is that are they asking why did I went to China because I am Canadian entering Canada? or why am I coming back to Canada? or both?

I hope this clear things up.

A Canadian coming into Canada does not need to provide any extraneous information to CBSA. "I'm a Canadian entering Canada" is sufficient. The reason for you entering Canada is none of their business and you can tell them so, without fear of any consequences. Questioning your reasons is well outside their mandate/authority.

I was once asked by the immigration officer of my country "tell me why you are coming here and you long you plan to stay for" I asked him whether he had satisfactorily established my citizenship, and he said he had. I told him that his earlier question was an inappropriate abuse of his position and well outside his mandate. He stared at me for about five seconds and gave me back my passport, saying, "well, I cannot deny you entry into your own country, have a nice day." It was all very polite, but I did want to make a point that day.

Not offering any sort of official advice here - you've got the right answer (to be honest). Some additional context from the immigration agent's perspective may be useful, though.

They want to screen out those with criminal motives .... but also those that could cause economic harm to their country.

"I'm here for business" is pretty vague. Maybe it works. But if pushed, "I'm here for meetings" is very different than "I'm here to train my team" or "I'm here to complete a project.". The second and third statement could imply that you or your company have elected to 'take' (true or not) work away from the local workforce. That may cast you in a bad light.

Not to belabour the point, but a Canadian entering Canada doesn't need to play this game. The CBSA does not have the authority to stop him coming into Canada. All he needs to say is "I'm here!" (I'm leaving aside customs issues and instances where the person has a long list of outstanding arrest warrants, though even in those cases the Canadian must be admitted into Canada.)

Don't mess with the Canadian border agents, however. Many years ago I had a friend from Italy who used to take a group of guys fly fishing every year. They'd either go to Alaska or to Canada and I assume that in addition to the fishing, they'd spend some time with women who weren't their wives. Upon arrival, when the Canadian border agent asked one of them what was the purpose of the trip, he said "I'm here to fish and to 'fornicate'"(he used a much less polite version of the word "fornicate"). The border agent took him into another room and put some stamp on his passport saying he wasn't allowed back into Canada again for several years. Nevermind that he truthfully stated his actual reason he came to Canada, and potentially not illegal as well.