Odd questions by Immigration
May 24, 2007, 9:33 am
#61
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: back to my roots in Scotland!
Programs: Tamsin - what else is there to say?
Posts: 47,843
I encountered pretty much the same scenario as the poster in London at LGW a couple years ago. I was unemployed at the time but financially stable/comfortable yet they kept asking how I support myself, how much cash I had on hand, why I am unemployed, where am I staying in London, proof of return ticket. I had to wait 10 minutes while they actually called the hotel to confirm I had a reservation there and do other checks. So in all seriousness, what is one supposed to do, even if you do work to ensure a smooth entry into the UK. Bring last years tax return, last paycheck,, bank statement etc to prove your net worth? Are they concerned about people flying to the UK to sign up for welfare or something? The average American making $40,000 a year with little savings who spends more than he/she makes and going to the UK for their 1-2 week vacation should be considered a "risk" and denied entry by their logic. Seems crazy. What are they after?
I suspect the British immigration officials do get used to people trying to do exactly that, and that tends to colour their perception of the world
May 24, 2007, 9:46 am
#62
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Portland, OR
Programs: NW Plat (now they call it DL Diamond) 1MM, soon to be DL Plat, Hilton Diamond, SPG Gold, Dusit Gold
Posts: 2,706
LAX TBIT 2 days ago
Marsha and I both bought leather coats in Buenos Aires. Listed them on the customs form.
Agent: "Do you have any animal products."
Me: "No"
Agent looking at form: " Do you have anything made from animal parts."
Me, thoughtfully: "2 leather coats. I guess leather is part of an animal."
He puts a big "A" on the form as he smiles at my answer and waves us on. Apparantly, I stunned him enough with the answer that he forgot to put the entry stamp on the form.
As we were exiting customs, we were stopped by the agent collecting forms who asked us if we had bothered to go thru immigration. Told to take a seat and they sent someone to get the form stamped.
Agent: "Do you have any animal products."
Me: "No"
Agent looking at form: " Do you have anything made from animal parts."
Me, thoughtfully: "2 leather coats. I guess leather is part of an animal."
He puts a big "A" on the form as he smiles at my answer and waves us on. Apparantly, I stunned him enough with the answer that he forgot to put the entry stamp on the form.
As we were exiting customs, we were stopped by the agent collecting forms who asked us if we had bothered to go thru immigration. Told to take a seat and they sent someone to get the form stamped.