New answers tagged customs-and-immigration
5
I have not heard about any country denying entry or quarantining all travellers from affected areas. Isolation (at home) is recommended for people who have been in the area and present relevant symptoms. Refusing entry wholesale would be a hugely disruptive and largely self-defeating measure: it encourages people to lie, could spread the disease further by ...
42
This is a case of force majeure, which the Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China uses in 2 cases. Unfortunately not for this situation:
punctual exit impossible due to force majeure
but Article 55 (unforeseen arrival in China) states that you must
immediately report to the nearest exit/entry border inspection authority or ...
57
Medical emergencies (which this definitely is since they have quarantined the city) are a valid reason for a visa extension. Make sure, however, that you notify the relevant authorities ASAP.
Do not think that you can just stay until the quarantine is lifted and then leave as usual without proper extensions etc.
Immediately contact the relevant authorities ...
0
There is no legal limit on how much time you can spend in the United States in B-2 status within any 12 month period. Admission will generally be limited to 6 months at a time but it is not impossible to be admitted for another 6 month period shortly after a previous visit has ended.
Given your circumstances it seems likely that you would be admitted for ...
1
Your understanding is correct. You can be admitted for up to 6 months and there is no rule preventing that. Or the officer can, in his/her discretion, admit you for shorter than 6 months or deny you entry altogether.
3
Per TIMATIC, the database used by airlines:
Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be
valid for a minimum of 6 months from the arrival date. [With the following exceptions:]
Nationals of Thailand are allowed to enter with an expired passport.
When nationals of Thailand travel with a Certificate of Identity or a temporary ...
3
You have a lot of answers related to your current plan of staying up to six months. This answer questions that whole plan.
Your goal is to work out where your current long distance relationship is going, and if it goes well to be able to marry your boyfriend and move to the UK. For that to be feasible, you need to keep a good record with the UK immigration ...
5
All the answers above are good, but I have a bit of additional advice.
I'm British, and my wife is American and works for a US airline, so we frequently have family coming to the UK using her cheap travel benefits, who usually stay for a while, so I have some experience on what to expect.
If you don't have a return ticket, your first problem will not be ...
3
The UK gives advice to applicants for visas (who are from countries which do not have a visa waiver, like Nigeria). The UK says specifically Don't bother buying an airline ticket; they will not convince us of your intent to leave the UK at the end of your planned visit.
Immigration is there to enforce the immigration laws: mainly to make sure visitors don'...
answered Jan 21 at 22:59
Harper - Reinstate Monica
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6
It's also worth looking into a "Miscellaneous_charges_order" (MCO). Its like an airline ticket, issued by an airline in your home country, but shows a currency amount rather than a flight booking. It is convertable into an airline ticket on demand, with any airline (almost). It is refundable in your home country if not used, but not refundable for cash ...
1
I received the following response from the visa section of the Spanish consulate in Mumbai.
Good morning,
Kindly note as you have been granted a multiple entry visa valid until
XX-XX-2020, you may travel as many times on any given days during the
validity of the visa. You need not send any notification to the
Consulate. However, kindly note ...
8
A return or round trip ticket is not required.
However, depending on your entry experience, it may be helpful to demonstrate your intention to return or at least leave. If you are routed to a Border Force Officer, they must be satisfied you are not an overstay risk.
If cash is an issue, you can often find award tickets for less than most credit card sign ...
41
You don't need a return ticket, but with you having a boyfriend there, I'd strongly recommend you to get one. If nothing else, a random fully-refundable ticket for a date around the time you suspect you'll return.
Also, if staying longer than a month, bring every single piece of documentation proving your ties to the US (signed/stamped employment/school ...
0
As Relaxed says you can sometimes manage a flight in the Schengen area without anyone ever looking at your ID. I've certainly done this in the past.
More usually however you do run into ID checks somewhere such as for proving you're the person booked on a flight or entering a secure area (such as an airport).
A few years ago I flew from Geneva to Nice, ...
3
Airports don't have any specific reason to check passports and typically do not do it. In Europe, usually, you will encounter:
Checks by ground handling personnel contracted out by the airlines. The main purpose is enforcing the airline's price discrimination/yield management operations by preventing ticket resale. They might also have other purposes ...
0
It is very likely that you will need a transit visa. According to https://www.don-mueang-airport.com/terminal-2.php Air Asia flies from Terminal 1 and Thai Lion flies from Terminal 2. I don't think there is an airside connection between the terminals.
2
I noticed that this older set of answers could use the following updated information regarding the US/Polish agreement. The agreement made in April 1991 which allows US Nationals, or legal residents, to remain in Poland up to 90 days at any time has been moved to a new location online. I tracked it down because I wanted a copy for use at the border crossing ...
4
If the new travel dates fit into your duration and validity period, there is no need to inform the consulate -- business meetings get rescheduled all the time, and that's why most applicants get a few extra days on their visa.
The immigration officers might ask on arrival, simply show them your new travel plans and tickets.
If the new dates exceed either ...
3
I asked the Singapore ICA (Immigration & Checkpoints Authority) and received this reply:
Applicants who intend to apply for Frequent Traveller will be granted with a maximum of 5 years duration or minus 6 months from the passport expiry date duration depending on their passport expiry date.
The Frequent Traveller can be renewable if there is a ...
23
I was in your exact situation: valid ESTA, but because I travelled to North Korea in 2014, I was caught by this rule change. Like you, I found it ambiguous: it was not clear to me if existing ESTAs were suddenly invalid, or only future applications.
I played it safe and got a visa from the London embassy. I was merely asked if I had been there for tourism ...
-5
In the Netherlands you are allowed to request a second passport specifically for the purpose of entering a country that has "issues" with another country you have visited. Maybe this also applies to this case, and would allow you to apply for a second ESTA?
https://www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/living-working/passport-and-identity-card/second-passport
21
There's nothing inherently suspicious in that pattern. The visits have been short and not particularly frequent. In total you spent about 20 days in the US during the entire year; you're nowhere close to the point where it might look like you're doing visa runs or taking other steps to try to game the system.
On the contrary, because you have a history of ...
18
On a Norwegian version of Flyertalk, someone reported seeing the CBP's computer screen (mis-angled) showing a list of "high-risk" countries they had been to, on previous passports, without having flown between these countries and the US.
So it is not unlikely they will know you've been to North Korea. In other words, I would not risk it if I were you. Get a ...
44
You are not eligible and need to apply for a visa. As the document you quote states, people who have traveled to North Korea after March 1, 2011 (with exceptions that presumably do not apply in your case) are no longer eligible to be admitted under the Visa Waiver Program. This is the case whether or not your ESTA is valid; you're seeking to be admitted ...
1
If your flight arrives in time, 2.5 hours is well enough.
Suvarnabhumi airport is very well organized, immigration procedure and baggage claiming should not take longer than 45 minutes, from the baggage claim to check-in its not longer then 10 minutes and Lao airlines stuff is quite relaxed so don't worry if you won't make it within 2 hours before departure ...
2
As your flights are on separate tickets, you need to have:
Deplaned (can take a while on a large plane)
Reached immigration
Queued at immigration
Gone through passport control
Reclaimed your bags (possibly waited for them first)
Gone through customs
Reached the departures area
Found the check-in area for your second flight
Checked in/dropped your bags ...
3
Will I need to go through Thai immigrations to collect my luggage?
As a Dutch citizen it says here http://www.consular.go.th/main/contents/filemanager/VISA/Visa%20on%20Arrival/VOA.pdf that I do not need a visa.
While you don't need a visa, you still need to pass immigration to enter the country. That means having to queue up with most other foreign ...
answered Jan 15 at 21:59
JJ for Transparency and Monica
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6
Yes it can, in combination with other factors.
I'm Canadian and I crossed from the US into Mexico by motorcycle about five years ago. I was in Mexico for about four months and during that time, I took a flight to Bogota, Colombia to attend a tech conference.
When I crossed back from Mexico to the US at El Paso, I was handcuffed, detained, searched, and ...
36
No, this is absolutely false!
I'm British, and my wife is Colombian. We go to Colombia quite a bit and we've both travelled (separately and together) to all these countries.
A few specific examples:
I've flown to the US directly from Colombia several times
We lived in Germany for two years, flying several times directly to and from Colombia. Colombians ...
54
Not at all. It's not on a list of banned countries either.
Source: I've travelled to at least 80 countries, including Colombia, Cuba, Iran, Uzbekistan, Zambia and other odd countries.
Post-Colombia, I actually flew directly into the US. I got a lot of questions as I'd only been in Bogota for 3 days, but once I passed those, it was all good.
The only one ...
1
The UK cares about applicants showing that:
they are a genuine visitor
they can afford the trip and can support themselves during the visit (or have a credible sponsor who will cover the costs)
they have sufficient ties to their home country to convince the ECO that they will leave at the end of the visit.
You have a reasonable premise for the visit, but ...
2
Citizens of Myanmar require a visa to enter Korea and are not eligible for any of Korea's other exemptions such as the transit tourist program.
You can remain airside without a visa, but your proposed itinerary would require crossing immigration to enter Korea and collect your baggage and transfer it to your next flight yourself.
You will need to obtain a ...
19
Your passport cannot be taken from you because you were born in Iran. You cannot be deprived of US citizenship because you were born in Iran. As a US citizen, you cannot be refused entry to the US. None of that changes because you hold another citizenship in addition to the US citizenship.
However, we can't predict whether you'll be temporarily detained ...
1
They asked me that question. After I said he is waiting for me outside they sent me for secondary inspection. Once I went in the private room (without a female officer) I was questioned strictly about my marriage. “Are y’all in an open marriage” “How much older is your husband” “Just trying to figure out why you would be traveling alone” “is this an arranged ...
4
Beyond the passport and Russian visa that most people need to enter Russia generally, there are two additional separate permits required to visit the Chukotka region, which is normally closed to nonresidents:
The rasporyazheniye (распоряжение), which permits entry into the region (only foreigners require this permit, Russians do not), and
The propusk (...
1
Something to understand here:
Yes, our agricultural inspection people tend to care about mud on shoes--they care about anything that can carry pests or disease that we don't have here (Which is why the lists can seem pretty nonsensical at times--they don't care about the items, they care about hitchhikers.) However, they aren't interested in playing gotcha ...
6
Yes. It's a problem.
Yes, you need to declare it.
No, it's not a 'big deal' but you're going to have to stop at the USDA booth and they'll take your shoes and disinfect them with some nasty spray. Having them clean as possible will make it easy. But if they're caked in dirt they're going to make you wait while they do it.
Source: Been there, done that. Came ...
14
U.S. CBP does care about soil on your shoes, but as long as you've made a reasonable effort to clean them, then it won't be a problem, especially if the soil was not from a farm or some such thing.
As gerrit mentioned, two of the questions on the customs declaration form that you fill out when entering the United States are:
I am bringing (...) (d) soil ...
9
Just declare the shoes as soiled and let customs officials handle the rest.
I live in Australia, we're an island so these things are strictly controlled. If you've cleaned them well they generally let you through, otherwise they will clean them for you. I actually don't mind the cleaning service, it takes them about 2-3mins compared to my 10min effort.
1
If your duty-free item is in a sealed red-bordered bag, then it will pass through security at Dublin pre-clearance with no problems.
Where you might have a problem is if you have a connecting flight after you land in the US. If you have to go through security again, which may be the case at some airports, TSA will not accept this, (my understanding is that ...
40
Cleaning them thoroughly should be good enough.
Here is what happened when we tried to get in with dirty boots in March 2016.
At Charlotte International Airport, we were spotted and stopped by agricultural inspectors while waiting to collect our luggage. They took us into a separate room and provided us with shoe cleaning stuff. We were made to clean our ...
2
With importing personal amounts of food, as you are doing, the main customs concern is not whether you need to pay duty on it, which is quite unlikely, but whether it's allowed into the country (or the EEA) at all. Depending on the specific food and its origin, any specific item might be banned for import or restricted. This usually isn't a problem for pre-...
1
Where you go through customs can vary from trip to trip. In a few cases, a country has set up pre-clearance in the country you depart from, as when flying from Dublin to Boston on Aer Lingus; for this trip one goes through US customs and immigration in Dublin. This is unusual and I don't think it happens with Denmark. If you fly into a region with unified ...
6
For refusals, the ECOs are required to provide a refusal letter stating why they believe you are not eligible for a visa. Since the ban has now expired, you cannot be refused under paragraph v3.6. However, your credibility has been dented and your application and your purported intentions will be more closely scrutinized.
You now need to prove, on a ...
0
You need your passport or travel document, your Article 10 residence card, and you must be travelling with or joining your EU national family member.
6
I was going through passport control and I was able to see that the signs to e-gates now have the RTP-NL sign hidden by a black sticker. You can also see the sign for where you can register for the RTP-NL Programme.
I asked Schiphol via twitter regarding this and I got an answer below:
Thank you for your question! The latest update we have received about ...
-2
Just ask them if they have any reason to believe your passport is not genuine, and, whatever answer they give, be it in the affirmative or not, politely tell them that you refuse to be interviewed in a public space (which passport control area is), and request that, if they have any questions, you require an interview room.
1
Immigration of a country would not know all other countries rules, for potentially everyone from any other country - a huge complexity, and ever changing. They do not care.
For flying:
If you cannot travel to a specific country with your passport/visa/documentation (without getting a visa/waiver/etc. first), the airline is responsible to not let you board. ...
8
Do immigration officers care when leaving to a country you are obviously not allowed to visit?
Typically no, but that's probably not universal and they are likely some exceptions to the rule.
Any exception would be likely at a land border since enforcement at ports or airports are handled by the airlines or cruise ship lines and most governments put hefty ...
14
As a rule, immigration cares only about the country you're in, what you do afterwards and whether you can enter the next country is not really their problem. You might get a nice officer who tells you if they have concerns if they notice something, but they have zero legal obligation to do so and you really can't count on it. It's highly unlikely they ...
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