very suspicious in america

naz101

Hey guys,

im not sure this is the right place to post this but will try anyway.

In summer I went to America for 8 weeks. 1 month was spent in Washington DC as part of a medical placement and the remaining 4 weeks was spent travelling around the US.

My ESTA was issued for Washington DC.

I went to visit Niagara Falls and visited the Canadian side. Passing over was not an issue at all and it all went smoothly.

However on the way back into the US, border control stopped me and kicked up a fuss that I had passed into Canada without any issues.

They pulled me aside and asked a heck of a lot of questions, then spent ages deciding if it was ok for me to get back into the US and finally issued me with a new ESTA.

Initially I was a bit shocked that this had happened and told myself it must have been standard procedure. Hoewever others on the tour had no issues at all, even though they may have travelled from different states.

Also my luggage was searched on every leg of my journey.

Is there any reason why this would have happened?

I have no convictions at all and have never been in trouble.
It is a bit upsetting to the point that I dont think I would like to go back there again..

PasturesNew

You illegally crossed the border, then tried to illegally cross it again and got caught. And you wonder why the border guard was doing their job?

naz101

PasturesNew wrote: »

You illegally crossed the border, then tried to illegally cross it again and got caught. And you wonder why the border guard was doing their job?

Thanks for your reply. But I have no idea what you mean about illegally crossing the border. If I did do you think I would be posting here? All I am doing is asking for a bit of help so I can better understand what happened

fishingcinema

I dont understand what you have meant to have done but you have reminded me of a funny trip. 2001
Went on a 2 week holiday to florida and in the first week drove to daytona beech for the day when we neared daytona we changed out mind and drove to NY getting there at 5am in the morning was chilli, spent the day in NY then were going to drive back to florida and spend the rest of our holiday but decided we had come this far we may as well drive onto Niagara Falls for a visit.

However when we neared niagra falls we asked some directions as did not want to visit canadian side directions given next thing we were at the canadian boarder with no way back and one passport down, let me just say it was not a nice time for the next 6-8 hrs being stuck in no mans land not allowed into canada (did not want to anyway only wanted to look at the falls lol) but also not allowed back on the other side.

I look back and laugh now but i certianly was not then at least i got my canadian stamp :0)

naz101

God that would be horrible!!
Yeah that was one of the thoughts that was going through my head. All of my stuff was still at the hotel and if I wasnt allowed back into the US I had no idea what I would do.
I just dont understand how pasturesnew states I crossed the border illegally though.

rygon

i think he/she took
"I went to visit Niagara Falls and visited the Canadian side. Passing over was not an issue at all and it all went smoothly."

to mean you did not got via border patrol and went across without being allowed legal acess.
Basically your post was misread, thus you must have done something wrong and therefore it was your own fault blah blah

I think a lot of people have a problem with getting into US, I know a few people who go over there every year and sometimes they get through with no problems, other times it seems they are on americas most wanted. Only difference being the perons whos checking up on you.

ossie

naz101 wrote: »

My ESTA was issued for Washington DC.

Surely you can use your ESTA until expiry for entry into the USA not just Washington.

On one trip I went to Florida on another I went to NYC from UK.

Why should entry from Canada be any different the ESTA is the visa ENTRY into the USA until expiry!

L-train

If you are visiting the US and cross over into Canada with the intention of coming back, you should be given a slip of paper at the border to show US officials on your way back (at least that was the case a few years ago...). Not your fault if no one told you, and you didn't know to ask. I would imagine the US border patrol would ask for proof of onward travel as well, to ensure you don't plan to stay in the US, and if you didn't happen to have that with you on your visit to Canada they would have given you a hard time. Bear in mind a lot of illegal immigrants enter the US by land.

Also, ease of crossing the border has nothing to do with which state people come from. You had trouble because you are not a US citizen, not because you did not come from New York State specifically. Were the other people on the tour US citizens, even though they travelled from other states?

I'm sure it was an unpleasant experience, but they were just doing their jobs. For some reason they are obsessed with the (mistaken) notion that everyone is dying to immigrate to the US....

naz101

thats what I thought about the ESTA as well but apparently they had to issue me with a new one for new york.

Everyone on the tour was from a different country. There were a few from Britain, other places in Europe and South America. No issues at all except for me!

No papers were issued at all. I dont know if that has changed in the last few years? I really have no idea about that at all.

molerat

Repeat Visits? Change of Itinerary?

Updating ESTA data for repeat visits within the 2 year ESTA duration is recommended but is not mandatory. I.e. Upon entry into the USA, the Customs and Border Protection Officer may ask additional questions if a traveller’s current itinerary differs from information submitted in the ESTA application. Updating ESTA with new arrival and first night’s stay data could save time at the point of entry and result in fewer questions.

Could be the reason

vic_sf49

They don't give out pieces of paper when crossing the border anymore, or certainly didn't give me anything in October.

An approved ESTA is not a guarantee of admission into the United States so I'm not sure how issuing a new one changed the situation. On the upside, you got a new one for free.

Comparing how long it took your companions to get through Immigration probably won't slove the puzzle either. Sometimes I don't get asked a thing, other times they want chapter and verse. Last time I entered the USA I was quizzed quite a bit because my circumstances were slightly out of the norm, even though I had a Visa to enter the USA. I just treat it as a part of the travel process.

I'm confused about who was searching your luggage on every leg of your trip. Every leg of your trip would have to have included an international border for someone to need to search your luggage....and if that's the case....too bad, that's a part of the job for Customs and Immigration.

Hope you enjoyed Niagara Falls though!