US Esta

koalakoala

bradders1983 wrote: »

I really doubt the airline matters, I was asked silly questions flying to the US from Manchester with a British based airline back in September. You have just been lucky not to have been asked since.

Have travelled to US around 4 times a year for many many years and it is the only airline who has ever asked me questions!

bradders1983

koalakoala wrote: »

Have travelled to US around 4 times a year for many many years and it is the only airline who has ever asked me questions!

No idea then. Thomas Cook used to (until their demise).

bobblebob

Just applied for my ESTA, i see automatic approvals are no longer a thing.


Did anyone answer the optional social media questions? I didnt bother

Ganga

bobblebob wrote: »

Just applied for my ESTA, i see automatic approvals are no longer a thing.


Did anyone answer the optional social media questions? I didnt bother

No we did not bother and both approved.

Pollyflinders

johnsmith1890 wrote: »

What on earth is the point of asking ridiculous questions such as those, and precisely who is asking?

The point, apparently, is to assess whether a traveller is comfortable with various questions, at ease or appears shifty in any way.

Although how anyone would take a little, grey-haired Welsh woman as a potential terrorist stretches the imagination.

shaun_from_Africa

Pollyflinders wrote: »

The point, apparently, is to assess whether a traveller is comfortable with various questions, at ease or appears shifty in any way.

I was once pulled to the side for "a chat" with a CBP officer and he first asked me what I did for a living (Helicopter engineer), and then he asked me what types of helicopters I worked on and what makes and models of engines were fitted to them.
The CPB man looked very young so I doubt if he had been in the military or had a previous job in aviation (but I may be wrong) so there was a good chance that he wouldn't have known if the replies I gave were correct or totally made up.
If however he was good at reading people, he may have been able to tell if I was bull****ing him simply by my body language.

badger09

Pollyflinders wrote: »

The point, apparently, is to assess whether a traveller is comfortable with various questions, at ease or appears shifty in any way.

Although how anyone would take a little, grey-haired Welsh woman as a potential terrorist stretches the imagination.

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

I was once pulled to the side for "a chat" with a CBP officer and he first asked me what I did for a living (Helicopter engineer), and then he asked me what types of helicopters I worked on and what makes and models of engines were fitted to them.
The CPB man looked very young so I doubt if he had been in the military or had a previous job in aviation (but I may be wrong) so there was a good chance that he wouldn't have known if the replies I gave were correct or totally made up.
If however he was good at reading people, he may have been able to tell if I was bull****ing him simply by my body language.

As I said in my earlier post:

badger09 wrote: »

The questions might appear ridiculous, and the answers may or may not be relevant to your visit. However, immigration and customs officials are trained to spot behaviour which could indicate that all is not as it seems.

Engaging in apparently casual conversation enables them to observe your behaviour.

I used similar technique when carrying out investigations for another Govt department. Not only did casual conversation put the interviewee at ease, it often elicited information that might not have been given in answer to direct questions, and body language can provide additional information;)

Jumblebumble

johnsmith1890 wrote: »

How might the US find out about such a situation? As far as I know, there is no checking of criminal records for ESTA.

A freedom of information act confirms the USA have no routine access to UK Criminal records
The only downside of telling porkies is that one may want to get a visa to live in USA at some later time and if one is asked for a police certificate at that point it might be a bit of a situation if the convection is revealed