Thirteenth: you can cross the US border at Vancouver airport, Dublin airport, and a handful of others. If you have concerns, doing your border clearance here means that if something is wrong they just turn you back to Canada/EU and don’t put you in detention.
Not necessarily. I've entered at MSP, MIA, and ORD and have had a smorgasbord of experiences. Interestingly, the best was at MIA. It was nearly midnight as my flight from Port-au-Prince had been delayed, but everyone was polite and helpful.
Newark homeland security was nasty in early 2000s. A worker told me he couldn’t let me back to the country. I asked why. He kept saying invalid passport. After about 15 minutes he said “you didn’t sign your passport.” I asked if I could sign it. He said “yes, welcome home.” Did not want to be back.
had a friend get put in (I think it was essex?) county jail before a flight to montreal over a 20+ year old warrant that had been cleared up and had an explicit note in there to not hold him
it was so frustrating. he had to get it cleared up to get the passport issued in the first place. so he did. they issued the passport, then someone at the airport didn't pay attention.
and it was over a holiday weekend so it took extra time to get in front of a judge, who immediately cut him free
It's a federal bureaucracy, it's going to be people who do this everyday, think its a great idea, have little sympathy and get hyped by their peers in the break room, smaller customs offices might be better, but they're smaller because fewer routes go to them
No, unfortunately it’s all federal & makes no difference. The German permanent US resident who got detained & tortured was coming in through Boston. I think foreign pre-clearance is the only option that offers better odds.
Well, I always go out with my US passport card (for the past 8-9 years to be exact) as I don’t trust our government and I have lived under a dictatorship before…
I agree with this concern. I would always fly SFO or LAX over Fresno, Phoenix, anywhere in Texas. Worst was Philly. There is a difference—red/blue or whatever. I just returned to the U.S. last night—and while care always needs to be taken in answering agent’s questions, there is a difference
Important add: power down your phone at least 2 miles away from a demonstration/meeting. Or leave it at home. Even airplane mode geolocates your device. Technical details for the curious: https://youtu.be/hlbjUvkoyBA
This is generally great advice! Though powering off your phone saves an event in the cellular company logs. It’s safer to place the device in a sleeve that blocks mobile signals and then power off. Thanks for sharing!
Have a cheap phone for traveling that's just the phone numbers you might use. They're around $20 in most markets. Bringing in an expensive mobile phone can get you robbed. A Nicaraguan friend has lost three phones to theft over maybe a decade.
Oh, this is great info! Looks like for Canada, there is one in Victoria at the terminus of the Seattle and Port Angeles ferries, if you're not into flying.
Pre-clearing in Dublin has made coming back from visiting family so much less stressful. And not just because Dublin is a much chiller airport than Heathrow
Had a really unpleasant experience in Dublin pre-clearance (the agent didn't believe the town where I live existed, I guess?) but still easier than dealing with the US side at the time.
Just throwing in Shannon here, which is easier than Dublin.
Have you had any issues carrying 2 ciuntry's passports? I seem to remember you're dual. I usually fly out on one, land with another, but I've never been searched to a degree that both were found. I know it's not supposed to be a prob BUT.
I also have 2 passports. As long as you enter & leave the country you're a citizen of using that country's passport, you're good. So I enter & leave the US on my US passport (including preclearance at DUB) and rinse/repeat in the EU on my Latvian passport.
Have you traveled since the inauguration? I've never had a problem before, but I've also never even been asked about a second citizenship. I'm usually flying in & out of Ireland as well, but I have two trips coming up where I'll have to do customs in NYC & Boston
I’m starting to worry about that as well. If a person *has* an alternate passport they aren’t planning to use at all on this trip, but is just carrying in case they need to flee, will that trigger ICE?
Yeah, that's exactly what I'm concerned about. Even if i have every intention of just leaving the US for a week and returning, will they interpret me carrying my other passport as .... something, who knows what
You need to enter on the same passport you exited on. My kids have two passports. We leave the us on one, travel the eu on their eu passport. Come back on the us passport.
Yeah, I've been doing that for years. I'm just concerned that if someone at customs or even TSA finds my second passport when I enter or exit, if that will *now* cause an issue
I hate to say it, but the best way to get in and out of the US now is to be a white woman whose primary language is English. Profiling is step 1 in these awful experiences with border agents, and in that moment, you can’t do anything about the racist policies or people enforcing them.
And Elon overstayed a student visa and had his rich friends buy him a degree so they could (probably backdate) an H1B visa, yet he’s allowed to wander around free and break our country
And fourteenth, so I don’t leave it hanging on thirteen for a flight: seriously, respect the rules for not filming, photographing, or talking on your phone. It’s such an easy excuse you’re handing them.
I did similarly on a conference trip, for learning purposes, to USA last weekend. Crossed my Ts and dotted my Is, and had all documents prepared and available. My family was very concerned and called to warn me about arrests the day I arrived, because anything can happen now. No problems, though.
Which is why it's very handy to know how to lockdown your phone. For iPhones, pressing power and a volume button simultaneously will require your password to unlock again. For Android phones it can be more of a hassle, see link. https://www.androidcentral.com/phones/how-to-enable-and-use-lockdown-mode
Idea for fifteen: some countries will reciprocate American standards. Often just to fuck with and humiliate Euro/Americans to the same degree they feel US does to their citizens. Be patient, they aren’t wrong for taking it out on you.
Any major international airport in Canada, actually, and what you're looking for a is a US Preclearance Facility. Toronto-Pearson (YYZ not YTZ), Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Halifax, and Winnipeg all have preclearance facilities.
I went to Ottawa so much one of the Canadian BP recognized me as having gotten a work permit once and questioned why it wasn't renewed. I didn't NEED one but one of our clients insisted I get one, so that was a fun conversation (after a brief, cordial explanation, I made my meeting).
great thread. I’d add being super aware of rules on medicines. some countries are quite strict enforcing all meds stored in original current rx containers in your name.
also, be cognizant about even small intimate products we don’t think twice about here. a friend was turned away bc of a—lipstick.
Thanks for the list. Was already going to deactivate X, Bluesky etc. Got in early with ESTA applications for this Sept - was worried as they ask for X username, but got approved in a couple of days.
The pre-clearance @ several airports in Canada without actually leaving Canadian soil is a safer option as the detention facilities are extremely limited, you'd likely just be denied admission.
Speaking of “he who shan’t be named”… consider suspending your social media accounts. For example, you can suspend BlueSky and restore it simply by logging back in. Just because you carry a burner, doesn’t mean they can’t look for your socials from their tech.
Sure but it's good advice nonetheless. Border agents retain wide latitude and certainly some of them carried on during Biden Administration as they are now.
Another... if you have apps like what's app... you need to erase the backup via the app and stop the backup via it, too.
Usually, I simply do a download of all I want to keep from my phone to a hard drive at home. Then reset to its original industry start.
Great list. Based on my experience, I would just suggest a few things- make copies of all your docs and give them to 2-3 trusted people. Add the same people to all the updates of your travel itinerary and delete/disable your social media at least 2-3 months before your trip.
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Thirteenth: you can cross the US border at Vancouver airport, Dublin airport, and a handful of others. If you have concerns, doing your border clearance here means that if something is wrong they just turn you back to Canada/EU and don’t put you in detention.
and it was over a holiday weekend so it took extra time to get in front of a judge, who immediately cut him free
Hopefully we will soon adjust the situation with people power.
https://www.cbp.gov/travel/preclearance
Have you had any issues carrying 2 ciuntry's passports? I seem to remember you're dual. I usually fly out on one, land with another, but I've never been searched to a degree that both were found. I know it's not supposed to be a prob BUT.
No excuse at all for the awful way she was treated though.
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Follow the damn rules.
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also, be cognizant about even small intimate products we don’t think twice about here. a friend was turned away bc of a—lipstick.
Thanks for the list. Was already going to deactivate X, Bluesky etc. Got in early with ESTA applications for this Sept - was worried as they ask for X username, but got approved in a couple of days.
Usually, I simply do a download of all I want to keep from my phone to a hard drive at home. Then reset to its original industry start.