Comments on: What should one say and what addressing to use to the immigration official?

By: renny

renny — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:44:32 +0000

They need to check with the INS, probably, or TSA.

They WILL need to prove that they have a round trip ticket home, receipt for at least one night’s lodging, and a receipt for the car rental, along with their passports, and they may be required to have a tourist Visa depending on the length of their stay.

Make sure they check and double check that they have all of their papers in order before they get on the plane. Organizing the papers ahead of time so that the official can see exactly what he needs is key!

As for addressing the official, they need to be polite and clear, that means “yes sir, no ma’am,” etc. People who are rude, lose their tempers, or otherwise ’cause trouble’ will stand out and may cause suspicion for the officials – not to say that they deserve it at all!

Just make sure that they check with their equivalent of the US Dept. of State so that everything’s in order.

I hope they have a wonderful trip!

By: pexie

pexie — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 18:48:36 +0000

as long as they have credit cards ,driver´s licence-to proove they are doing what they say-driving around,and a fair amount of cash…i do not think not having booked a hotel would be a problem.also they need to show their airline round-way tickets and there is no problem.
if they are mexican ,i´ll give you a tip:do not stand in line where there is a immigration guard that does look mexican.i am mexican and let me tell you -some-mexican americans do not like to speak spanish or aknowledge they are of mexican background…they tend to be mean to people who share their roots.why ? i do not know….i have had this happen to me in the past.
i know some people will not like my comment.i talk from MY experience.

By: onidestroyer

onidestroyer — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:54:56 +0000

i think you could just tell them what you just wrote there. many people do that when touring. it saves money and is a great way to travel. the immigration official should understand.

By: CPG

CPG — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:04:01 +0000

Firstly, you will need to book a hotel or a motel in advanced, even if it is only for one night. When entering the USA you will have to state the name and address of where you will be spending your first nights stay on your I-94 and also to the customs official at the airport. At the airport they may even ask you to provide proof of this in the form of a printed receipt of some kind.

As for what you should say, tell them the truth. You have nothing to hide and there is nothing wrong or illegal about touring around the states. There are thousands of people who do this each and every year.

Edit: In regards to Pexie’s answer, I am a frequent traveler to the United States and it doesn’t matter how you are traveling (Air or Sea) on route you WILL be issed with a form called the I-94 and on this you MUST state your first nights stay and when you arrive at immigration they WILL want to know this information, as they staple the I-94 into your passport! Also they may ask you to provide proof of this, as I stated above.