Not legal advice but I'm a US citizen and when I've refused to answer their intrusive questions the worst that has happened to me is they imprisoned me, stripped me naked and searched me, got a fraudulent warrant for an internal body search, and then sent me the bill after dumping me at the border when they found nothing. Enjoy.
Which entry point was that at, and did you enter by air or land?
In particular if it was entering the southern border by land, I heard CBP behavior is much more aggressive.
I would guess unnecessary delays. Leases or property ownership can be verified with a phone call but probably needs to happen during business hours and if you are prepared everything will have a better chance to go smoothly. Property ownership is public record but a lease might be a bit more trouble to verify if the landlord is privacy conscious.
But I mean what is the conversation like? “Here are the only documents I am legally required to show you.” “I need to see a piece of paper with a random address and your name on it.” “I don’t have that.” What happens next? They are not able to not let you in.
Unless you're trying to prove a point, having everything they might want will make the process easier. If you want to get into an argument about what you are "required" to show, you may well prevail, but it may cost you six hours.
The short answer is that CBP has the right to ask to see your electronic devices and you have the right to refuse but if you refuse (and you are not a U.S. green card holder or citizen), CBP likely will deny you admission and send you home.
I had a friend who was asked to unlock her phone, and she did, and then… they did nothing. They watched her do it and moved on to the next question. Seems like asking someone to do this is just a good test to see the kind of individual they’re dealing with. It’s not practical to thoroughly search phones at scale and plus they know people can just have burner phones anyway. If you’re cagey and combative they know you’…
What's a good number to memorize if you get detained and have the right to ask for a lawyer?
See the ACLU guidance referenced in a previous comment. There's no right to counsel during routine admission. The right only arises when arrested or being investigated for a crime.
But you can (and should) ask if you're being detained on suspicion of a specific (criminal) offense, or not (e.g. officer wants to doublecheck your story, or background, or thinks there are irregularities), or (esp. for non-citizen) refusing to consent to unlocking your devices.
The answer to the above should give you some idea what's likely to happen, and what CBP has flagged you for, if anything.
Hi Peter, thanks for doing this AMA! I'm an EU citizen. I got my H1B in late 2023, but ended up not moving to the US after all. When I travel to the US for short business trips (same employer as back then), should I enter using this H1B or ESTA? And could this unused H1B become an issue now that there seems to be increased scrutiny at the border? Thank you.
The standard for employment-based permanent residency (green card) is extraordinarily high. As in, would likely place you in the top 1-5% of the most successful people in the country. That, or you have to invest $800k and create 10 jobs. No other country in the world requires foreigners to be significantly more qualified than its own population. You can move to France with a regular paying job no problem or just a fe…
> You can move to France with a regular paying job no problem or just a few thousand euros in savings Unless something has changed dramatically in the last decade this is patently false. Getting an EU work permit was historically very hard with employers having to demonstrate that a position can't be filled by an EU citizen before a non-EU citizen candidate can be considered.
You are correct, however the criteria are a lot more relaxed in Europe comparatively. Most positions in tech, engineering and healthcare are often exempt from labor market tests. Also, there are plenty of options for "entrepreneurs" and self-employed digital nomads, often requiring some savings to prove sufficiency. I live in Portugal, and I believe the amount required when we moved was about 12k. In France, I believe it is closer to 21k (which is basically minimum wage multiplied by 12). Still dramatically easier than 800k in the US.
That’s only the Canada -> US leg, though. They can still grab your phone on the US -> Canada return trip, ne pas?
Historically the US has not had much "exit control". For example leaving the Schengen area it's obligatory to go through "exit immigration" and get your passport stamped. Leaving the US, you show your passport to the airline, but usually there is no formal immigration check at all.
Every time I've crossed from US to Canada there's been zero interaction on the US side. Just drive up to the Canadian gate house and show papers.
The standard for employment-based permanent residency (green card) is extraordinarily high. As in, would likely place you in the top 1-5% of the most successful people in the country. That, or you have to invest $800k and create 10 jobs. No other country in the world requires foreigners to be significantly more qualified than its own population. You can move to France with a regular paying job no problem or just a fe…
Maybe for instant green card you have to be extraordinary, but for regular employment-based immigration you don’t have to be. The path is H1-B -> Green Card -> US citizen (I have done it), and to get H1-B your potential employer gotta post that $60-80k/year job and show that there were no qualifying US applicants for it.
This is true, I have omitted this path because I am not so familiar with it. The trouble however is that this only works for employees, not for self-employed or startup founders. So in some way I guess they make it kind-of easier if you just get a job, versus try to create jobs... which is pretty strange?
> You can move to France with a regular paying job no problem or just a few thousand euros in savings Unless something has changed dramatically in the last decade this is patently false. Getting an EU work permit was historically very hard with employers having to demonstrate that a position can't be filled by an EU citizen before a non-EU citizen candidate can be considered.
Indeed those are the rules but on a practical level it seems pretty simple to get a visa if the company had an even reasonably competitive process. Though I moved to Europe 12 years ago (and went through getting work permits twice), maybe it's gotten harder.
Nah it's still very easy. The logic is pretty simple. Europe could really use more talent... and the bar is quite low. Any developer/engineer of any grade will easily get a visa. Any retiree will also easily get a non-work long-term visa with just 1 year worth of minimum wage (around 20k in most of Western Europe) as savings to prove self-sufficiency. So it's extremely easy and almost a non-issue compared to the other side of the pond.
I am on H1b visa and my partner is on H4 dependent visa. On H4, my partner wants to open a startup but is afraid if I lose my job then she has to stop working on the H4 visa as well.
I have my cousin who has a green card who is willing to be part of it, but I don't want to dependent on them.