Customs Delays

[Sirius Diver]

Yep, won't work.

Being DUI, it's also overpriced

hehehehe

Pin pulled, I'll leave now.

Steve

Hmm, it 'was' expensive, but competetively priced, and Steve, I'm not getting into this, LOL... I'll leave everyone else to argue about it and even to argue with themselves... hehe.

 

[Scuba_Steve]

Just kiddin' man. I couldn't care a less either way If you like it, then I'm one happy camper for ya.

 

[d33ps1x]

You betcha. I'm very happy with my "overpriced" CLX450 Sig series. I think I will get a few nice years of diving out of it too.

 

[uwhooligan]

" I can say that rude customs officers are NOT unique to the United States. I've had my share from Canada as well."

:

I'll concur with that, I'm a dual UK/CDN citizen and I've never had a really bad experience with US customs . I'm upwards of 50 or more crossing over the years from different ports of entry, New York Michigan Boston Maine Miami Atlanta and a few others, met a few less than jovial officers but never been over the coals by Uncle Sam. Crossing the border on my sportbike I've even been waved thru by the officer without even raising my extremely dark visor. Granted this was pre 9/11 but IMHO US immigration was far laxer than Canada's ever was, as strange as that seems.
In Canada I get harrassed almost everytime, especially when I fly. Been sent to secondary immigration checks, secondary customs checks and even had my passport taken from me while they used it to compare to a 'suspect' passport that someone was using. They took so long with it I eventually reminded them that a UK passport was property of the UK govt and not Canada's and that they had no right to hold it for any longer than nessecary especially since I was not under suspicion and could I phone the British Embassy if it was going to take much longer. Basically I find Canadian Immigration a PITA.
Ive flown across the Atlantic 27 times (I had to count). Not once has UK immigration ever slowed me down. I simply walk thru the returning citizens line ( a seperate lineup for citizens, unlike in Canada, immigration takes about 30 seconds from the time you enter the hall to the time you pass the officer at Gatwick airport) and hold my passport open to my picture as the officer tells me "Welcome home sir"

 

[CDN ff]

I'll concur with that, I'm a dual UK/CDN citizen and I've never had a really bad experience with US customs . I'm upwards of 50 or more crossing over the years from different ports of entry, New York Michigan Boston Maine Miami Atlanta and a few others, met a few less than jovial officers but never been over the coals by Uncle Sam. Crossing the border on my sportbike I've even been waved thru by the officer without even raising my extremely dark visor. Granted this was pre 9/11 but IMHO US immigration was far laxer than Canada's ever was, as strange as that seems.
In Canada I get harrassed almost everytime, especially when I fly. Been sent to secondary immigration checks, secondary customs checks and even had my passport taken from me while they used it to compare to a 'suspect' passport that someone was using. They took so long with it I eventually reminded them that a UK passport was property of the UK govt and not Canada's and that they had no right to hold it for any longer than nessecary especially since I was not under suspicion and could I phone the British Embassy if it was going to take much longer. Basically I find Canadian Immigration a PITA.
Ive flown across the Atlantic 27 times (I had to count). Not once has UK immigration ever slowed me down. I simply walk thru the returning citizens line ( a seperate lineup for citizens, unlike in Canada, immigration takes about 30 seconds from the time you enter the hall to the time you pass the officer at Gatwick airport) and hold my passport open to my picture as the officer tells me "Welcome home sir"

You know, the same people that complain about being held up for an extra twenty minutes at most, are the ones who would scream the loudest about lax border security if there was a terrorist incident in this country. I'm not condoning rude behaviour by any customs official-you can be efficient and still be pleasant- but anyone who complains about being held up while proper checks are done at borders needs to open a newspaper and give your head a shake. Help up by ten minutes? Too bad. Trust me- you're not as important as you think you are...

 

[procyon]

Help up by ten minutes? Too bad. Trust me- you're not as important as you think you are...

I will make one effort to pull this back on topic. I believe the complaint was about the behaviour of one & only one, US customs official, sitting at his desk on Hart Island this past Sunday. Security checks are fine & encouraged, obnoxious attitude I can do without.

And having crossed numerous international borders at various times over the years we have both seen good & bad people from various countries. Let me tell you, there's a lot of fun in handing over diplomatic id at a border.

 

[CDN ff]

I will make one effort to pull this back on topic. I believe the complaint was about the behaviour of one & only one, US customs official, sitting at his desk on Hart Island this past Sunday..

I BELIEVE the topic of the thread was 'Customs Delays'...

 

[sharkybait]

I BELIEVE the topic of the thread was 'Customs Delays'...

Hey there, I haven't had a chance to get much diving in the last year os so, and I haven't gotten out to Kingston in a while.....
Is this customs thing something I should thinking about if I'm planning to head to that neck of the woods?????
I'm scared....

 

[Tom R]

it's not a problem in Kingston

 

[scuba-punk]

Just to get back to the thread... On Sunday, it was beyond minutes and into HOURS for some of the boats that were in line behind ours. I'm pretty sure it was our charter holding things up, but I don't know why. We were cautioned by our crew to keep our US passports handy because we stood a chance of being boarded at gunpoint at any time during our stay in US waters. Again, not sure why...

Having said that, I want to draw a distinction between rude and thorough. When travelling into Canada, the customs agents ask plenty of purposeful questions, are pleasant, yet official, etc. No problems there, in fact I like the fact that they are very consistent. Coming back into the US, it's either one end of the spectrum or another. Rarely is the behavior consistent. Sometimes, they ask 2 questions, are fairly pleasant and send you through without even looking at your passport. Other times, they want 'ze papers,' ask you a gazillion questions that never seem to have anything to do with anything, look at your passport and back at you 18 times before handing your passport back to you making the official 'off-you-go' wave of their hand without a word. Just my experience.

-Frank