Will U.S. Customs at international airports be discreet when asking me about previous criminal charges?
I'm an F1 student visa. I was arrested in 2012 for a misdemeanor (soliciting a prostitute) when I was completing my MA. This incident, which I still regret it very much to this moment, has been dropped by the court after I did 40 hours of community services in 2013. Note, after that incident, I returned back to my country for a vacation and returned back to the U.S. in Washington airport. The US Customs at that time transferred me to a secluded big hall. And another officer, after waiting two hours, asked me about this incident. And I answered him truthfully. He allowed me to check in the US border. This was after I finished my community services and before the case was dropped.
When I applied for another F1 visa for my PhD studies I was refused (under 214b section) at first, but after a long battle with embassy consulate officer I finally convinced them and I got approved.
My concern is I got married and my wife has no idea about this incident and I'm afraid that an officer might ask me the same question in front of her about this incident cause I love my wife so much and I don't want to lose her.
Do you think I'm going to be asked this question if I come to the US? And if yes, can anyone suggest something so I can protect my marriage?
Best Answer
This may be difficult. Your record is probably flagged by immigration and likely to pop up when the first level immigration officer scans your visa. It's in the discretion of the office how to proceed but it's not unlikely that she/he will ask you about it or, even worse, send you to secondary inspection.
I used to go to secondary inspection a lot because I was on a status that was called "Advanced Parole" (not kidding). It is not a nice place. I have seen some fairly disturbing things there and the word "discreet" does not rank very highly in the vocabulary of the officers working there.
The chances that you can get into the US without this coming up are fairly low.
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What happens when you are denied entry to the US at the airport?
Many foreign travelers are denied entry to the US at airport terminals every day. When you get to the airline counter, three things could happen: They apply your return ticket to your flight back. They add a fee to change your return flight date.Can US citizens be denied entry to the US?
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Anyone, including US citizens, may be sent to secondary inspection if the CBP officer has reservations about admitting them. Secondary inspection is a more detailed inspection to determine whether you should be admitted to the US.Do you have to go through immigration when leaving the US?
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