Will USA border agents think it's suspicious that I take my personal and work laptop?
I live in Canada and will travel to USA tomorrow for non-essential purposes. I return on Sunday. On Monday I start a new remote job in Canada.
I want to take both my personal and work laptop, because what if I can't fly on Sunday for whatever reason? (e.g. if my COVID test comes back positive and they don't let me board). I can't miss my first day at work.
Will the USA border agent think this is strange? E.g. they may think that I plan to work there and deny the entry? I can show them my return ticket, but is this enough?
Best Answer
Not in itself. It is a reasonably normal occurrence for people to take a personal and work laptop. The suspicious part is the duration of the trip which you may have to explain. Which questions get asked are at the discretion of the immigration agent which is unlikely to notice you have two laptops unless you are carrying two laptop bags. The explanation you gave here in your question is quite reasonable during these times.
Security screening is done by different staff. They see your belongings plus passports and boarding pass but are not trying to check if your belongings match your trip. Laptops are screened separately and so security will see that you have two laptops. They often target those for additional screening or scan for some reason but I've never heard them voice any concern about this.
Pre-covid times, I crossed between the US and Canada multiple times per year, frequently for a few days and invariably got more questions from immigration about short trips than longer ones. Only once did immigration question why I was carrying substantial bulk relative to the length of my trip, only on the way back to Canada. That time, I had large work gear with me and needed an extra suitcase that was mostly empty, so I was sent to a secondary inspection where they passed all my baggage through X-ray again before letting me continue on my way home.
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Can border agents search your laptop?
U.S. border agents do not need warrants to search digital devices, court rules. BOSTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court ruled that U.S. border agents do not need warrants to search travelers' smartphones and laptops at airports and other U.S. ports of entry, a practice that grew during the Trump administration.Does immigration check laptop?
The short answer is, no. Customs and Border Protection do not need a warrant or probable cause to search your phone or laptop. Since 2013, the Department of Homeland Security has claimed legal authority to search your electronic devices without a warrant or probable cause at the U.S. border or international airports.What do U.S. border agents see when they scan your passport?
' Presumably both you and your son hold US e-passports which contain a chip. That chip holds biometric information that's printed on the picture page - name, date of birth, sex, nationality, date of issue, passport number, and photograph.Can border Patrol search your computer?
Without having to show any suspicion, a CBP officer can conduct what's called a \u201cbasic search,\u201d which means examining a digital device and \u201creview[ing] and analyz[ing] information encountered at the border.\u201d Travelers are required to provide their passcodes.Guarding Canada-US illegal border crossings
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Answer 2
I lost count how many times I crossed the USA - Canada border first as a Canadian resident on a Hungarian passport with a ten year B1/B2 visa and then on a Canadian passport -- always with at least two laptops. (Sometimes three.) Never a problem. Other countries too. I never had an agent ask me why I have a pile of laptops :)
Note attending meetings is a perfectly fine B1 reason and that very well might need a work laptop vs personal laptop. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/business.html
Examples of temporary business include:
Attending business meetings or consultations
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