Cautionary advice : Do Not let go of your documents .......

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john_morris_uk said:
They accepted our home printed and laminated boat registration document without question last time I was there. But how would they know that I printed and laminated it?
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They see so many documents, they recognise anything out of the ordinary. These days, they are downloaded and home printed. IIRC, there's a note stating they can be laminated if desired so, document still in it's original form.

Quite a few years ago, met a guy at Alcoutim whose boat had been impounded. His SSR was running out so he photocopied it before posting off for renewal. Can't remember whether police of border control carried out one of their spot inspections, wouldn't accept photocopy and impounded his boat until new SSR could be presented.
 
Juan Twothree said:
Anecdotal evidence suggests that US immigration checks have become even more rigorous of late.
Apparently border officials will now go through your mobile phone, and look at emails etc.
A French scientist was refused entry in March for having exchanged WhatsApp messages with friends which poked fun at the current US president.
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Perhaps USA citizens should receive equal scrutiny on arrival in any other country.
 
Graham376 said:
They see so many documents, they recognise anything out of the ordinary. These days, they are downloaded and home printed. IIRC, there's a note stating they can be laminated if desired so, document still in it's original form.

Quite a few years ago, met a guy at Alcoutim whose boat had been impounded. His SSR was running out so he photocopied it before posting off for renewal. Can't remember whether police of border control carried out one of their spot inspections, wouldn't accept photocopy and impounded his boat until new SSR could be presented.
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That doesn’t make sense. You don’t have to send off your old one. You just apply online and they email the new certificate to you IIRC.
 
Even Americans going abroad are being advised to buy a basic phone to take with them. As when they return customs are going through their phones.
 
The Q said:
Even Americans going abroad are being advised to buy a basic phone to take with them. As when they return customs are going through their phones.
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Total invasion of privacy. Also I am not going to jail for my anti-government memes. This is so undemocratic. What happened to basic human rights?

Crazy. I am soon going abroad and I think it will be very different nowadays than 5 years ago, when I last travelled in big steps
 
Juan Twothree said:
Anecdotal evidence suggests that US immigration checks have become even more rigorous of late...
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Probably no bad thing:
In 2014 we first checked-in at the US Virgin Islands and subsequently obtained a cruising permit in Puerto Rico; on arriving in the US mainland about six weeks later, we phoned the nearest (25 miles away) Homeland Security office to report our arrival and that was it. When returning in 2015 (from the Bahamas) we sailed into Miami, anchored 150m from the shore and then phoned Homeland Security, who requested only that we 'visit our office within twenty-four hours'.
 
DangerousPirate said:
Total invasion of privacy. Also, I am not going to jail for my anti-government memes. This is so undemocratic. What happened to basic human rights?
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I agree with you where I live we have a bill of Rights in our constitution which includes the right to privacy but my concluding i that most government officials consider the laws and constitution don't apply to then and are thus above the law
 
rogerthebodger said:
I agree with you where I live we have a bill of Rights in our constitution which includes the right to privacy but my concluding i that most government officials consider the laws and constitution don't apply to then and are thus above the law
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Terrible attitude. I get that they search your clothes and bags for weapons and contraband, but there is nothing on a phone that would concern border patrol or immigration that I could be hiding. Doesn't sound like it's legal to go through your phone. I only had this happen to me once, when I was going to macedonia and came from greece. That was 100% unlawful as well, but Macedonia is not exactly a first world country so something like this was expected.
Momac said:
They can get you to strip and bend over if they wish. Is looking at your phone worse?
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I mean, normally I'd have to pay extra for that kind of stuff ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Back in the day, the 90's & early 2K's, I did an endless number of contracts in S.E.Asia and West Africa. An old hand had told me how he made life easier for himself by copying the French ID card pattern, and using 'Windows' he made it his own, not for France, but for Scotland, and dispensing them instead of anything 'really' official.
I copied this, and made about 6 of them, each one a laminated and very official looking ID card, not for a border post where they'd possibly be able to spot it, but for petty low level officialdom, where I'd happily hand my ID to them in order to sate their self importance.
In truth, it only happened 2-3 times, each time at a Hotel, and memorably, once where the manager who was remarkably similar to a Tunisian 'Blakey'1746372974603.pngfrom 'On the Buses', was giving me a hard time about whether the oil company would ever pay my bar bill.
 
I set off once, forgetting that my SSR had expired. As luck would have it we were approached by officials, perhaps immigration, in St Quay. I buried the old SSR low in as big a pile of papers as I could muster in the hope that they would lose heart by the time they got to the SSR, which miraculously turned out to be the case.
 
DangerousPirate said:
Total invasion of privacy. Also I am not going to jail for my anti-government memes. This is so undemocratic. What happened to basic human rights?

Crazy. I am soon going abroad and I think it will be very different nowadays than 5 years ago, when I last travelled in big steps
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US has been seen to deport / arrest students / professors / professionals these last weeks for exercising their civil right to free speech and protest.

I will be first to admit that some protest marchers on some 'subjects' should be locked up - but overall - freedom to express ones views / opinions is a fundamental right. USA at present is treading all over that right.
 
DangerousPirate said:
Terrible attitude. I get that they search your clothes and bags for weapons and contraband, but there is nothing on a phone that would concern border patrol or immigration that I could be hiding. Doesn't sound like it's legal to go through your phone. I only had this happen to me once, when I was going to macedonia and came from greece. That was 100% unlawful as well, but Macedonia is not exactly a first world country so something like this was expected.

I mean, normally I'd have to pay extra for that kind of stuff ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Go back to the saga pf USA vs Canada dispute over the Blackberry Messaging service. USA (and India) severely limited BB services for quite a time - claiming that BB Messaging was being used by terrorists ... USA demanded that BB release the security encryption to them so they could counter the claimed terrorist use ... BB refused .... ultimately BB shut down and we lost one of the best mobile phone systems ....

I work with many who travel in / out of USA and I have not heard any reports of DoHS or Airport Security / Customs checking messages on phones .... but there are many cases (I have had this often ...) having to switch on phone / tablet / PC to show they are legitimate items. Once seen they switch on - that was end of ...
 
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