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Customs inspection at airports

MikeH said:
I have followed your first rule and then always went against the next two. Pretty much every time I have two suitcases when I am coming back, man needs to have his condoms right?, and I communicate only in Japanese without fail.
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FWIW I probably just look shady as hell, haha!
 
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One of my last few trips to America required me to declare stuff. It was all completely legal, nothing to be concerned with.... but only if you happened to get sent to secondary exam randomly. Best bet, declare it... which I did. Process was absolutely painless. They didn't even open my bags... just asked if I was carrying anything else that would be remaining in the states over a certain value.

I was in and out of secondary exam in about 7 min.
 
TAG Manager said:
One of my last few trips to America required me to declare stuff. It was all completely legal, nothing to be concerned with.... but only if you happened to get sent to secondary exam randomly. Best bet, declare it... which I did. Process was absolutely painless. They didn't even open my bags... just asked if I was carrying anything else that would be remaining in the states over a certain value.

I was in and out of secondary exam in about 7 min.
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This was going from Japan into the US, right?
Sounds like things have changed - years ago I used to do events in the US and bring over a decent amount of products with me (way cheaper than shipping and also no worries about delays, etc) and even though I'd bring over a complete invoice and go directly to the "Items to Declare" line they'd still go through the stuff with a fine-toothed comb and give me the third degree about quantities/prices.

I knew the harmonized tariff lists pretty well and kept those in mind when putting the invoices together but it was still a 30 or so minute process on a good trip.
LAX was always the worst - total assholes - but JFK was significantly more chill.

I got stopped and searched at LAX last year (didn't declare this time but everything I was carrying was tariff-free stuff so there wasn't any real need to) and it was much more painless than last time. Maybe things are getting a little better?

At the end of the day I probably just do look shady...!
 
BIPSY said:
This was going from Japan into the US, right?
Sounds like things have changed
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Yes, but let's be realistic. What passport do you hold?
I'm betting not the same as mine, which probably has some influence on how things work.

(And 80% of the time, it's Japan to the U.S.)
 
TAG Manager said:
Yes, but let's be realistic. What passport do you hold?
I'm betting not the same as mine, which probably has some influence on how things work.

(And 80% of the time, it's Japan to the U.S.)
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I've got a US passport with Japanese PR (not that that matters much for customs, but nevertheless).
Ironic that I've had a more difficult time going back to the States than any other country I've been to, haha
 
BIPSY said:
Ironic that I've had a more difficult time going back to the States than any other country I've been to, haha
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Well, let me just say that I'm fair identical to your status and the damn immigration dude asked me what my job was and where it was in no less than 4 questions, phrased differently. Seriously... I'm not that dense.. but I realize people can slip up with false answers. :/
 
TAG Manager said:
Well, let me just say that I'm fair identical to your status and the damn immigration dude asked me what my job was and where it was in no less than 4 questions, phrased differently. Seriously... I'm not that dense.. but I realize people can slip up with false answers. :/
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Don't you love it when they do that?

I think its probably because I'm self-employed and work in kind of an unusual field compounded by having a lot of stuff with me by necessity.
99% of the time I have no problems if they decide they need to check it all out - at the end of the day its just a minor inconvenience - but the old LAX customs guys just seemed like they were specifically out to ruin your day.
 
BIPSY said:
FWIW I probably just look shady as hell, haha!
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So it seems I am not the only one. LOL!
I have asked several times if there is any reason I get stop and check so frequently in many different airports, and the answer I get from TSA agents is: "You got lucky! Believe me, this is a random check". Random check my ass!!!

Now I am so used to this that I always carry all the documents that I can get. For example, if a company invites me to a forum or seminar, I carry with me the invitation, hotel reservation, my company ID card, all emails that I have been exchanging with the company that invites me, Koseki copy, driver license....

I will be traveling to Colombia next month (Bogota, Medellin and Cartagena), let's see how this work.
 
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BIPSY said:
Just came back in through Haneda the other night - first time doing customs there as I usually fly through Narita.
Think I got lucky because it was SUPER smooth. Took the slip and waved me right through.
In my (limited) experience this seems to help smooth things out -

1) As much as possible always use actual luggage. I'm not above traveling with some stuff in cardboard boxes if I have to but stuff like that seems to have a much higher potential for getting checked.

2) I'm usually traveling together with several Japanese people for work. If you have more than one suitcase try to have a Japanese friend take the extra one through for you. I don't think I've ever been stopped when I had just one suitcase but an overabundance of luggage seems to work against you.

3) Fill out your customs form in English and speak only English to the customs agent, no matter how good your Japanese is. I've had far fewer checks since I started doing this - I think it seems like more of a hassle so they just let you through.

I've never had any real issues even when my stuff was checked but its always easier to just avoid it if at all possible.
But even with a perfect strategy sometimes the law of averages works against you and you'll have to let them rummage through your stuff.

Glad it didn't happen this time, though - wasn't bringing anything illegal across (at least that I know of) but also had a few things I picked up at a natural history shop in Europe that I wouldn't relish explaining.
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Haneda is known to be much more relaxed than Narita.
 
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SatoKM said:
Random check my ass!!!

I will be traveling to Colombia next month (Bogota, Medellin and Cartagena), let's see how this work.
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With a travel history including admitted multiple trips to Colombia, definitely not random, but not necessarily unjustified...
 
SatoKM said:
So it seems I am not the only one. LOL!
I have asked several times if there is any reason I get stop and check so frequently in many different airports, and the answer I get from TSA agents is: "You got lucky! Believe me, this is a random check". Random check my ass!!!
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You've been getting "SSSS" on your US bound boarding pass unreasonably many times? If so, this may help.
https://www.dhs.gov/dhs-trip
 
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User#8628 said:
Haneda is known to be much more relaxed than Narita.
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Definitely taking a note of this...

In terms of international airports I really do like Narita - its layout is straightforward, you can actually buy things for a reasonable price even inside the airport (a bottle of water doesn't magically cost 3x more once you go through security) and overall its pretty efficient.

But flying through Haneda a couple times in the last few months is really starting to show me the faults of Narita, haha!
 
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The only advantage with Narita is that I can park my car for 500 yen a day while I'm gone, and then just drive home while getting some solo time. Haneda has no reasonable long term parking nearby....
 
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So my interesting nothing to really do shit with this but kinda haha


Paris to US ..Paris side confiscated this amazing fucken truffle mustard. It’s a liquid no! The kind beautiful French lady cried with me nooooo. But alas die truffle mustard.

Win for the good guys. Some odd trip absinthe somehow to US. It passes.

I get why stuff happens but wtf!
 
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