What to Expect When Going Through Immigration and Customs

When going through customs, be sure to fill out your customs card that is provided to you usually on your flight or as you are walking into the immigration area.  Customs wants to know if you are carrying anything dangerous, harmful, drugs, weapons, a lot of money, really expensive items, animals, plants, what foods that you are carrying with you, and other stuff.  Be honest on your customs card, the last thing you want is to get in trouble for not being honest with officials.  It always asks you to write down the items that you purchased on your travels and their monetary value.  They aren’t very strict on this.  It also asks you to state the countries that you visited on your trip.  They want to know for health and other purposes.  I always claim all of my food.  I stand in the line to get my bags check and show them that I have dried fruits, some whole fruit, nuts, and seeds all for snacks.  They always appreciate the honesty and let me through. 

Make sure that you do NOT take any photos in the immigration or customs lines.  They take it really seriously.  There are always signs posted but once I saw someone get in a lot of trouble and taken away from taking a photo and the flash went off in immigration line. Expect that in immigration, they will always ask you where you are going, for how long, your purpose for the visit, where you staying, the name and contact of where you are staying, and some other questions.  When my passport began filling up a lot and in some countries that were not as common for tourists, I would get questioned a bit more at immigration.  They weren’t sure why a girl, traveling alone, from America, was traveling so much.  It definitely got awkward a lot of times.  Thankfully, I have a new passport now, with extended pages!