Everytime I travel to a new country, the person giving me the stamp in my passport will ask me what my job is back home. They’ll never (have the ability to?) check whether I’m lying. I don’t think they’ll write it down either. Why even ask?
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For one, to make sure you’re entering the country on the right type of documentation. If you’re going on a visa reserved for athletes but you say you’re a librarian, it will raise suspicions.
Secondly, to see if you should be flagged for extra screening. If you’re of a profession that commonly imports or exports certain products, they may want to confirm how much money you’re bringing in to the country or what sort of items you’re bringing in. If you’re just a college student that’s less of a concern.
Thirdly, to have a record of your activity. If you enter the country every other week but your profession changes every time, then that’s a red flag.
Also for biosecurity reasons, like if you’re a farmer that had been doing a work visit to or from a country with foot and mouth disease they’d need to treat any gear or boots you bring with you
Customs or immigration? In many places those are not the same thing
Customs, they’re just trying to talk to you and see if you’re nervous, see if you might be evasive, see if you might be making up answers (taking a long time to come up with answers, etc). This could indicate to them you are hiding something and might trigger them to investigate what you are bringing into the country, search your stuff, etc
Immigration they might also just be trying to have a conversation with you to do the same thing–try to trip you up, see if you give the same answers each time, see if you are being evasive or nervous. But they also might be trying to find out if you are coming to the country to work when your visa doesn’t allow you to, etc
At the end of the day, cops are just going to try to get you to get crossed up and contradict yourself or see if you’re nervous to determine if they need to press further with an investigation or let you pass
>They’ll never (have the ability to?) check whether I’m lying.
Oh but they do. All the questions they ask you are to see how you answer. Do you hesitate? Do you look up and to the left? Do you sound unsure? A person telling the truth answers much differently than a person lying. They ask these questions to see how you answer (not what you say) and based on that they decide if they need to question you further.
Sometimes they want to make sure you are not entering as a tourist but actually looking for work. If you are wearing a suit for example but claiming to be on holiday in a tropical location they may want to examine what you brought in your bags. If it includes a pile of resumes and a calendar full of interview appointments they may bar your entry.
My friend told me they have a great level of personal info about you. He works the Canadian border.
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