scrubbedexpat091

There has been a bit of a marathon of these shows on today. First time I have seen Canada, US, UK and Australia versions and so has been easy to compare them.


Australian officers have a laid back friendliest and most patient of the officers shown.

Australia and the US and Canada must share info with one another. Some Canadians and some Americans have shown to arrive and not declare a criminal record and the officers knew.

Canadian officers shown seem to raise their voices the most and least patient.

UK seems kind of boring. Not as fun to watch and less interesting.

The US officers are stern but play good cop/ bad cop a lot. You tell me the truth before I find out you have drugs, I can help you type stuff.

The US and Canadian officers have the most police officer look.

Australians have a more relaxed looked. Look more like administrative vs law enforcement.

The UK one needed sun titles often as well. A few have some very difficult to understand accents.

Interesting how different countries do things.

Canada and the US very much have the most serious look and attitudes.

Danny B

Have you noticed how young the CDN border officers are in comparison to the rest of those shows from other countries?

scrubbedexpat091

Yes. The show doesnt seem to reflect what I see at the crossing....lol...The crossing I use is often on the show.

beckiwoo

That's because there are different dialects/accents in the UK.

I've never watched the UK one. Only the NZ and Australian one. The NZ one is better by way.

Siouxie

Australia is the only country that I had issues with their BSO's..

To cut a long story short, my (then) husband jokingly made some inane wisecrack about convicts (eek!) and they quite literally marked our cards and selected us for secondary on that basis. Over 3 hours of waiting later, with a very tired and unhappy 2 year old (after a long, long flight) I asked very nicely of one of the other BSO's if it would be possible to be seen soon. He took one look at the cards, laughed, then sent us through - saying "maybe next time you won't find making those kinds of comments funny".

Point taken.

beckiwoo

That's a big no no!!

I've heard similar stories from friends regarding sarcastic comments made to officers on the 'have you ever been convicted of an offence' lol

scrubbedexpat091

Jamaica was my issue country. I was accused of trying to immigrate illegally and was going to overstay and not leave.

All because I had an open return ticket. Which was standard for airline employee tickets since we flew space available and didnt have confirmed flights.

Pulaski

Only an idiot says anything to any immigration or customs officer that isn't the shortest reasonable response to a direct question, other than perhaps "Good morning/afternoon/ evening."

Siouxie

To be fair, he didn't say it to an official, he made the comment to me whilst waiting in line to be processed and it was overheard.

Needless to say, it was the first and last time he ever joked around near Immigration or Customs officers anywhere!

Steve_

I've watched various shows like this, I think the Australians come across as the most bureaucratic.

The American ones are always the most entertaining though because of all the people they catch trying to smuggle stuff.

I remember one episode I watched where CBP tore someone's car apart just because it was a type of car commonly used for smuggling. They did find some drugs in the roof.

And then there was another one where they found a huge amount of cash behind the console and then the next day, after the first van had been caught, same make and model of van shows up and they find even more cash in that one! What kind of moron was running that drug smuggling operation. "Oh, the million didn't make it to Mexico? Okay well I'll sent the next guy out then..."

Oink

If you're watching these types of programmes and you think their troublesome then you've got something to hide. If you've done nothing wrong you've got nothing to worry about.

BristolUK

That's just his side business. The main one is replacing vodka with water and getting his money back at Ontario liquor stores.

jeremy brewer

........Australia and the US and Canada must share info with one another.....


Hi
presumably they will have some sort of access a 'five eyes' type system.
cheers
jerry

sharkus

Youngest I've seen recently was the chap when entering the UK, looked around 19. Extremely friendly though, which was pleasant.

Canadian ones, not seen any really young ones, and I've been coming back from Buffalo quite a bit recently. Again, all very friendly.


Whoops! Think a nerve was hit there.
I somewhat agree with others that you say as little as possible, bar some pleasantries, simply as dealing with a lot of people, all day long, can be annoying, regardless of the job you are doing.

All it takes is a little common sense, and some people see to forget this. It's fine and dandy if you're going through on your own, but with others in tow, you cause a problem, and you're all in for it.

dormy

Not always the case, I recently returned from the states, answered my questions succinctly (yes/no, short answers), and was asked what was with the attitude. I replied that I was not giving attitude but was answering the questions they were asking me. She shrugged her shoulders and let me in. Next thing as I passed through customs, I was pulled away for further "random" checks. The child checking my small bag, told me that I was acting suspiciously and only nervous people that are hiding something answer so precisely, and pre meditated. I had nothing to hide, but they looked through my carry on for at least 30 minutes.