Passport control at Heathrow Airport

when did you meet him ?  where did you meet him ? how long have you been togeather? how often do you see him ? what does he do ? where does he work ?
what do you do ? where do you work ? how many hours of vacation time do you have ? when are you expected back at work ? how much money do you have? where are you staying while here ? let me see your return ticket ?

All, valid questions to determine if you were a genuine tourist and not someone who was trying to gain entry in order to settle without the proper visa.

Springfieldsweetie, did the IO actually say that you 'stole' a British man? Or make any snide remarks that indicated such?

I seriously doubt anything like this was said by the Immigration Officer. We have to remember you're only hearing the story from someone who was a 'dissatisfied customer' who was upset with being asked normal entry questions as if they were applying for a visa -- because that's exactly what you're doing when you enter as a visitor, you're applying for a visa without having to do the paperwork. So the questions are valid, & if you look at the visitor application you'll see that they are very similar and maybe the IO was using a little bit of pressure tactics to see if she would stick to her story or to flush out deception.

But I do doubt that the OP was screamed & scoffed at, and remember that these IO's hear the same thing from a lot of people and the eye roll (if there even was one) was probably due to stereotype of Young American Women that is pervasive in the immigration sector.

I think there was a bit of jet lag, exhaustion and fear that the OP had and that is colouring her perception of the entire event.

I have seen American tourists get attitudes when questioned at immigration, as in "How dare they ask me where I'm staying and how long I will be in the UK?!!!  I'm an American. I can go wherever I want and do whatever I want!"

That probably doesn't make things any easier for Americans.

I have seen American tourists get attitudes when questioned at immigration, as in "How dare they ask me where I'm staying and how long I will be in the UK?!!!  I'm an American. I can go wherever I want and do whatever I want!"

I saw this with an American man at Australian immigration on one of the Border Force TV shows... he got really defensive and offended about being asked all of these questions, such as 'Where are you going in Australia?', 'What are your plans?', 'How much money do you have?', 'How long are you staying?'.

He got really angry about it, asking what right they had to ask all these personal questions and the response from the IO was just that he was doing his job (which was true). Then the guy said that his country (US immigration) wouldn't treat people this way... although, being a US citizen, I'm guessing he's never had to be on the receiving end of an interrogation from a US immigration officer (that can be a scary experience) !

My dh got extra questions when he was coming to the US for three weeks.  He's now terrified of US immigration.  He turned me in for stashing a turkey sandwich from the plane in my bag (hadn't been through customs in two years, and totally spaced it).  I think he'd sell me to them just to not have any problems.   

My dh got extra questions when he was coming to the US for three weeks.  He's now terrified of US immigration.  He turned me in for stashing a turkey sandwich from the plane in my bag (hadn't been through customs in two years, and totally spaced it).  I think he'd sell me to them just to not have any problems.

We've had some really strange IO's (for DH) going into the US in the past.  One guy who thought he was a real bada** once for some reason - I thought the guy acted like that anyway, but DH just took it in his stride.

Another time, the IO there kept trying to pressure DH into saying that he went to the US on business 'all the time' - when clearly, looking into his passport, that wasn't the case at all - he only ever goes there with me.  DH wouldn't say anything of the sort despite the repeated pressuring from the IO, because it simply wasn't true.  It was just very strange.

Sometimes, we get IOs that act all surprised that I would live over here & not in the USA - like that's a pretty freaky & outrageous thing of me to do. 

Sometimes, we get IOs that act all surprised that I would live over here & not in the USA - like that's a pretty freaky & outrageous thing of me to do. 

I've had that.  The guy just looked at me puzzled and asked me why?  I hate that.

My other favourite one was going through JFK once I got this woman who was doing crowd control just kept screaming 'GET BEHIND THE YELLOW LINE.'  When I got up to the IO, he just looked at me and said 'You weren't behind the yellow line.  I don't think we can let you back in.'  It was my first time coming back from Europe so cue nervous laugh.  He eventually let me in because I said I needed to take care of my dog who my parents looked after all summer.   

I've had some sarcastic IOs at Manchester airport sometimes.  It's annoying but I've learned to let it roll off my back.  Yeah, it's crappy, but it's 2 minutes out of my life unless they are going to hold me for something then I'd have a serious problem. 

I was behind a girl in line at immigration in Detroit one time who was wearing (if I remember right) an Ohio State college sweatshirt.

The IO took her passport, pointed at the cover and said "What color is this?"

The girl was starting to get a little nervous and said "...blue?"

Then he pointed at the lettering and asked "And what color is this?"

And she said "...gold?"

And he said "Do you know what that means?"

And she said "No?"

And he said "YOU'RE IN WOLVERINE COUNTRY." And let her go.

At least they have a sense of humor sometimes.

DH says he's only nervous if the IO starts putting on latex gloves.   

I was really happy with my IO experience coming back from the states (visited for Thanksgiving).  I have FLR (M) so I just handed my residence card to the IO with my passport.  He just asked me what area I was from, if I was working, and how I planned to get back to Bournemouth.  Very quick and painless

On my RTW I never got any questions except for in the UK, in hindsight, I could have been more prepared with a bank statement print out or something.  I did get a handful of questions in Slovakia, but couldn’t answer them as they didn’t speak English and I don’t speak Slovak.  After a couple minutes of confusion they let me go.  Actually, in Malta the IO invited me to his birthday party the next day!  The Maltese are very friendly. 

Coming back to the US is always fun.  After being gone for 20 months just traveling all I got was a welcome home.  It was a good thing too as I’d fallen down the stairs the day before and couldn’t sit properly.  To get through the flight I over did it a bit on the painkillers and wasn’t at my best.  When I came back after a week trip two weeks ago it was slightly more interesting.

IO: How long have you been gone?
Me: A week.
IO: (looking through every page of my way full passport) A week, really?
Me: Yes, on this trip.
IO: Do you do all of this travel for work?
Me: Not much of it, I spent 20 months traveling around the world.
IO: That’s my dream, how did you afford it?
And so on and so forth.

My other favourite one was going through JFK once I got this woman who was doing crowd control just kept screaming 'GET BEHIND THE YELLOW LINE.' 

Driving back into NY from Canada we got similar treatment from the IO.  She was dressed like a SWAT team wannabe with the mirrored sunglasses and black leather fingerless gloves, and although we were within 2 feet of her she shouted all of her questions like it was a traffic stop on COPS:

IO: DRIVER!  WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Me: Benton Harbor, Michigan
IO: PASSENGER!  WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Wife: Bury St. Edmunds, England
IO: DRIVER!  WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF YOUR VISIT TO CANADA?
Me: Tourism

And on like that for a few minutes before (I assume) she lost her voice and let us go.

Ha, I have a habit of wearing something Mets or Jets themed when I return to the US, because the very first time I was returning to the US, I was waiting in line (which wasn't exceedingly long, even) and one of the guys waved me over to his line.  He said he was about to be done with his shift, but for a fellow Mets fan, he was going to squeeze in one more.  Nice guy.  We agreed if we ever ran into each other at Shea, I'd buy him a beer.    (this sounds flirty, but it wasn't.  more joking).

I've not really had any issues here.  When I first moved over for work, they had JUST rolled out the T2s and they hadn't had a lot of training on them yet, so I had to wait for a little bit since one of the numbers was missing on my visa sticker, or something?  But after about 20 minutes, it was sorted and they apologized about the delay.    Usually I just get asked what I do for living.  Once I got jokingly asked about stock tips but as this was in 2008, I just said not to invest right that second! 

Going through LHR last year to visit my BF for 5.5 months I got the standard "why are you here? Do you have a job to go back to? Do you have a place to live? Do you have any money?" questions and they didn't like any of my answers "To visit my BF, No, No, No" and pulled me aside for special questioning. Yeah, I'm pretty darn lucky they let me in. 

Returning to SFO after my visit I got almost the exact same questions, "Why were you there? Do you have a job? Do you have a place to live? Do you have any money?" and didn't like any of my answers "Visiting my BF, No, No, No" and they welcomed me home.

Guess it's true - Home is where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. 

Guess it's true - Home is where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. 

So true! The guy at LAX the other day asked 4-5 questions of the non-Americans in front of me and spent 2 seconds on me. I think he would've preferred to just wave me through.

Returning to SFO after my visit I got almost the exact same questions, "Why were you there? Do you have a job? Do you have a place to live? Do you have any money?" and didn't like any of my answers "Visiting my BF, No, No, No" and they welcomed me home.

I've noticed the questioning getting tougher for USC re-entering the US especially the longer I live abroad... perhaps just changes in Homeland Security?

IRIS is amazing for returns through Heathrow though! It almost feels like you are sneaking in through the back door.