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I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

226 points proberts | 1 comments | 05 Dec 25 16:04 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source

As usual, there are countless immigration topics and I'll be guided by whatever you're concerned with. Please remember that I can't provide legal advice on specific cases for obvious liability reasons because I won't have access to all the facts. Please stick to a factual discussion in your questions and comments and I'll do the same in my answers!

Previous threads we've done: https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=proberts.

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miotintherain ◴[05 Dec 25 16:44 UTC] No.46163747[source]▶
Hi Peter, thanks for the AMA!

I work for an American company and I am based in Europe. I visit the US for work every now and then. I heard a lot of horror stories regarding border entries. If I am ever in a situation where the border police asks for access to my personal phone and pin code, what are my options? Can I refuse and what happens then?

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stevenwoo ◴[05 Dec 25 17:37 UTC] No.46164511[source]▶
Border Patrol can wait longer than you want to wait at the airport, you should not bring your personal phone if you don't want them going through all the contents, they can hold your device for an inconvenient amount of time if you are an American citizen. If you say no and are not an American citizen you can be denied entry at the airport and sent home.
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fsckboy ◴[06 Dec 25 06:35 UTC] No.46171219[source]▶
>you should not bring your personal phone if you don't want them going through all the contents

isn't the right move here: wipe your phone, travel to destination, then restore from cloud backup? in the middle, you can let them inspect your wiped phone.

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mschild ◴[06 Dec 25 11:48 UTC] No.46172585[source]▶
Probably more convinient to get a cheap, 2nd hand phone with the travel essentials and use that instead.
replies(1): >>46172678 #
1. lrvick ◴[06 Dec 25 12:05 UTC] No.46172678[source]▶
Or just do not use a phone at all. I travel internationally without one a few times a year. Europe, mexico, canada, japan, no problems. Dirty looks, but no problems.