customs denied access

A customer of mine traveled to detroit to visit a very old friend (who moved there years ago before immigration got so complicated) she only usualy see her when she visits uk once a year. Her friend now has cancer and can't travel so customers her family all contributed and paid for flight to visit her friend and when she arrived at airport she was told would not be allowed admittance and was told they did not have to disclose why, was not allowed to phone her friend to let know what was happening and was put in holding cell till next flight home available.

she is a fifty year old women who has no convictions she has never been arrested but did have a younger brother briefly living with her 10 years ago who had a drug problem could this be linked to her.

any suggestions she is devasted, to travel from newcastle to paris and then to detroit is bad enough but to be put through such humiliation and to not know why is soul destroying. plus on return got off plane in paris for connection to newcastle to find armed gaurd with guns waiting for her and she can not speak french so had to wait for interpreptor who was from british airways and ran her thru computer and had no idea why not accepted. Se was under escort till got on plane. everyone on plane looked at her like criminal.

she has contacted the british embasy who have informed her that they see no reason for rejection and that she has to book appointment with us embassy in London to find out why, as they will not disclose information by post

anyone any ideas cost about £700 for flights for nothing her friend is realy unwell and may not survive the immigration process just wants to say godbye how cruel is the US system

on another note we have visited the us about six times in last 10 years last time may 2005 husband has had priors for drunken disorderly over 20 years ago and never had to declare convictions before will we now need to apply for visa

I would think the most likely scenario, if all the information about your friend is correct is that she has the same or very similar name and date of birth to someone who may have reasons why they would not want to admit her.

Unfortunately the Visa Waiver most of us use for admittance to US contains a clause which we sign to waive our right to appeal or explanation as to why entry is being denied, it can be simply that the Immigration officer doesnt liek the look of your shoes, it's their call basically.

The only way she may find out is as has been said by applying for a visa and hoping that it will be granted.

The only other suggestion, if her friend is well enough for a short trip is if they could meet in Canada or somewhere?

It must be heartbreaking for her in the situation but hope she gets something sorted in time.

I was under the impression that you had to be denied entry for a reason and they had to tell you why?

Several million British passport holders travel annually to America on the VISA Waiver scheme and 99.9999999% gain entry with no problems. Your customer's situation is extremely rare, and having a brother with a drug conviction would definitely not have had anything to do with it.

As Steph says, your customer's name and date of birth have raised serious alarm bells at immigration. It might be worth her while doing a search for her name on the internet and seeing what, if anything, shows up. If it were me I would definitely go to the US Embassy and find out why I was rejected. I would also want to find out if someone else had been using my identity and the US Embassy would seem like a good place to start.

thanks for info will pass it on hopefully it will help her decide what to do next
the us immigration is a minefield

With regard to you your husband Sharon, you say he has never had to declare his convictions on previous visits. The visa waiver form has not changed, the question regarding convictions has always been there. You need to apply for a visa which will most probably be granted.