All individuals coming into the United States must be inspected by Customs & Border Protection officers. This inspection is required of U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike, and begins with what is called a “primary inspection.” For most applicants, the primary inspection will result in immediate admittance into the United States. If the primary inspection reveals inconsistencies or concerns, then an applicant can be referred for “secondary inspection” and/or “deferred inspection.”
What is included in a primary inspection? During a primary inspection, a CBP officer is suppose to:
- Obtain a verbal declaration of citizenship from each traveler,
- Take physical custody of travel documents and request additional documentation if there are any discrepancies or questions,
- Look directly at each traveler see if there are any inconsistencies between the document pictures and the traveler,
- Ask questions verifying each traveler’s identity and purpose for coming to the United States, listen to traveler’s answers and obtain binding declaration of all goods and currency entering the United States,
- observe body language of all travelers, looking for indicators of deception,
- perform system queries, including confirmation of accurate reading,
- obtain clear view of of travelers, gifts and passenger compartments in vehicles, and
- analyze the totality of facts learned during inspection and refer, if necessary, travelers to secondary inspection for additional questions.
Additionally, the CBP officer is suppose to swipe any machine readable passports or travel documents.