Vent: My German passport got me a lecture at the Amsterdam airport

Last month at Schiphol, the customs guy saw my US passport and spent 10 minutes grilling me about my trip plans. Then he flipped to my German one in my bag and just waved me through with a sigh. Has anyone else gotten treated totally different depending on which passport you hand over first?

3 comments

3 Comments

fiona_kim26d ago

Hate how much this rings true. I handed over my South Korean passport at JFK once and got the full inquisition, like where I was staying and how much money I had. Then I pulled out my Canadian one and the guy just nodded me through. It's wild how a little booklet changes everything.

laura_chen4125d ago

People don't want to admit how much the cover of that little book matters but it's the whole game. I've seen landlords do the same thing with foreign IDs vs local driver's licenses, suddenly the deposit doubles and they need three references. A friend of mine from Brazil got grilled for 20 minutes at customs while I walked through in 30 seconds with my US passport. The system is built to treat some people like a risk and others like a guest.

max22325d ago

I'm Canadian too and that difference is NIGHT and day. I flew into Miami once in a group - my buddy had an Indian passport and they pulled him aside for an hour, asked about his job and bank statements and even called his employer. I just walked up, handed my passport, said "vacation" and was through in 2 minutes. It's all about that cover color and I hate that I benefit from it. Makes you think about all the people who don't have the "right" booklet and get treated like criminals for NOTHING.