CBPGuy
7 Years Experience
SouthWest, US
Male, 25
I am a U. S. Customs and Border Protection Officer on the southwest border between Mexico and the United States. I know the ins and outs of the job as seen on TV/News and things intentionally hidden from the media! There's more to this job than "Anything to declare?" I dont know all but I'll do my best to answer any questions you have! All answers are my opinion, and my opinion only!
You can show bank statements to prove the amount of money you have. There is no magic number that would be sufficient, its whatever the officer thinks would be reasonable.
I do not know where you would find that information.
Everyone applying for admission at the Port of Entry is treated the same. We will be conducting an interview to determine admissibility.
For non-immigrants, you need to make sure you visited the doctor and your family member filled out the I-864 properly. Also, you need to make sure you apply for admission before your passport and/or your visa expires. If all of those check out ok, you will be fine.
On your first year, it is extremely unlikely you will hit $75k. For approximately 6 to 9 months you will be training (depending on if you need the Spanish academy). During training, there is zero overtime. Also, in your first year, depending on your qualifications, you will be hired as a GS-5 (approximately $36k base) or GS-7 (approximately $44k base).
As a GS-12 (pay scale), I earn about $110,000 a year with overtime. The pay scale goes like this:
GS-5 (first year) = $36,000 GS-7 (second year) = $44,000GS-9 (Third Year) = $53,000GS-11 (Fourth Year) = $63,000GS-12 (Fifth Year) = $76,000
After you hit GS 12, every year or so you get a raise of about $2,000 to $3,000. All the numbers mentioned above are approximate and include my additional locality pay. All these numbers are approximates and varies.
Under law, we can earn a maximum of $35k a year on premium pay alone. Most officers earn that $35k almost every year.
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The only tip I can offer is to be completely honest during the polygraph. Regardless of how your past was (previous drug use, etc.), we are looking at your honesty. Integrity is one of the top core values every law enforcement agency looks for.
There is nothing against policy regarding dating a foreign national. There is, however, a policy that forbids you to associate with illegal aliens. A DREAMer is considered an illegal alien, by law.
There is also nothing against policy regarding "Sanctuary Cities", so I can confidently say that there are no issues with you living there. As long as you are honestly unaware of the immigration status of the people you deal with outside of work, nothing "bad" would happen to you. So, if you unknowingly go to a restaurant with illegal waiters and there happens to be a raid, theoretically, you should be in the clear because you did not know. However, if you were to hire illegal aliens to perform work for you at your home, then that would be a different story.
There are many reasons why we ask where you work. Ill explain the best I can.
For one, the officer is trying to have a conversation with you to get a base line feeling of your natural behavior. When you are asked a simple question, you should be able to answer it easily. We pick up on how you answer that question (body mannerisms, eye movement, stutter). Now, when we ask a more difficult question in which you want to lie about (Something that could incriminate you), your body will act differently than when you answered the more simple questions. That's when we know you just lied to us.
All the questions we ask you is to help with our inspection. Say, you work at a location thats open only Monday through Friday. Today is Saturday and your crossing the border saying your going to work. This would lead me to ask you more questions because you dont have work today but your telling me you do.
Ultimately, every new person we interact with is like a blank canvas. We are trying to paint a picture of who you are (if your innocent or a potential criminal) and the only way we can do it is by asking questions.
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