"tim.." wrote in message

Whatever the problems with the organisation (and the
US has that too) at least the Brits attitude is pleasant
and they give the impression that they are making an
objective decision as to whether you are a bad'n or not.

The American's attitude is rude and if you are foreign they
have already decided (that you are).

Actually, I find that the US immigration people have got friendlier
since the new thumbprint/mugshot rules came in. Basically, they can
trust the computers to spot the wrong 'uns, and can afford to be less
suspicious than before. I've been travelling to the US at least once a
year for almost 30 years now, I don't think it's any more tedious now
than in the past. Of course, you do need to remmeber to provide all
sorts of extra info before leaving, including where you're staying (how
can they check?).

If you can get off the plane early and don't arrive just after a far
eastern 747 where hardly anyone speaks English, you won't usually have a
long wait at immigration (I once arrived in SFO just after a Cathay
flight packed with masked pax during the SARs scare). On my last flight
to the US a couple of months ago, I was the first off the plane
(something you don't often manage on a packed 747) and whizzed through
SFO immigration and customs.

I'm off to Canada on Tuesday, and in my experience they are particularly
friendly. My next US trips isn't till October, so fingers crossed that
they both stay friendly and efficient. Unfortunately, my next US trips
is to Orlando, and that's an airport that has really been messed up by
the new security rules (you have to queue security on the way *in*,
because they mix incoming and outgoing pax on the satellite shuttles).