You might think your passport is just a simple travel document \u2014 a way to prove who you are when you cross borders \u2014but in reality, border officials see a lot more than you realise.<\/p>\n
Denied entry<\/p>\n
Melbourne woman Pauline Ryan was nearing the end of a 10-month trip through South and Central America when her journey turned into a nightmare.<\/p>\n
The semi-retired psychologist had travelled extensively with her partner \u2014 from Peru and Ecuador to Mexico \u2014 before flying into Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on July 19, en route to Bali via Singapore.<\/p>\n
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Pauline Ryan travelled to the Middle East for a holiday more than a decade ago but was denied entry to the US last month. (Supplied.)<\/p>\n
The pair arrived at 4:20pm and joined the long immigration queue.<\/p>\n
“The immigration officer was super friendly, super chatty\u2026 told us about his time in Australia and how well he was treated\u2026 then just abruptly said to my partner, ‘You’re going through. Pauline, you’re being detained.’ I literally said, ‘You’re joking.'”<\/p>\n
Ms Ryan said she was taken to a secondary holding area.<\/p>\n
“I was seriously patted down \u2014 hands up against the wall, legs parted, under the bra. Fingerprinted, all my jewellery taken, shoes and mouth searched. All my luggage was taken off me,” she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Ryan was told her ESTA visa was invalid because of a trip she had declared to Iran in 2013. She said despite disclosing the visit months earlier during the online visa process \u2014 and having it approved \u2014 border officials informed her she was now ineligible and would be denied entry to the country.<\/p>\n
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Pauline Ryan had been travelling through South America when she was denied entry to the US. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
“They said because I’d been to Iran, I was not allowed to have an ESTA visa.”<\/p>\n
Ms Ryan said she wasn’t allowed to speak with her partner or access her phone and was made to board a last-minute, expensive flight to Singapore on the same night.<\/p>\n
“Two really big guys marched me through all of LA Airport\u2026 it was like a walk of shame.”<\/p>\n
Once in Singapore, authorities questioned Ms Ryan again and denied her entry due to the US refusal, so she was forced to fly back to Australia.<\/p>\n
A US Customs and Border Protection spokesman said ESTA eligibility can be revoked if travellers visited “US designated sponsor of terrorism countries like Iran, Iraq, or Cuba”. The spokesman said Ms Ryan’s ESTA visa was revoked for false information about such travel.<\/p>\n
However, Ms Ryan said she did declare the holiday to Iran during the visa process.<\/p>\n
What do immigration officers see when they scan your passport?<\/p>\n
Dr Nina Toft Djanegara from UCLA said airlines share an enormous amount of personal information with border officials. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
Dr Nina Toft Djanegara, a Technology, Law and Policy Fellow at the University of California (UCLA) School of Law, said a passport holds more than just your photo and details.<\/p>\n
“The chip embedded in your e-passport contains your photo and biometric data like fingerprints, which are compared in real-time,” Dr Toft Djanegara said.<\/p>\n
It allows immigration officers to instantly verify your identity when they scan your passport.<\/p>\n
What information do border officers have access to?<\/p>\n
When a flight is booked, a passenger is assigned a Passenger Name Record (PNR), a six-digit code that links information about their trip.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Immigration officers can instantly verify a person’s identity when they scan their passport. (ABC News: Melanie Vujkovic)<\/p>\n
Dr Toft Djanegara said airlines send the information to the destination country up to 72 hours before your flight takes off.<\/p>\n
“Airlines share a huge amount of personal information internationally including your name, address, flight details, seat number, meal preferences, who you’re travelling with, even how you paid for your ticket,” she said.<\/p>\n
“It allows border authorities to build a detailed picture of your movements even before you arrive. It’s designed to help with risk assessment and pre-screening.”<\/p>\n
What else do border officers check?<\/p>\n
Besides passport and booking data, border officers access security databases sourced from Interpol, national watch lists, and terrorism or criminal records.<\/p>\n
“If you’ve been flagged on any watch lists, or have visa denials from other countries, that information can follow you and influence decisions at the border,” Dr Toft Djanegara said.<\/p>\n
Immigration booths also have cameras comparing your live image with the one stored in your passport chip, confirming identity with a match or no-match response.<\/p>\n
How do customs decide who to stop?Can Border Force search phones?<\/a><\/p>\n As Australians start to travel overseas again, they could be stopped on their way home by Border Force officials and\u00a0have their belongings searched.\u00a0Here’s what you need to know.<\/p>\n A lot of it starts before you reach the border.\u00a0<\/p>\n Global IT company SITA runs many of the systems airlines use to send passenger information, including your name, passport number, itinerary and travel history to governments before flights, allowing authorities to track what people are doing, not just who they are.<\/p>\n “The use of advanced data analytics and predictive surveillance is a double-edged sword. It enhances security but raises concerns about privacy and the potential for profiling or false positives,” Dr Toft Djanegara said.<\/p>\n Border discretion: Why having a visa isn’t always enough<\/p>\n As Ms Ryan found out, holding a valid visa doesn’t automatically guarantee entry to the US because officers have a lot of discretion when deciding who gets in \u2014 and who doesn’t.<\/p>\n