The ESTA approval is no guarantee for an entry into the USA. Many tourists may not be aware of that but if you travel with ESTA, you have no right whatsoever to enter the US. The final decision is made by the immigration officer and there are officers...and officers. Smiley 

The ESTA approval does not mean that US authorities have checked upon you and that they have cleared you for entering the US. This is a big misconception by travelers and also a reason why some, who get refused (or have issues entering the country), get angry at US authorities. ESTA only checks that you are not on the US no-fly list, that you are not blacklisted for entering the US, that you are using an approved carrier and that your country is participating in the visa waiver program. Nothing else. Thats it. So it can happen that the immigration officer refuses entry (mostly only happens when you enter for the very first time with the same passport) and there is nothing you can do about. You need to fly back and get a B2 visa next time.

Carlos and his wife were lucky. The fact that they led them to a separate room to check with DHS was bad, very bad. They were lucky that Carlos and his daughter were US citizens. Usually, they do not have that kind of patience and if it gets too complicated and you are traveling on ESTA...bye bye. This is called risk management and they just lower the risk by not letting you in. Smiley

Carlos should get his wife either US citizenship Smiley or a B2 visa and be done with it. No more problems when entering the US. Talking to the DHS (like he suggested before) is also a possible scenario but if they don't flag his wife "right" in the system, the whole thing starts again.

Actually, I think that after they checked on his wife, they made an entry into the system, flagging her "approved for entry". The DHS has probably flagged her "right", the immigration officer at the border entry cannot change entries in the system but the other officers (in that room) can. Since she (I assume) uses the same passport with the entry stamp from two years ago, I doubt there will be any issue next time. 

A former class mate (school) of my wife works as an DHS immigration officer in the US, so I know how this works. Smiley


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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet, Porsche Macan Turbo, Ford Mustang GT500 Shelby SVT (2014), Mini JCW (2015), Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT (2014)