6 days ago
Aussie is refused flight into the US over huge error - and he claims it wasn't his fault: 'It ruined my holiday'
An Australian shared his disbelief after he was stopped from flying into the United States after customs officials falsely accused him of illegally living there for 14 years.
Aaron Drooger had previously visited Hawaii back in 2011, before returning home to Lismore, in NSW.
In April this year, he took a cruise ship to Vancouver, Canada, and attempted to then fly from Vancouver into the States.
He was stopped from boarding his flight to Las Vegas at the airport, meaning he had to change his travel plans and book a direct flight to Brisbane.
Immigration officers told Mr Drooger he had been staying illegally in the US for more than ten years and they could not allow him to return.
Mr Drooger had visited Hawaii on an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) and believes his departure wasn't correctly logged, so it appeared he had been living in the United States for 4,000 days.
'All of these errors forced me to spend thousands of dollars extra and ruined my holiday,' he told Nine News.
Despite having the appropriate evidence to prove he never overstayed his ESTA, he has yet to receive answers from US immigration.
Several Aussies claim they have faced similar issues.
Queensland couple Phil and Julie Lawton left the US on May 21.
Weeks after they touched back down in Brisbane, they were bombarded with emails from US immigration officers.
'On the 10th of July, we got the first notice that we've got 19 days to leave the country,' Ms Lawton said.
She said the emails were nearly filed as junk.
The couple were made to jump through numerous hoops to try to convince officials they had actually left the US.
They also contacted Home Affairs in Australia to try to confirm their record of return.
As yet, the pair have been unsuccessful in their bid.
Both Mr and Ms Lawton have been to the States about ten times, but doubt they will be able to go back.
'I have no confidence, and I don't think Julie has either, that unless we actually got written confirmation from US Border Protection they have made a mistake and we did leave the US on the 21st (of May), we could ever return to the US,' Mr Lawton said.
The pair are still receiving regular communications warning them about their supposed visa breach.
Travel insurers will rarely reimburse travellers for such problems, as they see the errors as avoidable visa issues.
An immigration lawyer said the ESTA issue can affect non-citizens who try to re-enter the US.
Sherwin Noorian said the various data sources which supply the system, including flight manifests, can occasionally fail.
That failure can result in an 'overstay' being recorded against the travellers in question.
