Is flying from an airport from a different country than where you live considered as suspicious?

I agree that US immigration is unlikely to be concerned about why you flew from the Netherlands, however be aware that the US Customs form asks for “countries visited on this trip prior to US arrival”. In this case you would list Netherlands as well as Germany, even if your “visit” amounted to driving through it to get to the airport.

Do not worry. Even if this was a concern, countries in Western Europe are so tightly linked both geographically, politically and in terms of infrastructure, that in such matters they play almost like various states in the US.

Consider all these scenarios:

• I live in Germany, went to the Netherlands for some reason (business, tourism, visiting friends or family…). Then I flew to the US.

• I live in Germany, took a flight with a connection in the Netherlands because it was cheaper

• I live in Germany, took a train or bus to the Netherlands and a flight to the US from there because it was cheaper

They’re all perfectly legitimate, and all end up with you arriving in the US from the Netherlands even though you live in Germany. It is definitely not a red flag. CBP officers may ask the question, and as others have said, just answer truthfully. Many of those questions are just to check if you are indeed the person you say you are and have a consistent story, not much more.

So, yes, you worry too much.

In my many years of traveling and crossing borders, I had a similar experience only once although in Russia and not the US.

I live in Germany and I am an Indian citizen as well. The border control police in Russia asked me why I applied for my visa from India when I live in Germany and traveled to Russia from Germany.

My answer was just as someone suggested, honesty. I said, I was having a long vacation in India when I had planned to visit Russia. Additionally, the visa cost in India was much cheaper. The official stamped me immediately.

Border control people are well trained to catch lies. Your one lie may lead to many and cause unwanted problems eventually. So, in an odd scenario if you are asked, just speak the truth.

U.S. immigration officers don’t care about what you did before coming to the US (unless it’s something illegal), and they practically care only about what you are going to do in the US.

In your case, it is of no concern. The agent would probably assume that you transited in the Netherlands, and CBP agents couldn’t care less about your original airport (unless it’s Yemen or Syria, of course). They see, for example, lots of Filipinos coming from Tokyo, or Indians coming from Hong Kong, and would just assume they’ve got an itinerary with a transit. So, no, this isn’t very unfamiliar to them.

The only thing which is more likely in this scenario is that you will get selected for a secondary inspection at your departure airport (the famous “SSSS” on your boarding pass). When you do an online checkin and you don’t get a boarding pass at that time, it might be an indication that this happened. I personally would make sure that i arrive a bit earlier at the airport just to not be stressed if security takes a bit longer.

As a citizen of India, you are quite right to worry about such things. Immigration officials generally speaking do give a hard time to Indians, especially in Europe. However, in my experience, travelling to the USA, with valid documentation (visa, financial support, place of residence, travel plans) is much less bothersome than Europe.

In your case, since you got your visa from your current place of long term residence, you should be fine as long as you have the remaining documents mentioned above.

since I live in a city where there is a large airport, why did I preferred to fly out of a different country?

If anyone asks you that, just answer the question honestly. “I was getting a really good deal on the flight with free luggage” is a perfectly good reason for doing this.

am I just worrying unnecessarily?

Yes. Relax and have a good trip.

In my experience, the United States CBP agents don’t typically consider where you’re flying in from for immigration purposes; it’s much more important for goods importation, custom duties, etc (the “customs” part of Customs and Border Patrol). At airports, the focus is definitely more on immigration, and for immigration purposes, your country of citizenship and residence are much more important.

More broadly, the CBP does realize the realities of modern travel; a traveler could easily be coming from Frankfurt and flying from Germany, the UK, or the Netherlands after a train transfer. I don’t think you’ll have any problems.