VFR general aviation arrival to ZZZ airport was instructed by ATC to land at an adjacent airport bec...

Narrative:

In marginal VFR to VFR conditions; 3000 scattered to broken; I was delayed by weather conditions as I was returning to ZZZ. I reported 8 miles out 5 minutes before the effective time for a tfr; inbound to land with request to expedite. Controller advised that I was not permitted to land and had to be out of tfr airspace (35 miles away) within 5 minutes. I advised unable and his response was he didn't make rules. Controller then advised approach control was tracking me and suggested I land at nearby airport; which I did. I executed a turning; diving 'look out below' approach and I touched down at exactly; by my watch; the start time of tfr. I am not sure if I am perceived to have violated the tfr. I have to wonder; how long before the tfr start time does the tfr become effective? I feel that this controller was at fault. I re-read the tfr text and found no disclaimer that said aircraft are not allowed to operate in the airspace prior to the tfr start time. The resultant turn back to ZZZ1 and abrupt approach created an unnecessarily abrupt and potentially risky arrival.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: VFR general aviation arrival to ZZZ airport was instructed by ATC to land at an adjacent airport because of a TFR that was about to become effective; reporter contended enough time was available to land before the TFR start time.

Narrative: In marginal VFR to VFR conditions; 3000 scattered to broken; I was delayed by weather conditions as I was returning to ZZZ. I reported 8 miles out 5 minutes before the effective time for a TFR; inbound to land with request to expedite. Controller advised that I was not permitted to land and had to be out of TFR airspace (35 miles away) within 5 minutes. I advised unable and his response was he didn't make rules. Controller then advised Approach Control was tracking me and suggested I land at nearby airport; which I did. I executed a turning; diving 'look out below' approach and I touched down at exactly; by my watch; the start time of TFR. I am not sure if I am perceived to have violated the TFR. I have to wonder; how long before the TFR start time does the TFR become effective? I feel that this Controller was at fault. I re-read the TFR text and found no disclaimer that said aircraft are not allowed to operate in the airspace prior to the TFR start time. The resultant turn back to ZZZ1 and abrupt approach created an unnecessarily abrupt and potentially risky arrival.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	849706
Time
Date	200908
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	Marginal
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Approach Final Approach
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 9 Flight Crew Total 300 Flight Crew Type 100
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Unstabilized Approach

VFR general aviation arrival to ZZZ airport was instructed by ATC to land at an adjacent airport because of a tfr that was about to become effective; reporter contended enough time was available to land before the tfr start time.