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Why I stopped travelling to the US and largely stopped doing business in the US

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Re: Why I stopped travelling to the US and largely stopped doing business in the US

#141

Post by jdp23 »

retube wrote: post #113
edw519 wrote: post #80

everyone is utterly paranoid Everyone? I have bit my tongue for a long time about this great community's slipping quality, but honestly, how does shit like this make it to the top of Hacker News. Flagged. Any suggestions for how to get back to having hacker news on Hacker News? (And please spare us the lame "situational logic" response of how is hacker news.)

Does the tech world live in an isolated bubbled insulated from the rest of society?

No, but a lot of people on Hacker News like to pretend it does and react badly when anybody presents them evidence to the contrary.

Re: Why I stopped travelling to the US and largely stopped doing business in the US

#142

Post by kahawe »

psykotic wrote: post #32
die_sekte wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I am an EU/Schengen citizen, and I would like to know what non-EU, non-Schengen citizens experience at the EU/Schengen borders.

My live-in partner went home with me to Denmark for Christmas. The border crossing in Copenhagen Airport was pleasant and completely without incident. What was maddening was the process of applying for a visitor's visa. In addition to forms, it required around 25 pages of auxiliary documentation, including her most recent pay-slip; a print-out of her bank balance on the day of submission; a letter addressed to the em…

They are extremely paranoid of anyone "sneaking" in, especially from countries that could be considered "poorer". I agree, the process of a visitor's visa is insane. You are probably much better off if she just came as a tourist...

Also, when you are inviting someone into "Schengen"/EU, you are taking quite a huge responsibility because any and all costs for the state or hospital bills can ultimately be billed to you. So trying to see the upside of things, you could say they are just making sure all bases are covered.

On the upside, you won't get shot at the border - I'm looking at you, USA/Mexican border.

Re: Why I stopped travelling to the US and largely stopped doing business in the US

#143

Post by smiler »

ilitirit wrote: post #70

I refuse to travel to the US because of how much hassle is involved. I don't starting my trips off on a sour note. The UK is headed this way as well, mind you.

Refuse? Refuse? You can fly to the US - some 4000 miles away in 7.5 hrs for the East Coast and 11 hours for the West coast. You then may have a little bit of a wait at immigration (or not as the case may be). I've gone through in 5 minutes and one time it was 45 minutes. Seeing as you state you're in the UK, you also eligible for the VWP which means you can travel to the US whenever you like.

Just consider what it was like to travel before the invention of the airplane, or the steam ship. Please appreciate that you live in a time when travelling the world is very very easy. And please watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk

Re: Why I stopped travelling to the US and largely stopped doing business in the US

#144

Post by cema »

davidw wrote: post #97
edw519 wrote: post #80

everyone is utterly paranoid Everyone? I have bit my tongue for a long time about this great community's slipping quality, but honestly, how does shit like this make it to the top of Hacker News. Flagged. Any suggestions for how to get back to having hacker news on Hacker News? (And please spare us the lame "situational logic" response of how is hacker news.)

Thank you for not only flagging it, but saying something. Supposedly that's against the guidelines, but if a community doesn't communicate in cases like these, how can the newcomers learn that articles like these are not hacker news. One of my own guidelines for "not hacker news" is if it's an article that's designed to "raise hackles" in the sense of offending one's sense of justice or "how things ought to be". This…

  that sort of subject matter might at least be interesting 
  in the sense of telling me something I didn't know, 
  rather than discussing current US politics
I am of two minds about it. Learning is important and essential to our profession. But does all kind of knowledge belong in HN? I would not say so. Where the borderline is I am not yet sure.

(Regarding politics, I would say whatever affects the professional life, scientific research, etc, is in; pure politics is out. But it's just a single person's opinion.)

Re: Why I stopped travelling to the US and largely stopped doing business in the US

#145

Post by schwabacher »

ErrantX wrote: post #46
schwabacher wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just out of curiosity where are you from / what race are you?

British, White. I'm not sure it is really related to that, my colleagues (a mix of Asian, Arab & British looking people) all have the same sort of experience. I think it is a product of being a) foreign (in general) and b) young.

Well I am not surprised that you are not treated well but I am surprised it's not racial. I am American and I apologize for what it is worth.. I think there is still quite a bit of lingering overreaction to 9/11.

Re: Why I stopped travelling to the US and largely stopped doing business in the US

#146

Post by sp_ »

I always resented traveling to the US too because of border controls. Recently I moved to the US and felt relieved that I do not have to go through immigration there anymore. Seconds after that thought I had the epiphany that I now have to go through immigration whenever I am going anywhere else in the world.

The funny thing is that I have never had a bad experience with US immigration. The only time I had a non-smooth experience was in Canada, before a flight from Montreal to Atlanta. An officer waved me out of line saying "I'm sorry sir but you were selected for a random security check. You can thank Mr George W. Bush for that."

The two funniest experiences I had was when entering Dubai and Sao Paulo, In Sao Paulo the immigration officer did not speak a single word of English. I do not speak any Portuguese. We quickly realized this frustrating situation and I was waved through. In Dubai I was the first person in line at the customs and not knowing what to do I just kept walking. The customs people just stood there and looked at me. I was already quite far behind the customs people, nearly out of the airport, when I realized that I just walked past the customs officers without having my bags or anything checked. So I went the whole way back just to go through customs properly.

Re: Why I stopped travelling to the US and largely stopped doing business in the US

#147

Post by cema »

paraschopra wrote: post #14

I will tell another personal experience. I am based out of India and have been invited to speak at a conference in San Francisco. I applied for a business visa and was denied that visa because apparently I am young (23) and they have not heard about my startup (it is of course not an IT service giant like Infosys, TCS or Wipro) or conference (it's about A/B testing). Mind you: my startup is doing quite well financial…

Unfortunately, it appears that India is among the countries hit particularly hard. Anecdotally, it is noticeably harder for an Indian to get a US visa (business or visitor's) than an average foreigner (from a country where a US visa is required).

Re: Why I stopped travelling to the US and largely stopped doing business in the US

#148

Post by cema »

schintan wrote: post #54
paraschopra wrote: post #14

I will tell another personal experience. I am based out of India and have been invited to speak at a conference in San Francisco. I applied for a business visa and was denied that visa because apparently I am young (23) and they have not heard about my startup (it is of course not an IT service giant like Infosys, TCS or Wipro) or conference (it's about A/B testing). Mind you: my startup is doing quite well financial…

My experiences have been as bad too..I am an Indian citizen and came to the US for graduate studies about 3 years back. Immediately after graduation,I was supposed to join a reputed company but due to some administrative glitch by the USCIS, it took me 6 months to get the required work authorization. I was barely able to convince the company to hold my job. Those were the most harrowing days. I came to India this Dec…

It is worth it. Good luck!

Re: Why I stopped travelling to the US and largely stopped doing business in the US

#149

Post by mdda »

danssig wrote: post #112
Lewisham wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most Americans aren't seeing this stuff. You mean most foreign-travelling Americans, who are a minority in comparison to the Americans that don't have a passport, as only 37% hold one [1]. Domestic flights are way less of a pain than international, if only because you don't have to go through Customs. [1]: http://www.theexpeditioner.com/2010/02/17/how-many-americans... EDIT: My American wife (I'm British) was the sam…

You're trying to get a green card? Do you realize that once you get it you're going to be responsible for filing tax returns as long as you have it, no matter where you actually live and work?

This is precisely why I've been repeatedly extending my E-2 visa. Of course, by wanting that freedom, all my payments to US social security are definitely going to waste...

Re: Why I stopped travelling to the US and largely stopped doing business in the US

#150

Post by miGlanz »

nir wrote: post #135
gaius wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Business travel to the US is extremely relevant for anyone working in hi-tech. Esp. when carrying expensive/electronic equipment.

Yes, and what useful relevant information did you gather from this submission? That immigration officers are often incompetent? That once they damaged some guy's camera? Let me inform you further: the airplane food usually sucks and US time is, annoyingly, 6-8 hours behind central Europe.

You're clearly ignoring the fact, that it's mostly US-only issue, and it doesn't have to be that way. We, non-US citizens, can't do much about it, and we'd like to get attention of US folks (who often are less affected), because they (you?) can.

I'll probably get downvoted for it, and I'd like to be mistaken here, but I'm getting the feeling that some of you get offended by critique, justified or not, of some of US politics.

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