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My U.S. Border Nightmare

zakhomuth.com

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Re: My U.S. Border Nightmare

#101

Post by URSpider94 »

salman89 wrote: post #91

I think that the author is misleading his readers. YC is a far cry from a training program. "Often this training involves setting up an American corporation for the startup activities - but I'll get to that later.". Why didn't he just say he was accepted into a start-up incubator, and his company was being funded in exchange for a piece of the company that was being incorporated, and that they were going to make a re…

Agreed 200%. Classifying YC as a training program to immigration officials is bordering on fraud. He's lucky that he didn't get banned.

Re: My U.S. Border Nightmare

#102

Post by maaku »

AgentConundrum wrote: post #18
potatolicious wrote: post #8

Author seems a bit naive about international sovereignty, though I suppose one can't exactly blame him for it. I grew up in Vancouver, a stone's throw from the border, so I suppose I take it for granted that we all learn very early on that CBP is a wretched hive of scum and villainy, and everyone knows someone who was chewed out, berated, and generally treated like a criminal by them. Seeing as how I work in the US n…

> what kind of training involves setting up a US corp? Y Combinator. The company he mentions has a post on the front page right now mentioning "[their] Y Combinator experience". Calling it "business training" seems an overly simplistic description, but I don't think it's technically inaccurate. It's certainly the wrong thing to call it at the border.

But there's absolutely no question that it involves working in America, and would require a business visa. I'm not sure how one could a) be smart enough to get into YC, and b) not realize that coming to SF for 3 months to work presumably as a C-level director for an American business requires a work visa.

EDIT: And neither B1 nor B2 is the right visa, so CBP was right to send him home. The OP needed a working visa.

Re: My U.S. Border Nightmare

#103

Post by tkiley »

I'm a US Citizen. I recently went through the process of setting up a Canadian subsidiary of my US company, and obtaining a work permit to oversee Canadian operations temporarily.

The process was ridiculously stressful and daunting. My company is not exactly a huge economic driver in Canada (right now I'm bringing about $500k per year in local economic investment to BC), but it's amazingly time-consuming to get all the paperwork right and get a work permit.

After going through this process to enter Canada, I am considerably more sympathetic and tuned-in to the discussion of immigration reform in the USA. Zak may have technically been in the wrong here (and the border officers may have been correct in turning him away according to the law) but I think the law is profoundly sub-optimal, and it saddens me to see that my native country is this economically backward.

Re: My U.S. Border Nightmare

#104

Post by vacri »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #40
mech4bg wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ouch, I'm not sure what that says that I immediately wondered if you were a minority. Oh, and I had a similar experience re: Melbourne. I'm a US citizen living in Australia, and was landing in San Fran for a 3 week visit about 8 years ago. As required by law, I travel on my US passport in and out of the US, so no problem right? But no, I start getting the third degree about what I do with myself - "I'm a student at t…

It says you are familiar with the historical racist usage of "boy"? (For non-Americans: a common racial slur in the southern US during the Jim Crow era was to call an adult black man "boy".)

There was a curious culture clash in the '60s when Muhammad Ali was in Australia doing a meet'n'greet and a local TV personality was doing a light-hearted interview with him, and threw in the phrase 'I like the boy', referring to Ali.

The phrase was a slogan for a product that the local celebrity had been involved with, and didn't have the connotations here that it did in Ali's home country... the interview went sour fast.

Re: My U.S. Border Nightmare

#105

Post by unreal37 »

mahyarm wrote: post #78
spitfire wrote: post #34

Two hints for easily crossing the boarder: 1. Enter via private plane. The staff at airfields handling private air traffic tend to be less stressed and way more relaxed. I've taxi'd right past the allotted space (Found it eventually) as well as made gitmo jokes with BP - they just laugh. 2. Cross by car at a smaller crossing. Again staff tend to be less stressed and more accommodating. 3. (I took CS!) Have all your d…

Smaller crossings can be a real gamble. They can be less stressed, but bored and will give you shit. It depends on the crossing.

I agree with it being a gamble. I got lost in the US once, and used an absolutely tiny border crossing to get back from the US to Canada. Worst crossing experience of my life - car search, shouting, "I can make your life hell", the whole bit. I only cross at big bridges since then.

Re: My U.S. Border Nightmare

#106

Post by potatolicious »

nitrogen wrote: post #60
pyre wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will add an anecdote here. I have crossed the US-Canada land border many times. I've only ever been 'chewed out' by Canadian Border Patrol once . I've had this happen multiple times from the US Border Patrol and I'm a US citizen. The Canadian Border Patrol has always been calm, patient and understanding in my experience. The US border patrol is hit-or-miss. Some people are nice ( once I was only asked two questions…

In this context "CBP" probably refers to Customs and Border Protection, the name at the bottom of the DHS stamp shown in the first picture, rather than Canadian Border Patrol.

Indeed, I thought Canadian customs has always been referred to as the CBSA.

Re: My U.S. Border Nightmare

#107

Post by unreal37 »

steve8918 wrote: post #75
goodweeds wrote: post #46

Huh? I thought Virgin America canceled their routes between SFO and YYZ a year ago?

They did. The date of the blog post is Jan 2011. I used to fly that a couple of times. I even upgraded to first class a couple of times because it was only $250 extra. I'm actually very disappointed they cancelled that route.

Not only is the article from Jan 2011, he was able to successfully enter the US in March, and seems to be able to go there often now. So really not a problem for him long term.

http://zakhomuth.com/guess-who-made-it-into-the-us

Re: My U.S. Border Nightmare

#108

Post by [deleted] »

potatolicious wrote: post #8

Author seems a bit naive about international sovereignty, though I suppose one can't exactly blame him for it. I grew up in Vancouver, a stone's throw from the border, so I suppose I take it for granted that we all learn very early on that CBP is a wretched hive of scum and villainy, and everyone knows someone who was chewed out, berated, and generally treated like a criminal by them. Seeing as how I work in the US n…

[deleted]

Re: My U.S. Border Nightmare

#109

Post by ubernostrum »

wyclif wrote: post #73

never enter the US with an unclear leaving date He makes it sound like this is an evil US policy. But in fact, every country I've ever visited outside the US, and I've visited a lot, asked me when I would be leaving and issued the appropriate visa. For example, if you visit the Philippines, the initial visa is 21 days. You can extend the visa, but again you must inform the government of your leave date. But if you me…

Honestly, the same is true for Canada.

I was in Toronto for a week for work in December, and part of entering the country was presenting a letter signed by our Canadian office verifying that I really would be leaving on the set date, that my accommodations and travel out of Canada were already booked and paid for, etc.

Re: My U.S. Border Nightmare

#110

Post by potatolicious »

eschulte wrote: post #48
grecy wrote: post #15

I'm a foreigner that has crossed into the USA 25+ times, about half of those at land borders from Canada (where I live, but I'm not Canadian) >the border guard starts in on me hard. I mean he had it out for me. I still have no idea why I rubbed him the wrong way, but he sure didn't like me. This happens to me 75% of the time I try to enter the USA. The best one was when I had my usa-plated motorbike in Canada, and ca…

I am a us citizen, and I'm sure this sounds (is?) naive, but in the 75% of times when you catch flak for no reason are you asking for the officer's badge number or some other form of identification which you could later use to report their inappropriate behavior (yelling and calling you "boy" are inappropriate)? If not, I would recommend it in the future. Border guards shouldn't be needlessly abrasive, and the situat…

> " the situation will only improve if there are consequences for their actions"

You're under the impression that complaints filed with DHS will lead to consequences. I'm not quite so certain this is the case.

TSA is annoying, but for the most part just see like miserable people grudgingly following policy. CBP on the other hand, consistently seems like it attracts only the most power-trippy of individuals known to this country.

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