31–40 of 61 posts
Like many have pointed out, the US requires visitors from otherwise visa-free countries to have a travel authorization to come here.
These papers (edit: US and EU versions) weren’t needed before but are going to be needed soon. Going backwards. And no one cares.
Honest question, do you complain that USA implemented this same type program in 2008/2009? Or do you just care now because this affects US travelers?
When I flew to the EU and eastern Europe in 2019, I didn't need a visa. I didn't need to tell anyone my exact dates and itinerary. I paid for a ticket, had a passport, and went.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Until quite recently, Ukrainian citizens had to endure the same gruelling process to be allowed into the Schengen zone. To travel to the US, a visa is still needed today. My point: Ukrainians are almost all non-brown, and it is a very destructive habit to inject the skin color into every issue.
Travel and immigration restrictions were lifted from Ukraine for getting invaded by Russia. If it wasn't for this, their EU accession process would've remained dead in the water due to severe structural and societal issues that are now being entirely overlooked. Other countries that have been way up the queue aren't getting the same preferential treatment for some reason. There's war and suffering in Ukraine. But the…
EU really needs to re-do the whole Schengen process for citizens of countries like India. Right now, you need to show booked tickets, hotel reservations, Insurance with very specific terms and a detailed itinerary even before you've been granted the visa. And after all that documentation nightmare, you get granted the visa for the exact specific dates you've requested. God forbid your plans change even by a day or tw…
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These papers (edit: US and EU versions) weren’t needed before but are going to be needed soon. Going backwards. And no one cares.
As much as I like Americans, you have to understand that you were priviledged before and that this privilege has ended because of your country's visa policy treating EU citizens differently.
Meanwhile the eu is also preventing certain member states from free travel by not allowing them to join schengen. All thanks to two countries playing power, one of which being a russia appeaser. Not much news on that.
Don't beat around the bush. Who is keeping who out of schengen?
Meanwhile the eu is also preventing certain member states from free travel by not allowing them to join schengen. All thanks to two countries playing power, one of which being a russia appeaser. Not much news on that.
Don't beat around the bush. Who is keeping who out of schengen?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Until quite recently, Ukrainian citizens had to endure the same gruelling process to be allowed into the Schengen zone. To travel to the US, a visa is still needed today. My point: Ukrainians are almost all non-brown, and it is a very destructive habit to inject the skin color into every issue.
Travel and immigration restrictions were lifted from Ukraine for getting invaded by Russia. If it wasn't for this, their EU accession process would've remained dead in the water due to severe structural and societal issues that are now being entirely overlooked. Other countries that have been way up the queue aren't getting the same preferential treatment for some reason. There's war and suffering in Ukraine. But the…
We have to be careful which countries we let in as we have already made this mistake with Hungary. Right now there isn't even a way to kick them out again. The idealistic view that joining the EU will automatically fix their society is clearly wrong. If you see other eastern European countries like Romania where even their own president protests (in vain) on the street for their corrupt government to go it's clear to me that this process should be stricter.
But all this seems to be overlooked in favor of geopolitical concerns (giving Putin the finger and territorial expansion)
This is not about the Ukrainian people by the way. They're mostly nice except the Russian-friendly ones in the East. But it's their government and economic model. It's the same way the average Russian doesn't even like Putin but has no way to remove him.
Zelensky is a good guy but he can't fight the war and fix his country at the same time. Also we have to worry about who comes next, after all Hungary was a decent country when they joined, Orban only came later.
EU really needs to re-do the whole Schengen process for citizens of countries like India. Right now, you need to show booked tickets, hotel reservations, Insurance with very specific terms and a detailed itinerary even before you've been granted the visa. And after all that documentation nightmare, you get granted the visa for the exact specific dates you've requested. God forbid your plans change even by a day or tw…
You want better terms, improve the situation in India. Favorable terms are given to citizens of countries where they're unlikely to violate the terms of their visa, like overstaying the validity of their visa.