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Earlier this month, the Guardian also had an article of a German tourist who crossed over the land border (San Ysidro Port of Entry, I assume) who was detained for a long while too. The details seemed kind of similar to this situation where it involves suspicion of tourists working in the USA without the proper authorizations.
If she is on a "four-month backpacking trip around North America" and tried to return to the US, she has exceeded the 90-day limit allowed by the Visa Waiver Program (which counts days both in the US and "adjacent territories") and is now an illegal overstayer. The unpaid labor stuff and getting refused entry to Canada is icing on the cake. For the record, I'm no fan of ICE/CBP, but it looks like they're just enforci…
Probably shouldn't tell border patrol you're doing unpaid labor in a country you're visiting. When speaking to authorities it's best to say the absolute minimum required for the encounter.
Statements like these make me happy I live in Europe.
I was travelling to Ireland(Dublin) as a tourist and during questioning by a border agent I mentioned that I might check my email (they noticed my laptop), the border agent simply advised me that my visa did not allow work but since I was clearly being transparent about my actions and intentions that there was no reason for them to block me or require me to apply for a working visa, so after what was a friendly chat, I was on my way.
I've also had similar interactions in other European countries such as Germany(Munich) and the UK(London Gatwick) - both of which are particularly thorny about economic migrants posing as other types of visitors or asylum seekers, again no problems and the staff are courteous while conducting their duties professionally.
Meanwhile my last trip to the USA during Trump 1.0 involved the border agent not even speaking to me, but instead holding out his hand for paperwork - so I'd hand him a paper, and if it wasn't the one he wanted, he'd flick it back at me. It's obvious he's just trying to start shit so he can have an excuse to abuse the power granted to him. (LaGuardia Airport).
Earlier this month, the Guardian also had an article of a German tourist who crossed over the land border (San Ysidro Port of Entry, I assume) who was detained for a long while too. The details seemed kind of similar to this situation where it involves suspicion of tourists working in the USA without the proper authorizations.
I have long suspected the reason for aggressive treatment of minor offenders is that they are an easy target and a quick way to meet your prosecution quota. I have many times heard about foreign students who come to the USA under completely proper arrangements but run afoul of immigration because of some innocent remark. My advice to visitors is to never mention to officials any circumstance in which you might come i…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've never had anything to do with foreign exchange students, but are they absolutely prohibited from work of any kind? If there is ambiguity, then we can't have them here.
> but are they absolutely prohibited from work of any kind? Generally yes. But you can have on-campus jobs to supplement your income, and there are at least two programs (CPT and OPT) that let you get approval for limited-term employment in your area of study. CPT also requires university approval.
The story is missing an important detail, I'm not assuming malice btw, why was she refused entry into Canada as well? Edit: Lol, there's literally nothing wrong with this observation. HN has truly gone down the gutter. I know not everybody here is part of the hivemind but the few that are completely spoil the experience for everybody else.
That's what I was confused about. I was thinking my add blocking maybe cut out a paragraph from the text at first. > Canadian authorities told her to go back to the US and fill in new paperwork before returning to cross into Canada. If it's not mistake, and the article is complete, it sounds like the reporter skipped some important details about what Canada did. Hopefully an honest mistake.
> She was planning to stay with a host family where she would carry out domestic chores in exchange for accommodation and was told she should have applied for a working visa, instead of a tourist visa
She probably told the Canadian border that was her plan in Canada as well and told her she needs a work visa. Basically like a live in house keeper.
Probably shouldn't tell border patrol you're doing unpaid labor in a country you're visiting. When speaking to authorities it's best to say the absolute minimum required for the encounter.
I've never had anything to do with foreign exchange students, but are they absolutely prohibited from work of any kind? If there is ambiguity, then we can't have them here.
If she is on a "four-month backpacking trip around North America" and tried to return to the US, she has exceeded the 90-day limit allowed by the Visa Waiver Program (which counts days both in the US and "adjacent territories") and is now an illegal overstayer. The unpaid labor stuff and getting refused entry to Canada is icing on the cake. For the record, I'm no fan of ICE/CBP, but it looks like they're just enforci…
Enforcing the law is one thing. If they refused entry or forced her to fly back immediately, nobody would care much. Detaining is all of: cruel, expensive, unnecessary.
What about those poor private prison corporations that are being deprived of an income?! How dare you! /s
Frankly, I wouldn't dare to overstay my tourist visa in the US either 10 or 20 years ago. The articles notes "four month", a standard US tourist visa for an ESTA country (e.g. the UK) would grant 90 days upon arrival; any travel within Canada counts too. Canada, however, grants 180 days, helping explain why Canada may not have seen an issue. Whenever travelling elsewhere for more than 1 month, check _everything_; inc…
> helping explain why Canada may not have seen an issue The article seems to indicate that Canada did have an issue: > Canadian authorities told her to go back to the US and fill in new paperwork before returning to cross into Canada. It seems that she was detained after re-entering the US upon being refused entry into Canada.