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Another awesome US immigration experience

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Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#191

Post by goatforce5 »

DrSbaitso wrote: post #34

I'm a Canadian citizen and get this type of treatment all the time. Every time I enter the US, which is about once a month or so, they send me to a back room for secondary screening. The reason? Their system thinks I overstayed my visa once back in 1995. What actually happened was my family took a road trip to New England, and nobody bothered to check our passports on the way out, so there was no departure record. So…

My full legal name is longer than average and seems to get truncated by lots of computer systems (and/or will be abbreviated by data-entry people, etc.). It means that my ESTA record doesn't 100% match my passport, and i'd always get a raised eyebrow a couple of questions, and it would normally be OK.

One time a guy said "I don't have time for this" and sent me to secondary. After waiting about an hour I saw the secondary inspector and he told me the front line guys would send anyone back that they couldn't process in a couple of minutes and to expect it to happen again in the future.

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#192

Post by flavmartins »

I completely agree with your feelings here. I, too, am a permanent resident with a green card. I live in fear of immigration deciding that "something isn't in order" and then my life is completely upside down. I've grown up in the US, my wife is a US citizen, my kids are all US citizens, yet dad always has that crazy worry in the back of his mind.

AND...for those of you who brush this off. Please contact my wife and ask her feelings about immigration. When I was going through my green card process she just about went nuts at the immigration office and destroyed a few of the workers. Eventually she had to stop coming to the appointments and just wished me luck. She is more frustrated with the process than I am.

The problem is that we're talking about immigrants here. No one is going to stand up for them. Citizens never have to deal with the these issues, and most immigrants, once they've gone through the process, never want to look back on it again, let alone try to fight it.

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#193

Post by patrickk »

Vivtek wrote: post #189
jacquesm wrote: post #18

As long as you feel the benefits outweigh the downsides the only person you can complain to is yourself. You're still going there aren't you? I've had an episode quite comparable to this one and it was the last time I visited the US. I don't bitch about it, I don't begrudge the border guards their jobs or attitude (I assume they get a lot of shit heaped on them every day, not an excuse for a non-professional attitude…

Jacques, I like and respect you, but if you think that the impact on the US GDP of immigrants leaving will ever in a million years be ascribed to immigrants leaving, you are living a fantasy. I don't blame you for boycotting, though. Not a bit.

There was a stat here from a while back saying that half of all Silicon Valley startups were founded/co-founded by immigrants. There was another saying that all net job growth in the US in the last ~30 years was because of growth in the small/medium business sector.

So while it would take some time to see the results, and the casual factors probably not be put down to immigrants leaving (or being denied/not applying to enter the US to begin with), you would see an eventual impact on job creation and economic growth.

Perhaps the slow recovery after the 2007 crisis could be partially put down to the post-9/11 paranoia and making it more difficult for smart people to enter the US? It's total speculation on my part (something that occurred to me as I typed this comment), but an interesting idea nonetheless.

Also, the Economist published a list of best countries to be born in: http://www.economist.com/news/21566430-where-be-born-2013-lo...

The US is 16th, behind Australia, Canada, and many European countries. Years ago America was on top.

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#194

Post by patrickod »

jzwinck wrote: post #153
rdl wrote: post #8

I hate how hostile and incompetent the US immigration process seems to be for foreigners. It's sad to go by an embassy basically anywhere in the world, see the fortress that is the US embassy, and the huge lines and amount of documentation needed for people to get US visas. Even worse is the non-deterministic hell on actual arrival. I'm glad I've never had immigration or customs problems anywhere, despite going to so…

I'm a US citizen, and recently visited my embassy abroad. I was denied entry and told to make an appointment. The first available was about 10 days away. This was for a simple document I needed signed by them. And I was leaving this country in less than 10 days. The guard who turned me away said they used to take walk-ins but not since mid-2012. So as far as embassies go, being a citizen doesn't help too much.

My experience with US embassies (both the one in Brussels and Dublin) has never seen them refuse entry to a US citizen and tell them to re-schedule. They usually have separate entrances as well with different procedures.

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#195

Post by Nursie »

nicholassmith wrote: post #178
Nursie wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have no money then you may be there to make some (is the thinking). If you can show you have enough money to support yourself and get out again then it will make your life easier. However they will already need to be suspicious of you to take an interest in this.

From what I've heard, Australia does the same and so do a few other places. The question is often framed as "and how much money have you brought along for your holiday?", which is doubly loaded as there's a right answer and two wrong answers (nothing and X, where X is bordering on enough to kick start a new life). Immigration sucks.

100 bucks a credit card :)

I'm allowed into Oz with as little or as much cash as I like, for the next few yeas at least, which is quite nice.

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#196

Post by GiraffeNecktie »

rajeshd wrote: post #7

His experience doesn't seem all that bad. It looks like they were merely doing their jobs trying to ascertain that they aren't making a mistake letting him in. If the immigration officer isn't sure of something (either because of an unclear answer to a question or a nervous vibe), it's not abnormal for him/her to ask for a more thorough check of the person. I wouldn't expect them to clear everyone with a quick, curso…

You're setting a very, very, low bar for "doing their jobs". The reason we employ human beings at border points is so that they will, theoretically, use good judgement to allow the free flow of legitimate goods and travelers (i.e. not create massive delays without a clear reason).

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#197

Post by patrickk »

nicholassmith wrote: post #178
Nursie wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have no money then you may be there to make some (is the thinking). If you can show you have enough money to support yourself and get out again then it will make your life easier. However they will already need to be suspicious of you to take an interest in this.

From what I've heard, Australia does the same and so do a few other places. The question is often framed as "and how much money have you brought along for your holiday?", which is doubly loaded as there's a right answer and two wrong answers (nothing and X, where X is bordering on enough to kick start a new life). Immigration sucks.

Australia has an actual dollar amount (AU$3000 I think) that you have to have before getting a one year work visa. A friend went there recently and that was his experience.

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#198

Post by Vivtek »

patrickk wrote: post #193
Vivtek wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jacques, I like and respect you, but if you think that the impact on the US GDP of immigrants leaving will ever in a million years be ascribed to immigrants leaving, you are living a fantasy. I don't blame you for boycotting, though. Not a bit.

There was a stat here from a while back saying that half of all Silicon Valley startups were founded/co-founded by immigrants. There was another saying that all net job growth in the US in the last ~30 years was because of growth in the small/medium business sector. So while it would take some time to see the results, and the casual factors probably not be put down to immigrants leaving (or being denied/not applying…

I have no doubt whatsoever that it will have a serious impact on America's economy, and I will be the first to agree that we deserve it. A shake-up will be healthy (maybe I'm a closet Trotskyist after all).

What I'm saying is that it will make no difference whatsoever in a free-market sense, because the free market presumes perfect information. The reduction in America's fortunes will never be ascribed to our lousy immigration policy - in fact, quite the opposite. It will be used to justify even worse policy. As is, in fact, happening right now.

So while it's nice to think "That'll show them," it won't actually show them. We're the country that originated Hollywood. We're really good at lying to ourselves and each other.

Also, America was on top because the Economist arbitrary invented a couple of metrics like "yawn factor" to put it there. Stupidest damn article I've ever seen. Come to the Rust Belt; I'll show you where it's not a good place to be born. In fact, if your parents make less than about $400K a year, you're better off in any industrialized country in the world.

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#199

Post by Vivtek »

_pferreir_ wrote: post #156
mdasen wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm somewhat of the feeling of the second paragraph. However, in some ways it is happening in the EU. As the EU enlarges, it generally creates a larger area of free travel/work/residence. Heck, if the US and Canada opened up immigration 100%, there wouldn't be hell because the countries are pretty similar. Some might prefer Canada or the US, but it would likely be generally equivalent. In those cases, I guess I don't…

I'm curious as to how much longer the Schengen space will subsist. As EU-skeptic parties rise in opinion polls again, it will not be long till all conceivable social issues are blamed on immigrants.

Bah. Immigrants always have been blamed for everything bad, in Europe as everywhere else in the world - but the Schengen Accords work both ways, and Germany and France want those markets. They'll never go away.

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#200

Post by tolmasky »

jrockway wrote: post #185
tolmasky wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's in a private company. Here, for all practical purposes, there is no incentive for things to get better. There is no one to complain to since the "customers" here are completely antagonized and have no power, imagine on top of all this complaining! There really isn't anyone to be held accountable, period. And no, "voting" is not the way these things get fixed. if it was, the DMV would have stopped being miserab…

Isn't the whole DMV thing largely fixed? In Manhattan, they even have "express" DMVs. I have to assume the idea came about due to voter pressure rather than some altruistic bureaucrat.

I can't speak for New York but going to the DMV in California often means committing an entire work day.
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