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Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

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Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#301

Post by grecy »

lingoberry wrote: post #7

Something similar happened to me recently. I voluntarily left my job at a US employer, planning to move back home (to Sweden). But first I wanted to spend some time preparing for the move and waiting for my wife to wrap things up. The rules say you have to leave the country the last day of work, so I left for Canada to stay with a friend, and planned to come back on the visa waiver program. I consulted with the compa…

> so I left for Canada to stay with a friend, and planned to come back on the visa waiver program.

I've tried to do this many, many times, and the rules specifically say you can't just cross a land border to Canada (or Mexico), then come back again.

If you could, everyone would get their 90 day visa waiver, and just hop the border for a few hours then come back and get 90 days fresh.

Last time, I flew to the Bahamas for a week, then came back, no problem.

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#303

Post by GFischer »

fenesiistvan wrote: post #55

Coming from Romania, I also had to face some extra control in US airports + we also need visa which is given also after an interview. Romania is a country with zero terrorism. I only wish US people to be treated in EU the same way they treat EU people in US.

I used to think that way, but now I don't. Brazil implemented a retaliation policy, where U.S. citizens are treated much like Brazilians are in the U.S.

Several nice people from the U.S. have had a bad time as a result, and it made me reconsider - I don't think "an eye for an eye" is such a great thing.

If only we could only treat people with power to change things that way :) - but someone traveling is already not a standard U.S. citizen and probably more open by default.

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#304

Post by Nrsolis »

VexXtreme wrote: post #257
Nrsolis wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please level up on your reading comprehension and see if you care to reframe your criticism. And Lloyd Blankfein grew up in a housing project in Brooklyn. In fact, the same housing project that Jay-Z did. It turns out that where hard work and preparation meet opportunity, there is luck to be won. I was born here as the child of two lower-class immigrant parents from different parts of the globe. Now I'm a one percent…

So Europe is shitty because your mom almost got killed by her government? How about tens of millions of native Americans who were systematically exterminated by their government? While America was founded on some really great and unique ideas and concepts (your declaration of independence comes to mind), the execution is less than stellar. That in and of itself wouldn't be a problem if you wouldn't claim that you're…

Just an FYI if you can stand to look past your own prejudice and ill-informed speculation:

1. I've lived (and worked) overseas in both Europe and the Middle East.

2. I've visited and spent great deals of time in South America, Central America. I haven't been to Asia but that's been mainly a function of time than opportunity. That'll probably change next year with a trip to Singapore.

3. I've run out of pages in my passport, buddy. I'm likely better travelled than you are. Last month, I did three transatlantic crossings back to back. I've driven from Paris to Milan in a 5-series. I was at the Berlin Wall while there was still a Berlin Wall and I've been back to see it's disappearance. I've even got a picture of myself in East Germany from BEFORE the wall came down.

Before you go off talking trash about how dumb and untravelled Americans are, you might consider that the person on the other end of that screen you live your life on had a Passport and exposure to the world before you were born.

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#305

Post by mahyarm »

ma2rten wrote: post #189
girvo wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been to over 40 countries so far in my life. Be "honest", with Customs: tell them what they want to hear. Being logical, assuming they understand travel at all, is a recipe for disaster. I learnt that the hard way coming in to Heathrow!

Could you elaborate? What e.g. would be a common mistake? I have traveled a little bit in past (asia, europe, north america), but never had any trouble with customs / immigration.

Minimum information necessary, fit the stereotypical profile that you have the visa status for. For example: On vacation, on a long vacation, and I fund it with my job savings. Business visitor who already has a business visa, student who already has a student visa, etc.

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#306

Post by mahyarm »

grecy wrote: post #298
misterjangles wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The border patrol could care less whether you are a broke student or a rich tourist. They are not interested in how much you plan to spend. So in that regard I would think you might as well tell them the truth simply because if you get caught in a lie then you would cause grief for yourself of no good reason. But if you are an excellent liar, then go for what're you want! Basically the border patrol are looking for t…

> The border patrol could care less whether you are a broke student or a rich tourist. Not true at all. I'm Australian and I regularly cross from Canada into the US in my junker car full of snowboarding or camping gear. Every single time the border guards want to see bank statements, proof of employment, etc. etc. They're convinced I want to stay in the US and leech off the system (which is nonsensical, when I could…

You fit the profile of a guy with not enough funds for his stay in the other country. Come over in a nice car, be clean and well dressed and leave the gear in clean non-descript bags and you wont get that much hassle.

But if you have a record of being hassled, the policy seems to keep on harassing you.

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#307

Post by Nrsolis »

userulluipeste wrote: post #259
Nrsolis wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're deliberately misunderstanding me. And that's fine. I'm definitely detecting a bunch of do-as-I-say type of sentiment. But my mother fled a country (her European home country and the country of her birth) that tried to kill her and every one like her. SO...please pardon me if I don't agree to entertain your Europe is oh-so-much-better than the US diatribe. If one persons difficult experience can indict…

"But my mother fled a country (her European home country and the country of her birth) that tried to kill her and every one like her." Bad things happen, US has its own sins with wiped-out indigenous populations. The idea is to correct ourselves and to make things better. Apologetic attitudes aren't helpful in this regard. BTW, which is that European country if you don't mind?

Nazi Germany. My mother was born during the Third Reich. Just lucky I guess.

BTW, my bartender is Croatian. Ask him how he feels about Europe. IN fact, ask anyone who's had a chance to see what the USA is really like and compare it to their home country. I know a certain Italian grad student who is so desperate to stay here he's on his SECOND Ph.D. I visited Italy and it seems nice, but apparently he places a high premium on being able to earn an actual living that he'd rather stay here.

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#308

Post by dalyons »

FreshCode wrote: post #156

As a white foreigner who has considered travelling to the US for a holiday or working in the Valley, these types of reports have a long-term chain reaction on my willingness to start thinking about packing my bags for the States. I wonder if the powers that be understand how far-reaching bad treatments of foreign travellers can be. Or maybe I'm just one developer and my sentiment has no effect in the long run. Do oth…

You are not alone. I'm a white foreign developer currently in the valley, not working, just visiting and getting involved in the startup scene. The border and customs BS is the number 1 reason I dont think I could stay and work in the US long term, even though my home country(australia) and profession(dev) are on the 'blessed' lists. I'm frankly terrified of the US border/customs for 3 major reasons:

1) I'm afraid some ignorant/overzealous border guard will ask about all the startup events, conferences, hackathons etc that im going to and deciding that im looking to 'work' here, regardless of that being untrue.

2) There's no rules! There's only guidelines! Buy a $2000 ticket to come over to visit? No guarantee you'll be let in, its all completely arbitary and totally up to however bad a day the boarder guard is having. Turns every visit into a (low chance) potential nightmare. It's stressful, doubly so when the attitude you always face is 'prove to me your're not a danger to the US'

3) I have an 'interesting' recent history, did a bunch of travelling over the last year, including through Iran and a bunch of former soviet states, and a few uncommon asian countries. Again, if i get a border guard having a bad day I could easily end up like the OP

I hate the borders, they are arrogant, arbitrary, stressful and unpleasant, and will always make me think twice about future US visits.

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#309

Post by hackaflocka »

Well -- the chickens have come to roost. Terrorism of the 9/11 sort was the result of "faux-colonial faux-terrorism" that certain countries in the west had inflicted on the rest of the world for a long time.

And this sort of thing is happening because they can't just do these things to brown-skinned people, once in a while they have to do these things to white-skinned people. Faux-parity, you know.

Yummy -- tasty tasty faux-chicken.

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#310

Post by declan »

blisterpeanuts wrote: post #67

U.S. Immigration agents are trained to look for certain traits in visitors: nervousness, unusual or inconsistent answers to questions, history of visiting certain countries. Any of these characteristics trigger an automatic escalation in the interrogation process. This individual, albeit sounding perfectly innocent, unfortunately triggered several hot buttons and the hapless agents were too unimaginative, uninformed,…

I think this is right. There's a (let's say) 0.01% chance of false positives and being detained and hassled by FedGov border cops, and this guy was in that category.

It's not just American border cops. Like the parent poster, I had bad experience entering Canada. I truthfully told the border agents I was a journalist arriving to speak at an Internet law conference at the University of Ottawa's law school, but I didn't ask the conference organizers for a written invitation and therefore couldn't produce one.

The Canadian border guards took me to a side room and interrogated me what seemed like an hour. It was an unpleasant experience, especially given the uncertainty about whether I'd return home or be able to enter the country or be banned from entry for a period of time. My now-spouse was living in Canada at the time, so the last option would be the worst. They did make a pretense of looking on the school's web site for the conference, but (from what I could glimpse) were looking at the French version, not the English version where the conference was actually listed. Or maybe they found it and were intentionally playing dumb.

Eventually I was admitted. Ironically, the conference was sponsored by the Canadian government!

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