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by kjetil
5210 days ago
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For me it's the fingerprinting that does it. I once told an American acquaintance that US customs fingerprinted all my ten digits last time I was in the US. Her reaction: She refused to believe me. That her country would do that to visitors was unthinkable. And I'm from Norway, a reasonably US-friendly country (and ally, I guess). The most appropriate reaction would be for all other countries to fingerprint all American visitors (like Brazil). But governments in small countries don't dare mess with the US. |
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When I got my visa, I went with my mom and brother. Since we have very similar names, the lady who took our fingerprints mixed up the fingerprints. She noticed her mistake and fixed my brothers. But she forgot mine.
End result: when I actually got to the USA and went on the scanner, I got a "fingerprint mismatch". I was directed to a room to sort it out. The immigration officer was extremely polite about it tho, way friendlier than what I expected.
After waiting in line for some guy who was accused of drug dealing but was found not guilty (they were waiting for the courthouse to open to verify), and for a girl who consistently spent as much time as she could in the US (and last time had overstayed the visa), it was my turn. The conversation was as follows:
agent: (...) 5 minute wait while he was apparently typing something, while glancing at me from time to time agent: - Who is this individual? (turns the monitor) me: uhhh... oh, that's my brother! agent: - And where's he now? me: - Just over there! (points) agent: - Oh, ok. Welcome to America. me: - Thank you.
I went to the door and turned back.
agent: - The exit is over there. me: - I know. I just wanted to ask you something: did you manage to fix my file? agent: - No. You'll always have this problem. me: - ... okay then.
I have no idea if that's the typical experience - I hope it is and, if true, I have no qualms about it. There was nothing inherently humiliating, there was no disrespect at any time.
Now, I considered writing to the DHS asking about it, but I am pretty sure that they'll ask me to get another visa. Which I won't until mine expires or if I'm required to change my status for some reason. See below.
By the way, paying $12 for a form is nothing, try having to travel 800km and stand in line under the sun for an hour, after paying $150 (plus travel and accommodation expenses), with no guarantees you'll actually have the damn thing issued. Oh, and that's to be done during workdays - you'll have to use vacation or sick days. Also, it must be scheduled months in advance. And you still have to file the landing papers, which ask you the same sort of questions the article was complaining about.
All that, for a country with a visa rejection rate of less than 5%.
So yeah, I agree that the US needs to be more welcoming. But it is not always that bad. It does need more consistency, though. I guess many of the "rules" are made up by whoever is in charge at that moment.