Job Discussion Forums

[Brooks]

I am American, and I have met some nice Canadians in my travels.
But I have to say that some border officials and immigration/ customs officers (Vancouver) have a real attitude problem.
I remember telling this to a taxi driver in Guelph, and he agreed that they didn`t have to assume that I was a criminal and treat me as such.

[jpvanderwerf2001]

Off subject, but I just wanted to tip my hat to your post pic.













Peace. Always.

[Gordon]

Customs and immigration officials thinking you`re a criminal? That`s a job requirement isn`t it? Try entering the US as a non-American if you think Canada is bad, especially if you look like you`re from the Middle East.

[Canuck2112]

[yaramaz]

Two things: I am Canadian and I don't hate Americans, though I really disagree with a lot of things their government is doing these days. The people themselves are fine. No complaints from me there.

Secondly, customs officials in any country (except Turkish ones it seems- easy peasy, barely a word uttered) are notoriously brutal. I've had a really hard time with (alas) American ones since I moved to Turkey. Because there seem to be no affordable direct flights to Canada from Turkey, I have to fly via Minneapolis or Memphis to go home to see my family. I am only in these cities in transit, never leaving the airport, only there for an hour or two... yet I am grilled and searched as if I were personally a member of Al Qaeda. Last year, I had to explain everything down to which bus I took in Istanbul to get to the airport, to why I was in Turkey, which school ı worked for, and at whose flat I spent the night before flying out (geeeze I hope poor Mehmet wasnt searched!). My bags were opened both times ı went through Minn' and I had to collect and recheck my bags and go through immigration just to catch my flight to Vancouver. It was exhausting.

[been_there]

Yeah, well, Minnesota is a *beep* to fly through even for blue-eyed devils like me. I got serched there a couple times (post 9/11). I've been told (and am prepared to be wrong) that it is because there is a HUGE Islamic population in Minn.

And who said Turkey was easy? I was flying OUT of Istanbul and they took my bags apart like I had a needle hanging out of my arm or something...

[yaramaz]

Turkey has been very easy for me, with barely a word uttered by customs and immigration officials. This may be because I'm a resident with a resident's card. They take my passport and residents book, clunk down a stamp or two, and wish me well. No issues at all going through the Anything To Declare channels. Maybe I'm just lucky. London Heathrow used to grill me horribly because I had a lot of Holyhead (Wales)-Dublin stamps in my passport, must have thought I was running guns for the IRA when all I was doing was visiting my boyfriend at that time...

[jud]

American immigration, at least at JFK, is the pits.

I'm American, but my boyfriend's not and he doesn't speak English very well (we speak Italian at home).

After filling out a card on the plane on which you are given the opportunity to admit to different felonies and terrorist associations, you are filed into a line by officials who bark "Nonamehicancizzensovadeh" at you. Then you get interrogated by immigration officials who speak English quickly, without clear intonation, and rarely speak other languages (shouldn't at least Spanish be a job requirement?).

Last time I went with my boyfriend I had to rescue him, and they almost wouldn't let me help him. He got sent back on line because he couldn't understand and the woman wouldn't speak more slowly.

United States Americans would never (and don't) stand for that treatment from other countries. We should stop subjecting everyone else to it.

[jpvanderwerf2001]

Canuk2112
Whachutalkinabout Hasselhoff? I've just found the elusive subject for the tattoo I've been wanting.
Classic.










Peace. Always.

[dmb]

Yaramaz, for a long time I never had a problem with Turkish immigration. However on one of my last trips out I got arrested. The reason. The company I was working with didn''t sort out the necessary paperwork( I was there a year) So what they did was to organise my ''arrest" on departure and get me through safely without a fine. Oh BTW they gave free lessons to the immigration at Istanbul Ataturk airport

[Phil_b]

[Dave Kessel]

[quote]and nothing to do with the fact that a Japanese person with a Korean grandfather is actually not a Japanese citizen and cannot be. [unquote]


Well, he is a "Japanese" person according to the British colonial /American laws ( jus solis- law of the soil- born here- a citizen) which are not applicable on the territory of Japan and most other countries of the world. Other countries follow the jus sanguinis-( law of the blood- citizen by bloodline, that is). The same principle that applies to cats, dogs, etc., - a German shepherd puppy born in France does not become a French poodle. Jus Solis is only for countries in the American hemisphere, the UK, Canada, Oz, NZ, France and a few others.


It is also not that fair- Gypsies from the Czech republic cannot get visas to go to N. America because they are "Czechs" according to the N. American laws and the Czech quota is very small and often full for the given year. In the Czech republic no dark-skinned Gypsie is seen as a Czech or treated as such. In Slovakia, " Go back to India!" is a standard expression with which to berate Gypsies when a local bigot wants to insult them. These Gypsies have been in Europe for about one thousand years! Horrible atrocities are committed against them by the local Skinheads and other young thugs because they are 'not' Czechs, but they "become" Czechs" when they get to the US embassy to try to get a visa. Ridiculous!

From what I understand, the descendants of Koreans in Japan could become naturalized and some did. They had to change their names, i.e. Mr. Kim became Mr. Kanagawa. However, they are still referred to as "Koreans" in social situations regardless of the law.

However, I am not sure about " 'a' grandparent". I think it has to be three Korean grandparents to make becoming a Japanese citizen a problem. One or two grandparents can be more or less hidden from the eyes of the Japanese. I had a Japanese friend whose mother was Chinese and he just told me that he simply did not tell anybody about that and it was OK. He was a citizen, had a Japanese name and ,physically, did not look different from the rest of them.

In Kuwait, more than half of the population are foreigners- many of those are born and raised there. Ditto in Saudi.

It is worthy of note that while in the US Jus Solis is a *legal* concept, in actual life, people still say-"that Mexican guy, that Italian guy, that Polish guy, that Puerto Rican ". US-born-and-raised people are still asked " What is your nationality?" and are expected to reply- "I am Irish, I am German..., etc."

Few of the people called like that have ever been to Poland, Germany, Italy or Puerto Rico, know much about those countries, or speak those languages...