Korean Job Discussion Forums

[yoda]

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TRAVEL/08/02/visa.policy/index.html

This will have a big impact on Canadian ESL teachers in Korea travelling with Korean partners. Visas are now required for fliers transiting through the U.S. It was a pain the a** before. Now it will just suck.

I am not 100% if this new restriction will include Korea but it looks like it does. Anyone care to comment?

I guess Canadians with Korean partners will have to avoid the states all together. If you don't already know, check out Singapore airlines to Vancouver. It's the cheapest, safest, and has the best service. I swear by it

[kimcheeking]

I've always flown direct to Canada, it's faster and cheaper.

[BTM]

Transit passengers who do not leave the transit lounge at the airport (anywhere in the world) before catching their connecting flight do not require visas for the country they are transiting through.

Panic not.


Edit : OK, so I'm an idiot for not reading the article. I still find it hard to believe that these halfwits in the Shrub government would mess with something that basic, but we shouldn't ever be surprised at the depths of dumbitude they'll sink to in the ineffectual name of Fatherland er sorry Homeland Security, I guess.

[anae]

Last time we flew Calgary-LA-Seoul in Sept. of last year, those Koreans who did not have US visas were in for some serious questioning. Even my husband who has a US visa did not exactly breeze through. If not required, it may be recommended.

[whatthefunk]

This is nuts. All its going to do is create an assload of paperwork for the government, make it even more difficult for the airlines to operate, and make it harder for people to travel. I see little danger in the current system...

[desultude]

On one hand the government (U.S.) is bailing out the airlines, and on the other it seems to be doing everything it can to sink them. Yes, this administration is making Reagan look like a nuclear physicist (or, as the twig would say, nucular.)

Why land your 777 full of visitors through MIA (Miami) when Mexico City or Toronto will treat them better and cause you less grief? Why fly through the States at all? If only my family wasn't there. . ..

[richinkorea]

Back in '98 I had a Korean friend who flew from Vancouver to Portland (1 hour in the airport, watched over the whole time) to Korea. She was charged $50 for a transit visa to the US. Seems like they quit doing that for a while and now have restarted it.

Conspiracy theory dead.

[RR]

Actually, according to the Bushies this is all in response to a direct threat from an Al Qeda opperative in US custody (forget his name). Apparently he specifically said that they were planning in Hijacking a plane by boarding outside the US and using the transit program.... so it seems very justified..... I think instead of getting angry at the US governement, which is after all doing it's number one job: providing for the security of its citizens, we should loudly blame the true culprits: these idiodic and evil terrorist groups that force this kind of hardship on the world.

You can be sure that no US airline or governemtn agency wanted to do this....

RR

[RR]

Sorry, I missed this in the above post:

From CNN: The change was made in response to recent intelligence indicating that potential hijackers might be looking to exploit the programs, which allow transit passengers to stay on the ground in the United States without a visa for as long as 24 hours. In the past, immigrant smugglers have exploited security weaknesses around such passengers.

LINK: http://www.cnn.com/2003/TRAVEL/08/02/visa.policy/index.html

RR

[Ajarn Miguk]

Given the fact that all the events of 9-11 involved aircraft. Given the fact that there is new and credible evidence that the transit seam is being looked at by terrorists. Given the fact that most people would prefer inconvenience to death. Given the fact every sovereign nation is entitled to set its own immigration laws and regulations. Given the fact protection of its citizenry is a prime duty of any responsible government.

Given all this and much, much more, there was no other choice.

[Manner of Speaking]

In terms of extra paperwork, legwork, layers of bureaucracy, airport slowdowns, etc., it would probably cost the U.S. government less money to hire more intelligence officers to target potential terrorist groups better, getting at the problem at its source, than it would cost to require millions of annual transiting passengers to get visas.

Never underestimate the ability of bureaucrats and security guards to create work for themselves.

[The Den]

I'm Canadian, my wife is Korean although she has permanent residency status in Canada as we have lived there the past five years when we flew through Seattle in July we had to spend 5 hours in a stuffy area of the airport listening to the bomb/dope dogs barking just below us. The people that were babysitting us were weird although they were nice enough. I could go wherever I wanted but not my wife. It was not really a pleasant experience. Next time my wife will have her visa or Candian citizenship. Or we won't connect through the states.

[yoda]

[jvalmer]

In the US, if you arrive from an outside country (except Canada) you have to clear customs before leaving the airport. In all countries I've been to, if you are travelling within the same country, you can basically walk out after landing. However, if you travel from Canada to Korea via the US, you clear US customs in Canada. Which means once you land in the US destination, their is nothing stopping you from not boarding the next flight. I think this is where a major problem arises. So, if you don't carry a passport that has a visa waiver with the US, you will have some extra paper work.

[rudyflyer]