[Foundation-l] Re: Entering the US : privacy and visa issues

[SJ]

I should add that US immigration is still often amazingly annoying,
sometimes with no reason -- even though you can get through it in the
end.  I dislike it immensely; my Chilean half-brother has to suffer it
every time he comes to visit;  and we all hope this is a passing
thing...


On 10/22/05, SJ <2.718281828 at gmail.com> wrote:
> I've heard people complain variously that  a) the US requires European
> airlines to share private data about passengers for security
> screening,  b) the US stores passenger name records centrally, "for an
> indefinite period of time",  and  c) the visa process is prohibitive,
> and can't be trusted to let people into the country.  In response to
> each:
>
> a) True; also true in Canada.  Canada and the EU this month signed an
> agreement to share passenger info (including phone #s and credit card
> #s), similar to, if somewhat more limited than, the one signed with
> the US last year:
> http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8D0JK80E.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down&chan=db
>
> b)  Not at present.  The US CAPPS/"Secure Flight" program, which would
> involve centrally storing information about passengers from all
> airlines, had its "testing phase" first postponed and then suspended
> indefinitely, following criticism from many government and private
> groups.  It also had its technology budget cut last week.
>   http://www.epic.org/privacy/airtravel/secureflight.html
>   http://www.compliancepipeline.com/171202490
>   http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20051018-075400-1017r
>
> Both the US and Canada (see a, above) store some passenger information
> for 3.5 years.
>
> c)  Sometimes time consuming, but fairly reliable.  I wrote/spoke to
> three people who run regular international conferences in the US.  Two
> independently pointed me to the office of the local Senator.  Sure
> enough, Senator Kennedy has an active and competent immigration group.
> The woman in charge spent 10 minutes asking about Wikimania's subject,
> history, timing, and international scope; and offered good advice on
> how to prepare visa applications.
>    She suggested that for this kind of conference, venue, and
> audience[1], there should not be extensive visa trouble[2].  She added
> that she was there to help with the trouble, including cutting through
> red tape and salvaging visa rejections ("if an application is
> rejected, call me immediately and we'll work to get it overturned").
> You can see a summary of the advice here:
>      http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2006/Boston/Visas
>
> [1]  With the caveat that she wanted to look at more information and
> give a better-detailed answer next week.
> [2]  What she could say for certain : Attendees from a few countries
> (Iran, Libya) will have a difficult time getting a visa, and will need
> particularly strong supporting documents and local connections.  Those
> from other countries (China, Colombia, India, other parts of the
> Middle East) will usually have to wait for over a month and should
> apply well in advance.   Other difficult cases will be single young
> men residing in non-visa-waiver countries, out of school and
> unemployed, with few family ties or financial resources; these will
> need extra support from our end (in the US).  All of this should apply
> in Canada as well, to some degree.
>
> ++SJ
>


--
++SJ