No WFC For Me After All

[kevin_standlee]

I will not be attending this year's World Fantasy Convention in Calgary after all, for reasons detailed here. Yes, I could go on my own, but without Cheryl, my heart really isn't in it. (And that's besides the financial aspects; while it's a shame to lose the sunk cost of the membership and airline ticket, there's still the other costs I'll avoid.)

This situation makes me furious at my own country's government and the way they have set up a border "protection" system that keeps out productive, law-abiding, good people who have been trying to follow the rules for reasons as arbitrary as "the person at the desk was having a bad day and decided he didn't like your looks, and there's nothing you can do about it." It's yet another step down a very slippery slope leading from rule-of-law to rule-of-man, and I don't like it one bit.

I'd write to my congressman, but I don't know what good it would do.

Comments

[mkillingworth.livejournal.com]

Did I pick up a hint in her post that she might be working in the US? If so, couldn't she get a work visa? It's time consuming to get a visa, but it's not impossible by any means. I would think a chat with an immigration lawyer might be a good idea. It shouldn't cost much for just a consult.

[darrelx.livejournal.com]

More importantly... if she's working in the US without a work-Visa, isn't that illegal?

I hope that's not the case.

[mkillingworth.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that's what they suspect. It's what they thought timill was up to, and all he was doing was bidding for a Worldcon. They are really determined that if you are making money over there, they want their share.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Cheryl is a consultant in the energy industry, and she has clients in the US, for whom she does consulting work. She is a resident of the UK. By law, UK residents (and those of other countries; there's a list somewhere) may come to the USA for visits for work or vacation of less than 90 days and not more than 180 days/year without a visa. (This is known as the visa waiver program, and it's the same reason you can I can go to the UK without a visa for similar visits either for work or leisure.) She is not doing anything illegal.

Similarly, if my company needed to send me to our office in Eersel, Netherlands, for a few days or weeks to work on a computer problem, that would be legal under the same program. (Me staying more than 90 days or more than 180 days in a year would be a problem and would require a separate visa application. And the requirements to Australia are different because they don't participate in the visa waiver program. But I digress.)

The maddening part is that the system is set up so that even if you have a visa, the inspecting officer at the point of entry can, without recourse and without appeal, arbitrarily decide that s/he doesn't like your looks and can deny you entry. You may not hear about it happening that often, but that is how it can and does work.