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

[timill]

It isn't new - I nearly got bounced coming over for Boskone in 1993. Fortunately I was with others (thus adding plausibility to my story about attending a con) and I hadn't stayed long on any of my previous visits.

Plus I explained the profusion of BOS and MSP entry stamps as being due to having my frequent flyer account with Northwest, and this rang true with him.

Even if I get my Green Card, it's still true - I can be bounced on arrival in the US, though I may have a right of appeal then.

[dsmoen.livejournal.com]

Are you able to reschedule the airfare to maybe cover next year's worldcon?

Just a thought.

You'll pay a change fee, but it's better than losing it altogether.

[esmeraldus-neo.livejournal.com]

Sympathy. Read Cheryl's post, and it made me angry. time_freak and I dealt with the same stuff, just for a year, and it was hellish.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

At the moment I was planning on taking the train to Montreal, so re-using the ticket value (less the change fee) doesn't work. And for a trip I plan to Montreal for a planning meeting in April, I'd intended on using my Northwest Airlines miles.

We're investigating if cancelling the flight does still allow us to "bank" the value of the unused tickets against future travel, less change fees that will probably eat most of the value, but anything is better than nothing.

[con-girl.livejournal.com]

Do complain. It is the only way this is ever going to get better.

That is completely awful. Well not completely, but we aren't going to talk about how it could be even worse.

[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.

[howeird]

Do contact your congressperson - I suggest phone instead of email, and Boxer and Feinstein. Sometimes having a US citizen sponsor can help.

[lisa-marli.livejournal.com]

If any of our We are Friends of Cheryl and we want her to be able to enter the USofA on a regular basis signatures will help, we'll gladly give them.
Remind Cheryl she is NOT alone. Lots of friends will want to help her come and go as often as she needs.

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

howeird is right about that -- having a US citizen contact their own congresspersons will at least get it on the radar -- and having a US citizen sponsor even more so.

It's a place to start -- and nothing ventured, nothing gained.

(platitudes not withstanding, it's still the truth...)

[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.

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

Other than "that's shitty" and "yes, she should talk to a lawyer", I won't make any suggestions. But that's shitty and yes, she should talk to a lawyer.

[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.

[lunarvixenfx.livejournal.com]

Awww... I'm sad that you won't be able to come.. and more so mad that this is happening. It scares me what's going on.. I'd like to take my kids to Disneyland someday.. and I fear I will never be able to!

And I wish I could help with covering the costs.. we never managed to get our own attendance.. it just wasn't in the books with everything and the kids.. and now the baby.. and it's halloween weekend.. and kids take precedence..

Oh well.. I'm sure there will be other opportunities.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Well, if you had a membership, would you be able to attend the convention, or do your other commitments keep you from even having the time?

[lunarvixenfx.livejournal.com]

Well, the Friday night is of course Trick or Treating with the kids, but that will mostly be Hubby, as I don't think I'll be able to do the walking. And on the Saturday there is a D&D minis release that Hubby wants to go to, and I have to take my son to a Birthday party in the early afternoon.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a "no." I'd be willing to give you my membership if you could make use of it, given that I know of nobody who is able to make the trip at the last minute. (If you know of someone, do let me know.)

[gaspode.livejournal.com]

Hang on... Isn't Calgary in Canada ? Which is nothing to do with the US emigration system ? She should still have no problems with a UK passport in Canada ? I have family in Vancouver and friends are back and forth from Canada all the time. The only hassles they have is driving over the Border to washing ton (though even that is easier than flying in directly) ...

[graham-bell.livejournal.com]

Not if she was travelling from and returning to the U.S. which seems to be the implication here. It's all on the "pooter" nowadays and she would be flagged up upon re-entry from Canada.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Entering Canada isn't the problem. Returning to the USA is the problem. There's a very good chance at this point that she would be stuck in Calgary and unable to re-enter the USA -- and her return flight to the UK is out of SFO, several months from now.

If she was flying from the UK directly to Calgary (much as she plans to go directly to Montreal next year for Worldcon), there would be no issue. It's the US transit that's the problem. Must keep our country safe from them dangerous furriners, you know. *fume*

[beckythomson.livejournal.com]

Nothing I can offer but sympathy and mutual outrage.

John and I spent a day in Canada a few years ago, and John was stopped at the border trying to come home because he didn't have the 'proper documentation.' He was a naturalized U.S. citizen, traveling with his wife (who was born in the U.S.) and with a Social Security card and a legitimate job in the U.S. But because he was born in Scotland and was a citizen in Canada before he came to the U.S., this jerk wanted either a passport (John never did get one) or his citizenship papers.

I don't know why they finally recapitulated and let him come home, but I remember both of us spending an hour asking every official we could find "just what do you expect us to do?" I suppose at worse case they could have made me drive all the way home to dig out his citizenship papers (which he hadn't needed for a couple decades).

Of course, if he were alive today he would have gotten a passport, since the Canada to U.S. border has been tightened so much.