Schengen Overstay

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Well, naturally. Six months is for "respectable" people What do you expect?

Kidding aside, I think that we Yanks have the worst bureaucrats in the world in terms of attitude and intelligence, and certainly the worst LEO's in terms of attitude. One reason why I have chosen to live outside of the States for these past 25+ years.

Which is why for the U.S. to have a more enlightened visa policy than the EU reflects REALLY badly on the EU

You should be getting six months at a time; ask politely next time. Wear a clean shirt and smile. Assuming you give a d***, of course.



Your lot are extremely nice to me. They even gave me a magic card which allows me to use the UK citizens' e-passport gates. I didn't even ask for it, they just pulled me out of the line one day and gave me the forms. Rule Britannia! Course I'm usually sober, shaven, and wearing a suit

I think its the smile that makes the miserable SOB's pull me out... they must think (rightly) I'm laughing at them.. and, I'm always showered, shaved and well dressed for flights.. having experienced foul smells from the people crammed next to me I hate to inflict the same on others..
Also.. the stewardess's appreciate it..

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Strange.. I'm often greeted with.. 'Remember.. you've just 90 days.. or we'll deport you and you cant come back' or variations like 'We love deporting people'..
Your C&I like to make me feel welcome..

Not usually that bad but when I was traveling EU on business I usually made to feel like a criminal by every C&I at every airport, no matter the country. The only exception was Ireland where they seemed genuinely happy to see me.

To be fair, coming back to the US I didn't find any better attitude than you and I was born here.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Not usually that bad but when I was traveling EU on business I usually made to feel like a criminal by every C&I at every airport, no matter the country. The only exception was Ireland where they seemed genuinely happy to see me.

To be fair, coming back to the US I didn't find any better attitude than you and I was born here.

That sounds strange. I have been travelling intensely (average once a week) inside Europe for decades, and don't recall ever once being made to "feel like a criminal". I was arrested once in Yugoslavia, but that was a country which doesn't even exist now, and I did have a spot of trouble in Finland, but that was decades ago.


It will sound unbelievable to some, but the nicest immigration officials I ever encountered are in -- Russia, of all places. Most of them are attractive and flirtatious young women, and they are exceptionally friendly and helpful. This is experience over scores, maybe hundreds of entries. Never a single unpleasant word, even when my documents were not quite in order (they always helped me out in such cases).

The worst were in Israel, where I was taken out of the line, strip-searched and questioned aggressively for hours, one time in the '90s. I have no idea why.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

That sounds strange. I have been travelling intensely (average once a week) inside Europe for decades, and don't recall ever once being made to "feel like a criminal". I was arrested once in Yugoslavia, but that was a country which doesn't even exist now, and I did have a spot of trouble in Finland, but that was decades ago.


It will sound unbelievable to some, but the nicest immigration officials I ever encountered are in -- Russia, of all places. Most of them are attractive and flirtatious young women, and they are exceptionally friendly and helpful. This is experience over scores, maybe hundreds of entries. Never a single unpleasant word, even when my documents were not quite in order (they always helped me out in such cases).

The worst were in Israel, where I was taken out of the line, strip-searched and questioned aggressively for hours, one time in the '90s. I have no idea why.

I haven't been to Russia yet but otherwise, very similar experience. EU customs & immigration is a non-issue.

Israel basically interrogates you. Sometimes at the airport before the flight to Israel departs. Of course, there are reasons behind that.

[Polux]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

That sounds strange. I have been travelling intensely (average once a week) inside Europe for decades, and don't recall ever once being made to "feel like a criminal". I was arrested once in Yugoslavia, but that was a country which doesn't even exist now, and I did have a spot of trouble in Finland, but that was decades ago.


It will sound unbelievable to some, but the nicest immigration officials I ever encountered are in -- Russia, of all places. Most of them are attractive and flirtatious young women, and they are exceptionally friendly and helpful. This is experience over scores, maybe hundreds of entries. Never a single unpleasant word, even when my documents were not quite in order (they always helped me out in such cases).

The worst were in Israel, where I was taken out of the line, strip-searched and questioned aggressively for hours, one time in the '90s. I have no idea why.

The worst experience I had was in England (that is out of Schengen), with us being taken apart from the general public and with some guys looking for a long time at the Identity card of my wife with a microscope and seeming disappointed and grumpy about not having found nothing out of ordinary. Not even an apologize for the bad manners.

I had another situation on Germany where they were quite nervous but were very civil. Later I found out, with a security officer, that they had reasons to be nervous since my wife's voyage bag had given alarm for explosives every time they tested it. They searched very carefully the bag and the contents and then they let us pick the airplane.

I learned that those electronic devices to pick traces of explosives are quite effective. Probably the locker on the train station where she leaved the bag for some hours had contained in the past a bag with explosives.

Anyway security is being more tight in Europe now, after the Paris bombing and the several that were prevented all over Europe.

[double u]

how do the others do it???
let's start with Oz:
there was a time each foreign boat hat to affix big ID-stickers to their topsides, people painting their boats had to paint around these stickers because removal would have been a very grave offense. needless to mention the stickers were very difficult to get off without leaving a residue...
friends went into a non-port of entry before clearing in because of stress of weather, walked just to the phonebooth at the end of the jetty - & got taken to court, fined, thw works.
2 B continued...

[woodenboats]

To all those praising the US System: Are you sure this will still be true one year from now?
Oh, and by the way: I would appreciate not having to read offensive comments on my government/administration. I promise not to share my thoughts on yours in return.

[chala]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I am presuming that you are a Swiss citizen.

Originally Posted by K_V_B

I'm a Fleming (a real one as I was born in Brugge), and I've lived in the Netherlands. So I do know a bit about that :-)

Originally Posted by K_V_B

But I currently live in an Area that depends on tourism. And if we were to leave Schengen we would be hurt. Badly. Which is why no country in Europe is even contemplating it.

Non-sens.
That Area you live in as pretty much been wrecked by over immigrations and definitely not attractive to tourism.
Only immigrants would be hurt. 260 000 Portuguese’s, 250 000 Albanians, 16 000 Turks and so on are only there to take advantage of the high value of the Swiss francs but contribute little to Swiss prosperity and more to a lower quality of life for primordial Swiss.

Originally Posted by Tricolor

Stupid or clever...

When you take in consideration the mess that the CE is in, there is nothing clever about that.

[Brob2]

Originally Posted by chala

Non-sens.
That Area you live in as pretty much been wrecked by over immigrations and definitely not attractive to tourism.

That is utterly ridiculous. Switzerland is still a huge draw for tourists, particular skiers. When I talk with my friends about travel and our annual ski trips the only drawback ever mentioned regarding Switzerland is the franc, never anything else, including immigration.

[Barra]

Originally Posted by woodenboats

To all those praising the US System: Are you sure this will still be true one year from now?
Oh, and by the way: I would appreciate not having to read offensive comments on my government/administration. I promise not to share my thoughts on yours in return.

I just dont get this attitude (and a few others posted here) that you are somehow taking offence if travellers to your countries are pointing out the obvious flaws in your visa policies.

If someone pointed out a problem with my country's policies I wouldnt take offence. If there's a problem dont you want to hear about it and hopefully see your politicians fix it? This just smacks of the 3 monkeys with the hands over the eyes and ears to me. Dumb.

Instead you guys get all defensive and say things like well its better than the old system, or its better than they way another country used to do it before it changed to a better way. Funny.

[Barra]

Originally Posted by double u

how do the others do it???
let's start with Oz:
there was a time each foreign boat hat to affix big ID-stickers to their topsides, people painting their boats had to paint around these stickers because removal would have been a very grave offense. needless to mention the stickers were very difficult to get off without leaving a residue...
friends went into a non-port of entry before clearing in because of stress of weather, walked just to the phonebooth at the end of the jetty - & got taken to court, fined, thw works.
2 B continued...

See above post mate. The sticker's were dumb. So we changed it.

The border protection via using ports of entry (and advance notice) isnt dumb and that hasnt been changed. Methinks theres more to the story than innocently turning up at the wrong harbour due to weather...

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

That sounds strange. I have been travelling intensely (average once a week) inside Europe for decades, and don't recall ever once being made to "feel like a criminal". I was arrested once in Yugoslavia, but that was a country which doesn't even exist now, and I did have a spot of trouble in Finland, but that was decades ago.


It will sound unbelievable to some, but the nicest immigration officials I ever encountered are in -- Russia, of all places. Most of them are attractive and flirtatious young women, and they are exceptionally friendly and helpful. This is experience over scores, maybe hundreds of entries. Never a single unpleasant word, even when my documents were not quite in order (they always helped me out in such cases).

The worst were in Israel, where I was taken out of the line, strip-searched and questioned aggressively for hours, one time in the '90s. I have no idea why.

Perhaps I overstate the situation just a bit. As much as I traveled I always enjoyed it and looked forward to the next visit. I show up at C&I at the airports all smiles, say Hi, how are you, (or at least say hello in the local language) and the response was always serious.

Usually with a bit of a grim look the response is "What is the purpose of your visit?" "How long will you be staying?" etc. No hello back, welcome, how are you. Plainly they are serious people with a serious job and a friendly hello is not allowed. Like this everywhere I went in Europe and Latin America. Israel similar but the company I visited there filed some kind of advance notice form with C&I so entry was easy.

One of the most serious was always Netherlands. Flying out of Schiphol they took each passenger to a desk for a personal, relatively detailed interview and the interviewer was always very serious. I didn't dare smile or crack a joke (not even an innocent joke).

Ireland, I showed up at Dublin Airport with my usual grin and hello and got back smiles, a hello and a welcome. Russia, have not been there

So I guess to say I was made to feel like a criminal might be a slight overstatement but I was clearly being examined carefully by someone with suspicions that I might be some kind of nefarious character.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Perhaps I overstate the situation just a bit. As much as I traveled I always enjoyed it and looked forward to the next visit. I show up at C&I at the airports all smiles, say Hi, how are you, (or at least say hello in the local language) and the response was always serious.

Usually with a bit of a grim look the response is "What is the purpose of your visit?" "How long will you be staying?" etc. No hello back, welcome, how are you. Plainly they are serious people with a serious job and a friendly hello is not allowed. Like this everywhere I went in Europe and Latin America. Israel similar but the company I visited there filed some kind of advance notice form with C&I so entry was easy.

One of the most serious was always Netherlands. Flying out of Schiphol they took each passenger to a desk for a personal, relatively detailed interview and the interviewer was always very serious. I didn't dare smile or crack a joke (not even an innocent joke).

Ireland, I showed up at Dublin Airport with my usual grin and hello and got back smiles, a hello and a welcome. Russia, have not been there

So I guess to say I was made to feel like a criminal might be a slight overstatement but I was clearly being examined carefully by someone with suspicions that I might be some kind of nefarious character.

I think you are confusing taking their job seriously with being difficult.

Also, they are busy watching you for signs that you aren't what you say you are. It's actually gotten much better. In the past all they knew is what they read in your passport. Officers were skilled at reading people and would pull people out for further investigation based on your reactions. If you were nervous or gave conflicting answers, they would pull you out.

With modern technology, they already know who they need to check in more detail before the flight takes off. They still watch for signs but if you don't fit a profile (yeah, it's a dirty word but it works), it's just a cursory review. (Example: last year, I was flying in and out of EU on separate tickets. The airline wasn't going to even give me a boarding pass until I could show that I had a flight departing the EU. I wasn't even going to get to the gate let alone land and make it to C&I at the destination.)

[ErikFinn]

While as an EU-citizen I have not had to lose hair in EU when moving from one country to another, but I do agree there is something rotten in the system when these terrorist attacks seem go on and on, latest one yesterday in Berlin:

Berlin attack: Police say lorry crash 'probably terror attack' - BBC News

[double u]

let's boil it down Barra: yours is clever ('cause no worries to you), our's is stupid ('cause it's working to your disadvantage)
anybody ever showed up without their previously obtained visas???
anybody ever could not show funds the Oz/Nz/Us authorities considered "sufficient" for the intended stay? ...clever systems, o so clever...