Is the worst thing about voter rights in this country not that you can't get a voter registration card in Missouri without a birth certificate but that you can be denied a copy of your birth certificate because you were abandoned as a child? Or that you can be refused voter registration even though you have a social security number?
You can't vote but you can pay taxes. Oh yes, I'm sure that's fair.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Real capuccino, Caffe Artigiano
This is another reason for never leaving Vancouver. There are four branches of Caffe Artigiano serving excellent coffee in downtown Vancouver. A different design every time. And it tastes like coffee, and they serve it in cups, and their scones aren't sweet.
I miss Canada.
I miss Canada.
Monday, August 21, 2006
They let us back in
We successfully jumped another hurdle and got our passports stamped with the new visa. This one expires on March 9 2007. That's right less than seven months to go. And then we go through the whole process again. Is this a sensible use of US resources I ask myself. It worked out well for the Canadians as we stayed dive days in Vancouver but apart from our $100 (in cash) what did America get? $100 wouldn't pay for the administrative and security costs associated with the process especially with the increased security over the past weeks.
The trip did give us the chance to compare and contrast the immigration departments of Canada and the USA. First off although we arrived in Canada only a couple of days after the latest terrorism plot to blow up planes using liquids, there were no lines at immigration. Every booth was manned and the officers were extremely friendly and cheerful. Because we were there just to get our visa from the US consulate the officer asked us to "Do (me) a favour, take a jog left and check in with Immigration Services". They were also delightful and even appeared interested in our responses about how long we'd been in the US, what we were doing. Everything was completed with a smile.
Returning to the US was the exact opposite. As usual the lines were long and only a third of the booths were manned. People were shouted at because they were not moving fast enough to the correct line and when we got to the immigration officer we were greeted with a snarl. Charming. The questions were the same but the tone of voice suggested that the officer didn't believe a word of it. Our fingerprints were taken (again) and our papers were stamped (again) and returned without any form of greeting or instruction about what to do next.
It was a joy to visit Canada and depressing to reenter the US. It doesn't have to be like this. Good manners should be mandatory and a smile costs nothing but goes a long way to engender goodwill. If the problem is understanding, USCIS should invest in more immigration officers. But I don't believe it's that. I think they are afraid that kindness would be mistaken for weakness. And that theory's not borne out by any psychological study or by history. If their attitude doesn't change, I'm not looking forward to reentering the country again next year.
The trip did give us the chance to compare and contrast the immigration departments of Canada and the USA. First off although we arrived in Canada only a couple of days after the latest terrorism plot to blow up planes using liquids, there were no lines at immigration. Every booth was manned and the officers were extremely friendly and cheerful. Because we were there just to get our visa from the US consulate the officer asked us to "Do (me) a favour, take a jog left and check in with Immigration Services". They were also delightful and even appeared interested in our responses about how long we'd been in the US, what we were doing. Everything was completed with a smile.
Returning to the US was the exact opposite. As usual the lines were long and only a third of the booths were manned. People were shouted at because they were not moving fast enough to the correct line and when we got to the immigration officer we were greeted with a snarl. Charming. The questions were the same but the tone of voice suggested that the officer didn't believe a word of it. Our fingerprints were taken (again) and our papers were stamped (again) and returned without any form of greeting or instruction about what to do next.
It was a joy to visit Canada and depressing to reenter the US. It doesn't have to be like this. Good manners should be mandatory and a smile costs nothing but goes a long way to engender goodwill. If the problem is understanding, USCIS should invest in more immigration officers. But I don't believe it's that. I think they are afraid that kindness would be mistaken for weakness. And that theory's not borne out by any psychological study or by history. If their attitude doesn't change, I'm not looking forward to reentering the country again next year.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Vancouver here we come
We have to get our latest visa put in our passports. The last time we were able to send them to somewhere in deepest make work country but now USCIS insists we visit an embassy outside the US. Given a choice of Canada or Mexico we opted for the nearest, Canada. But there were no appointments at Montreal, Toronto, Quebec City or Ottawa. The first available appointment was in Vancouver pretty much immediately. The next was over a month away. Guess which we are going to take? An 8 hour flight across country to get a stamp in a passport. A stamp that expires March 30 2007. Whereupon we will have to go through this performance again.
We have to be at the US embassy at 8 am with our documents, be fingerprinted and if our fingerprints don't match some criminal or terrorist we can collect our newly visa'd passports the next day. The embassy website says to allow three days just in case. I'm unhappy about the whole thing especially as we are leaving the dogs and cats here. I've always wanted to go to British Colombia but the circumstances are stressing me out.
All being well we'll be back in a few days. Oh, and don't even think about burgling the house, we have a pet sitter.
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