Comments on: Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

By: Francis Xavier Holden

Francis Xavier Holden — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 05:22:21 +0000

It’s true I’d be keen on a quickie marriage to get a green card, however I must warn you against nabakov, he’d only be after a quickie.

By: Megami

Megami — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 01:51:03 +0000

The system used to be (five years ago) that if you wanted a business visa to visit Papua New Guinea you had to submit police check, X-rays proving you don’t have TB and proof that you don’t have HIV/AIDS. If you wanted a 90 day tourist visa, you could apply and pay at Port Moresby airport, no questions asked (this is for Australians).So businessmen are potential crooks and disease-spreaders, but tourists…
As an Australian, I have never really had problems with Visas – even with Turkey, we just bought it at the airport (and this was post 9/11). Though I am yet to travel to the US, and don’t have a biometric passport…

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 20:49:13 +0000

Mostly I travel in Europe to EU countries. I just carry my national ID card which is the size of a credit card. It’s rarely given more than a quick glance.

So far I’ve been to the US twice, both before the US Visit, once before and once after 9/11. Luckily, the Netherlands is in the visa waiver program so I only needed to fill in a form with my home address and hotel. The immigration officials still seem somewhat suspicious “So you’re just going to visit some Museums?” but I guess it’s in their nature.

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 12:34:35 +0000

A fine advertisement for honour among Melburnians you are Nabokov.

By: Nabakov

Nabakov — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 10:29:56 +0000

Um Ezther, I’d be wary of accepting any invitations from Nick Gruen, David Tiley or FX Holden. From my experience of them, they’d just be looking for a quickie marriage to a visiting Yank so they can score a green card.

By: Francis Xavier Holden

Francis Xavier Holden — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 03:55:36 +0000

robert love – with very few exceptions for low income people dentistry here in oz is not subsidised by the government. Most medical and surgical care is (close to)free but if you are from O/S and haven’t got a Medicare Card (only available to citizens iirc) you pay. Or more usually you skip the country and leave an unpaid bill.

That said it might still be cheaper to fly here from USA and then pay in our private system. After all some (stupid) Australians fly to places like Thailand for cheaper medical and dental treatment.

By: Doug

Doug — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 17:42:37 +0000

That’s nothing, if you want to visit US from Russia and Eastern Europe you have to provide evidence that you have enough incentive to return back home.

Yeah, well, I got this same line of questioning at Heathrow. The guard wanted to know why I didn’t have an onward ticket to Washington, DC (I was coming in from Finland). That London was, at the time, the budget travel capital of the world was not interesting to him. There was quite a bit more, too.

So the UK ranks below East Germany for me in terms of annoying border experiences.

By: david tiley

david tiley — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 14:04:38 +0000

Eszter – you are on. Aside from the social fun of this, your visit is a chance to surface some other local CT readers. In Melbourne we already know there’s a bunch of us who live down the road from each other.

And as for Brisbane….

By: Eszter

Eszter — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 12:44:10 +0000

Nicholas – I will be in Melbourne and Brisbane and would be delighted to meet up with some CT readers. I will be there in late September – early October.

By: Nicholas Gruen

Nicholas Gruen — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 12:42:42 +0000

PS, don’t take your descriptions of Oz from the resentment of relics from a bygone age – Australia’s crop of sad expats.

By: Nicholas Gruen

Nicholas Gruen — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 12:40:47 +0000

Eszter,

Where are you going in Australia, and will you have time for an evening with some CT readers – and writers on Oz blogs – our shout!

By: Eszter

Eszter — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 12:09:54 +0000

As a non-American myself, I’ve had experiences at three US consular offices: in Budapest, Bern and Toronto. When I commented on my experience with the Canadian office, I was comparing it to those. It was much worse than those other experiences I have had. Setting aside for a moment the inconvenience of having to stand in line early (and the very stupid rule in Toronto about having the fees paid at a bank that opens just when you are scheduled to have your appointment at the consulate), the most pleasant (least unpleasant) experience I have had was in Toronto. The woman even said something to me in Hungarian (and she didn’t seem to be Hungarian), which I thought was friendly.

By: Anon

Anon — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 08:16:26 +0000

Ajax, is this the mirror version of the “Well, the terrorists are worse!” thing that seems to come up so much in discussions of Abu Ghraib and such?

By: Ajax

Ajax — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 20:41:00 +0000

“My most frustrating visa experience to date was at the Canadian embassy in NYC a few years ago. It was unbelievable how they treated people.”

So unlike, of course, the courteous treatment which non-Americans unfailingly receive from US consular officials.

By: lalala

lalala — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 19:01:00 +0000

Oddly, my friend’s Bosnian cousin just got a 2-year, multiple-entry visa for the US, seemingly because she’s still in high school and they figure she’ll go home to finish. Meanwhile, same friend’s mother can only get visas for 6 months at a time. Which is probably not actually a bad thing for various reasons, but anyway.