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DFW

(60,144 posts)
10. Unless you get a supervisor, border guards are the lottery
Sun Aug 9, 2015, 11:26 AM
Aug 2015

Sometimes you get one with both intelligence and experience. Sometimes you get one and you wonder how they ever graduated the eight grade. It's the easiest thing in the world to book a one-way trip for your return and then get a refund for it when you're over there.

I always book my round trips from Europe because 1.) I live there, and 2.) they're cheaper. At the check-in counter in the States, they always give me a hard time when I fly back to Europe because my ticket ends there. Now, I always have my German residency card ready although they have no idea what it is. I could present them with my German driver's license and they wouldn't know the difference unless it's Lufthansa, which I never take.

Luckily my daughters are dual citizens. They use their German passports when entering and leaving Germany, and their US passports when entering and leaving the USA. That way, no one gives them any grief.

One time, an American woman working for my outfit was traveling on Continental Airlines from Brussels to New York. The stupid Belgian woman at the counter found her suspicious and called security to accompany her the whole way through the airport, even to the toilet, until she boarded the plane. I wrote Continental and told them they must have Al Qaeda sleepers working at their counter in Brussels, because the only reason they could have had to make such a fuss over my assistant would be because they were testing to see how easy it would be for them to smuggle a terrorist onto a Continental plane by causing an immense and uncalled-for distraction over someone who obviously posed no danger. They wrote back with the usual platitudes about how security was their highest priority blah blah blah. I wrote back again to explain that security, judging by the behavior of their staff in Brussels was absolutely the lowest priority, and that no one from my organization would ever fly Continental again due to the high risk to our personnel. I got some stupid form letter back which I never answered, but I'll bet their staff at Zavantem got an earful.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

It's bad for those of us Americans who try to come back after being abroad for awhile. a la izquierda Aug 2015 #1
I got grilled after being away for a week Spider Jerusalem Aug 2015 #16
It sucks. I can't believe anyone willingly comes here. a la izquierda Aug 2015 #17
enlighten more like. n/t LittleGirl Aug 2015 #19
We're being programmed with fear elias49 Aug 2015 #2
I have seen the future Johnny Noshoes Aug 2015 #3
This happened to my wife in Vermont DFW Aug 2015 #4
good grief, those examples are stupid LittleGirl Aug 2015 #5
Unless you get a supervisor, border guards are the lottery DFW Aug 2015 #10
I know the one of the greatest violinists in the world, Clara-Jumi Kang. pangaia Aug 2015 #6
Here is an article from 2012. German customs struck twice DFW Aug 2015 #11
Interesting...Pretty assinine, if you ask me. pangaia Aug 2015 #14
Completely DFW Aug 2015 #15
I was in Portugal for 3 days last week. pangaia Aug 2015 #22
I don't think they are scared off! Adrahil Aug 2015 #7
My husband has been hassled as a Belgian national. Ilios Meows Aug 2015 #8
Go through LittleGirl Aug 2015 #18
I don't see a problem with these immigration rules. Schneider indeed failed to declare her true underahedgerow Aug 2015 #9
It's not clear that a violation occurred DFW Aug 2015 #12
The article says she was to stay for 4 months. Providing child care in exchange for housing is underahedgerow Aug 2015 #13
Just a quick pedantic point Recursion Aug 2015 #21
That rule is there to prevent human trafficking Recursion Aug 2015 #20
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