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>As a visa holder, I've thought long and hard over whether I should post political comments or photos from protests on social media. If you're a visa holder, y

>As a visa holder, I've thought long and hard over whether I should post political comments or photos from protests on social media. If you're a visa holder, you should refrain from taking political action in the country you're staying. The US is pretty lenient on this matter, but the majority of countries are much more strict.

gpm 6y ago
As a visa holder you should generally respect the laws of your host country. To the extent that the laws of your host allow you to participate in political action you should feel entirely free to. In the case of the US I'm 95% certain that the laws allow you to engage in political speech. Obviously you should not misrepresent yourself as a citizen of the host country, but that's just part of the general "lying is bad" moral prohibition.
- jobigoud 6y ago
  It feels a bit weird to engage in politics in a country you are not a citizen of, though. It's good that it's allowed and it shouln't be impeded but it feels a bit like when you go to a friend's house and tell them how they should educate their children differently.
- macspoofing 6y ago
  >As a visa holder you should generally respect the laws of your host country. ... and terms of your visa. >To the extent that the laws of your host allow you to participate in political action you should feel entirely free to. You are taking a risk that a citizen of that country does not. If a citizen gets arrested as part of riot/protest control, they'll get released in a short amount of time. You, as a visa-holder, may get your visa revoked, lose your job and get deported. You may have issues with visa renewal or reentry (because typically visa terms allow for arbitrary revocation and lots of discretion is given to border agents and issuing officer). But it's your life. Take any risk you want.
  - gpm 6y ago
    > ... and terms of your visa. Of course, those are part of the law
- nrmitchi 6y ago
  While this is a good thought, and in theory you should be correct, it is just not really how it works (I can only speak for my experiences with the US, and with TN work status). The majority of US citizens do not understand the visa/status/immigration process. Many people seem to think that there is a list of checkboxes, and if you hit them, you can get your visa/status. In practice it does not always work that way. The individual officer (wither USCIS or CBP) has, for the most part, full discretion each time you want to enter the US. It does not matter if you have a visa, and it does not matter if you have been admitted with the same documentation 5 times in the past. As well, the reason for your denial does not really have to be provided in a clear fashion, and there is not much of an appeal mechanism. If you were to post an opinion critical of a given administration, or a given action, and your adjudicating officer sees it and disagrees with you, there is really nothing stopping them from denying you entry based on your personal opinion. So yes: - it is perfectly within my rights to make a twitter post that I disagree with something. - I should feel comfortable doing that without fear that it will be used it against me - I do not.
  - kmonsen 6y ago
    I discovered this with green card as well, one of the conditions to keep it is to not have permanent residence abroad. What this means is completely up to the border agent talking to you on arrival. There have been grandmas that have been away for 20 year that were fine, and there have been people coming back after 3 months that were in trouble. I once came back a month after last time and was almost denied. Border controls are just very arbitrary, and it is up to the mood of the agent.
    - klipt 6y ago
      A border agent alone cannot rescind a green card (although there have been cases where they've tricked non-native English speakers into signing forms that do rescind them: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/30/trump-travel-ban-yemenis-coerced-relinquish-green-card https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/30/trump-travel...). At worst they can let you in but send your case to an immigration judge who might. But the judge is an expert in the law in a way the border agent is not.
- bonestamp2 6y ago
  > you should not misrepresent yourself as a citizen of the host country, but that's just part of the general "lying is bad" moral prohibition There is actually a specific question of this nature on the application for US citizenship. So, it's more than just moral prohibition, it could result in a rejection of citizenship. They also asked me about this during my in-person citizenship interview. Reddit has bugging me relentlessly to add an email address to my account for the past year. Sometimes, the banner can't even be dismissed. I'm not sure if it's related to this case or just general tracking and list building, or maybe even actual account security as they suggest.

gpm 6y ago

As a visa holder you should generally respect the laws of your host country. To the extent that the laws of your host allow you to participate in political action you should feel entirely free to. In the case of the US I'm 95% certain that the laws allow you to engage in political speech. Obviously you should not misrepresent yourself as a citizen of the host country, but that's just part of the general "lying is bad" moral prohibition.

jobigoud 6y ago
It feels a bit weird to engage in politics in a country you are not a citizen of, though. It's good that it's allowed and it shouln't be impeded but it feels a bit like when you go to a friend's house and tell them how they should educate their children differently.
macspoofing 6y ago
>As a visa holder you should generally respect the laws of your host country. ... and terms of your visa. >To the extent that the laws of your host allow you to participate in political action you should feel entirely free to. You are taking a risk that a citizen of that country does not. If a citizen gets arrested as part of riot/protest control, they'll get released in a short amount of time. You, as a visa-holder, may get your visa revoked, lose your job and get deported. You may have issues with visa renewal or reentry (because typically visa terms allow for arbitrary revocation and lots of discretion is given to border agents and issuing officer). But it's your life. Take any risk you want.
- gpm 6y ago
  > ... and terms of your visa. Of course, those are part of the law
nrmitchi 6y ago
While this is a good thought, and in theory you should be correct, it is just not really how it works (I can only speak for my experiences with the US, and with TN work status). The majority of US citizens do not understand the visa/status/immigration process. Many people seem to think that there is a list of checkboxes, and if you hit them, you can get your visa/status. In practice it does not always work that way. The individual officer (wither USCIS or CBP) has, for the most part, full discretion each time you want to enter the US. It does not matter if you have a visa, and it does not matter if you have been admitted with the same documentation 5 times in the past. As well, the reason for your denial does not really have to be provided in a clear fashion, and there is not much of an appeal mechanism. If you were to post an opinion critical of a given administration, or a given action, and your adjudicating officer sees it and disagrees with you, there is really nothing stopping them from denying you entry based on your personal opinion. So yes: - it is perfectly within my rights to make a twitter post that I disagree with something. - I should feel comfortable doing that without fear that it will be used it against me - I do not.
- kmonsen 6y ago
  I discovered this with green card as well, one of the conditions to keep it is to not have permanent residence abroad. What this means is completely up to the border agent talking to you on arrival. There have been grandmas that have been away for 20 year that were fine, and there have been people coming back after 3 months that were in trouble. I once came back a month after last time and was almost denied. Border controls are just very arbitrary, and it is up to the mood of the agent.
  - klipt 6y ago
    A border agent alone cannot rescind a green card (although there have been cases where they've tricked non-native English speakers into signing forms that do rescind them: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/30/trump-travel-ban-yemenis-coerced-relinquish-green-card https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/30/trump-travel...). At worst they can let you in but send your case to an immigration judge who might. But the judge is an expert in the law in a way the border agent is not.
bonestamp2 6y ago
> you should not misrepresent yourself as a citizen of the host country, but that's just part of the general "lying is bad" moral prohibition There is actually a specific question of this nature on the application for US citizenship. So, it's more than just moral prohibition, it could result in a rejection of citizenship. They also asked me about this during my in-person citizenship interview. Reddit has bugging me relentlessly to add an email address to my account for the past year. Sometimes, the banner can't even be dismissed. I'm not sure if it's related to this case or just general tracking and list building, or maybe even actual account security as they suggest.