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I'm British. I visit the USA 2-3 times per year and travel elsewhere quite frequently. I would rate the "welcome mat" as rather less welcoming than Yugoslavia d

• arethuza 15y ago
  The only time I travelled into Yugoslavia during the Cold War (July '88) was rather scary - we were on a train from Italy and it stopped in the middle of nowhere and a troops appeared and surrounded the train. I distinctly remember watching them set up what looked like an enormous machine gun of some kind, which was pointed directly at our compartment. They then did whole "papers please" routine down the length of the train. Things got quite amusing when they got to my travelling companion as he had grown a beard since having his passport photo taken - so his facial hair was given a rather close examination and a sound tug or two. In my typically rather naive way I thought it was all quite exciting, at least until they got to some harmless old lady who clearly did not have her papers in order and the soldiers all got really very angry indeed - to the point where one took out his pistol and started waiving it around rather a lot. They probably shouted at her for the best part of an hour. Eventually the train moved on, but it took a long time and was very unpleasant.
  • bdunbar 15y ago
    They probably shouted at her for the best part of an hour. Sounds like current TSA procedure, amped up a few degrees. No, I'm not being a smarty-pants. When one's country is compared to Communist Yugo-friggin-slavia it's time to pay attention.
    • CodeMage 15y ago
      Communist Yugo-friggin-slavia While I agree with what you were trying to say, that was really uncalled for.
      • tripzilch 15y ago
        I don't understand, how so? Yugoslavia was a communist country back then? Although I doubt that his experience had much to do with the Cold War, but rather the internal pre-breakup tensions, war and the Kosovo/Serbia thing during the time.
      • bdunbar 15y ago
        What offended you - 'Communist' or 'friggin'?
        • CodeMage 15y ago
          The latter. I'm sorry for being sensitive about it -- maybe it's an overreaction -- but over the years, it really wears down the patience to see the name of the place I grew in dragged through the mud repeatedly. You might say it's our own damn fault, you might say my parents' generation and mine are to blame, I won't argue about that. You may criticize the communism, the backwater mentality, the ingrained sense of entitlement and lots of other things about (ex-)Yugoslavia. A lot of that stuff is the reason why I left. But please, keep it civil, for the sake of us poor schmucks that loved growing up in that place and then left it, disappointed.
          • bdunbar 15y ago
• davedx 15y ago
  Me and my partner have a day long stopover in Miami in October, so we're hoping to visit the city for the day instead of staying in the airport. What's immigration like there, do you know?
  • jsavimbi 15y ago
    It's a zoo.
  • yardie 15y ago
    Last time I went through Miami, and I live there, the lady stamping my passport didn't speak english. She probably did but, like a few hard headed individuals in Miami, just don't want to. It will take you an hour to clear the airport if you're lucky. 2 and 3 hours is actually common. If you intend to spend the day at the beach you won't go wrong heading to south beach and the taxi ride is a direct shot (~$20). Don't rely on public transport for anything. October is still hot and humid (hurricane season is still winding down) and the buses are only 10 minutes late if you are lucky.
• beagle3 15y ago
  Compared to JFK, Newark is efficient, civilized and welcoming. I guess I should board in Dublin to reset my perspective.
• drsim 15y ago
  I'm British. I visit the USA once a year and travel elsewhere quite frequently. I would rate the "welcome mat" as on a par with non-European countries but worse than Canada. China and Ghana for instance require more tedious immigration application processes. In-airport procedure waiting time and hassles are no worse in the US. Hell: have you ever seen the non-EU nationals border control queue at Heathrow? But the NYT argument is sound in that the States should lead the way in efficiency and technology, but they don't.
  • screwt 15y ago
    I have seen the non-EU line at Heathrow. For those that haven't, it's >3 hrs long, stood up, with nothing but a single garish vending machine for company. It makes me ashamed to be British. We can do better.
    • jaems33 15y ago
      Oh God yes. I've been to JFK/LGA/LAX/SFO and I've NEVER had to wait in immigration as along as I have at Heathrow. What is the point of even being part of the Commonwealth (as a Canadian) if Europeans get better treatment.
  • WiseWeasel 15y ago
    I've promised myself I'd never fly through Heathrow again after waiting many hours for customs and almost missing connections several times. I intend to keep that promise.
• jaems33 15y ago
  I'm Canadian. I went to Heathrow one time last year and waited in an immigration line longer than... well ever. It was around a 1 hour wait through the International line. I don't even see a point of being part of the "Commonwealth" if there isn't a line for citizens, while EU citizens pass largely freely. Regardless of preferential treatment, I thought it was ridiculous that the EU wait time was 0 minutes (as in, there was clearly not a lineup at all) but the internationals line was incredibly long and they didn't bother adding more officers to deal with it.
  • anghyflawn 15y ago
    I suppose it varies. I am a non-EU citizen who lives in the EU, so most of the time I come to the UK on EU flights. Situations like the one you describe happen, but more often than not you actually have three planefuls of EU citizens crawling through the control while the handful of people who do need a visa breeze through. Although obviously you will have more non-EU people at Heathrow than at Liverpool.
  • fidotron 15y ago
    You should try the line for everyone at Montreal! I guess it's fair by treating everyone terribly, but it's the single most ridiculous setup I've ever seen.
• halostatue 15y ago
  I only wish the ICE personnel working in Canada were less asinine. I'm an American citizen and I despise going back through Toronto Pearson because of the attitude of a sizeable minority of ICE personnel. My wife (not an American citizen) had a case this past fall where the ICE officer was in a very bad mood and it seemed to stem from the fact that he was living in Canada—and hated it. He absolutely didn't want to experience anything Canadian, because everything American is obviously superior. ICE is a serious problem for America.
  • J3L2404 15y ago
    >He absolutely didn't want to experience anything Canadian, because everything American is obviously superior. Did he tell you that or are you just talking out of your posterior? >ICE is a serious problem for America. No, ICE is a minor problem for rich people with an inflated sense of entitlement.
    • halostatue 15y ago
      The specifics of this situation was that my wife was declaring several bags of ketchup-flavoured potato chips, which are quite popular in Canada but virtually unknown in the U.S. My wife said that a lot of people liked them, and his statement was something on the order of "they can't be that good because they're not available in America." So, yes: he told my wife that he believes that products available in America are superior to products available in Canada; it's not a far stretch to say that he "absolutely didn't want to experience anything Canadian, because everything American is obviously superior." Further, it's also not a big stretch to suggest that this man should be cycled back to the U.S. because he's an absolutely horrendous ambassador for Americans. Your other statement ("ICE is a minor problem…") is complete nonsense given the discussion at hand. ICE is often the first American face a foreigner sees coming into the U.S. The arrogance (and other negative attributes) displayed by many ICE officers is absolutely a problem for America, because it's a bad impression. I don't travel much to the U.S. (at most once or twice a year, and sometimes less despite the fact that most of my extended family is in the U.S.), and as an American citizen I can't be refused entry. Inasmuch as that matters, I don't care how asinine these folks are. However, I care deeply when the first view of Official America that a foreigner gets is someone with a bad attitude and distrust and/or dislike for non-Americans. (I also think that any ICE officer who is stationed in a foreign country needs to act like they like that foreign country and skip the whole America First act that I've seen far too often at Toronto Pearson. It's offensive.) EDIT: I'm rather offended that your immediate assumption is that someone is making something up when they say something. Maybe you haven't experienced it, but the Ugly American Syndrome is alive and well. It bothered me as a U.S. military brat when my father was stationed in both the Netherlands and in Japan, and it bothers me as an adult expat (and now dual citizen). America's a great place and has great people, but if you work for the government and are stationed in a foreign country, you are America to the people you're around. Act like you're representing your country well and don't be an ass.
• robomartin 15y ago
  Coming from the US, seeing guys with machine guns at the airport in Italy was, well, interesting. The only other place I saw that as a kid was when my family travelled to Argentina back in military government times.
• tallanvor 15y ago
  As an American, the worst treatment I've had reentering the country was in Seattle, so as always, YMMV. In any event, ESTA and really everything they put foreigners through is an embarrassment and everyone responsible for it - from Senators and Representatives who voted for these provisions to the people who are working on the border, should be ashamed of how they are treating people who visit our country.