Comments on: Status Quo Ante http://alex.halavais.net/status-quo-ante Things that interest me. Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:26:16 +0000 hourly 1 By: David Stewart http://alex.halavais.net/status-quo-ante/comment-page-1#comment-1269 David Stewart Thu, 08 Jul 2004 16:48:14 +0000 /?p=732#comment-1269 I too fell foul of the 'I' visa requirement last year when I tried to visit a trade show. Fortunately, the INS carries out pre-clearance at Dublin so I did not have to suffer the indignity of being clapped in irons. They just didn't let me on the plane. I have studied the requirements for the 'I' visa and one of them is that I must hold a press card. The only organisation in Ireland authorised to issue press cards is the NUJ, of which I was not, but now am, a member. So, in order to be admitted into the US, the US government requires that I be a member of a left-wing organisation that has been critical of US policy and could even be accused of being anti-American. Only in America.<p> One other point, however. A US journalist friend has speculated that the special requirement for journalists to have an 'I' visa is a sop to organised labour. The idea is to discourage European publications sending their own people to cover news and events and to hire American journalists to do it instead.</p> I too fell foul of the ‘I’ visa requirement last year when I tried to visit a trade show. Fortunately, the INS carries out pre-clearance at Dublin so I did not have to suffer the indignity of being clapped in irons. They just didn’t let me on the plane. I have studied the requirements for the ‘I’ visa and one of them is that I must hold a press card. The only organisation in Ireland authorised to issue press cards is the NUJ, of which I was not, but now am, a member. So, in order to be admitted into the US, the US government requires that I be a member of a left-wing organisation that has been critical of US policy and could even be accused of being anti-American. Only in America.

One other point, however. A US journalist friend has speculated that the special requirement for journalists to have an ‘I’ visa is a sop to organised labour. The idea is to discourage European publications sending their own people to cover news and events and to hire American journalists to do it instead.

]]> By: J http://alex.halavais.net/status-quo-ante/comment-page-1#comment-1177 J Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 /?p=732#comment-1177 I made some errors filling out the I-94W Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver Arrival/Departure Form so got to keep my botched up version this entry, and I did indeed notice that line - here it is: WARNING: You may not accept unauthorized employment; or attend school; or represent the foreign information media during your visit under this program. You are authorized to stay in the US for 90 days or less. (etc.) And yes, I wondered whether blogging counts as foreign information media, but given I've also signed WAIVER OF RIGHTS: I hereby waive any rights of review or appeal of an immigration officer's determination as to my admissability, or to contest, other than on the basis of an application for asylum, any action in deportation. -- I don't think my chances'd be that great. I'd rather assume blogs aren't foreign information media... I like this line in the article: "The irony is that it is only "countries like Iran" (for example, Cuba, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe) that have a visa requirement for journalists. It is unheard of in open societies, and, in spite of now being enforced in the US, is still so obscure that most journalists are not familiar with it." But you know, I want to be let in here again, so I'm doing this comment anonymously. Pitiful, isn't it? I made some errors filling out the I-94W Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver Arrival/Departure Form so got to keep my botched up version this entry, and I did indeed notice that line – here it is:

WARNING: You may not accept unauthorized employment; or attend school; or represent the foreign information media during your visit under this program. You are authorized to stay in the US for 90 days or less. (etc.)

And yes, I wondered whether blogging counts as foreign information media, but given I’ve also signed

WAIVER OF RIGHTS: I hereby waive any rights of review or appeal of an immigration officer’s determination as to my admissability, or to contest, other than on the basis of an application for asylum, any action in deportation.

– I don’t think my chances’d be that great. I’d rather assume blogs aren’t foreign information media…

I like this line in the article: “The irony is that it is only “countries like Iran” (for example, Cuba, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe) that have a visa requirement for journalists. It is unheard of in open societies, and, in spite of now being enforced in the US, is still so obscure that most journalists are not familiar with it.”

But you know, I want to be let in here again, so I’m doing this comment anonymously.

Pitiful, isn’t it?

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