Visa madness

[nwhyte]

A few weeks ago we published a report on the EU visa regime for the Balkans, arguing that it needs to be liberalised and that the EU's policies are deeply counter-productive. It's had a number of very positive spin-offs, including contact with a Novi Sad NGO who have been collecting the most insane examples of EU bureaucracy in action for honest

Comments

[sinclair_furie]

I simply refused to provide a medical certificate, worth 120 euros, that I, a 57 year old male, was not pregnant.
GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Ok, I am so, very, very angry right now. And ashamed, for that matter. Bureaucratic nonsense tends to do that to me. Alas.

[daveon]

People also get ripped off on the Schengen thing depending on which Schengen country you apply for. Before my wife got her UK passport we had to apply for Visa's to go anywhere which was a nightmare. Some countries gave an automatic 6 month visa, others 90, I think one gave 30 days.

At least the US gave her an automatic 10 year visa.

[nwhyte]

Balkan officials tell me that they frequently get only 48-hour visas for three days' worth of meetings in Brussels...

[daveon]

M had a problem with US immigration once where they gave her the exact number of days of her ticket when we came in. The problem was we had to change our plans and then our company had to pay a lawyer to change the dates. I was worried the next time we went to the US that the change had not been actioned, but it seemed to have been.

[annafdd]

Not to me, though. To me, a mere Italian, they will only issue a grudging 3-months visa ON THE VISA WAIVER programme. Which means I'm wavering away most of my rights as a foreign national. I've tried getting a proper visa, and failed, mostly because it turned up less than a week before I was due to leave (for Clarion) that I needed a 10 cm x 10 cm photo of myself on a white background showing my left ear, and therefore should reapply, at which point I gave up.

I never got back my 100 dollar fee, either.

[annafdd]

This is not nonsense, you know. It's worse. Some countries grant citizenship to any baby born in their territory. Obviously this is to ensure that none of those slimy Balkan people travel to rich Europe for the express purpose of delivering their babies there. Bah.

EU visa regime and Balkans

[anonymous]

I do not know why people are making a big deal of EU visas. An American proverb says that good fences make good neighbors. EU visa regime is designed to prevent people of traveling and creating troubles. It is supposed to create good neighbors out of primitive people who inhabit western Balkans and it is very successful in it.

On the other hand EU is very bad neighbor. The real problem is that the countries like Serbia have lost their ability to enforce their sovereignty on their territories and are victims of EU imperialistic policies. The focus of Serbian people should be development of military deterrent in the form of weapons of mass destruction that will prevent repeat of EU aggressions. For all practical purposes Serbian border should be hermetically sealed for EU citizens in order to ensure security of Serbian people. Life of a single Serbian child is million times more valuable then the right of EU salvagers to travel!