Borders

23 June 2023, 09:50

lavaca

Borders

Something occurred to me while I was spending an hour of my time (that I will never get back) filling out my visa application to Tanzania. They wanted to know, among other things, the entry date for the last time I visited Tanzania. I could answer that based on the stamps on my passport. They wanted the visa number for my last visit. Now in years past I could answer that because my visa is pasted into my passport, but since COVID, visas are electronic so I have no record of my visa number when I went during the pandemic. They want to know the address of where I'm staying. What is the address of a Game Reserve?

And when I get there, they will take my fingerprints. All 10. They already have them many times over. But they do it.

My point to all this is that it's a whole lot harder to get into Tanzania than it is to get into the USA, where you can just walk across the border, and no one cares where you go or where you are going to stay. And if you don't have a place to stay, we'll find you one and pay for it.

And we wonder why this country is going to hell in a handbasket.

23 June 2023, 10:09

Norman Conquest

You got that right, Brother! Hell, I have problems every year at property tax time because the Williamson/ Travis line runs through my property + every year those idiots can't find their own line.

23 June 2023, 10:23

Saeed

quote:
Originally posted by lavaca:
Something occurred to me while I was spending an hour of my time (that I will never get back) filling out my visa application to Tanzania. They wanted to know, among other things, the entry date for the last time I visited Tanzania. I could answer that based on the stamps on my passport. They wanted the visa number for my last visit. Now in years past I could answer that because my visa is pasted into my passport, but since COVID, visas are electronic so I have no record of my visa number when I went during the pandemic. They want to know the address of where I'm staying. What is the address of a Game Reserve?

And when I get there, they will take my fingerprints. All 10. They already have them many times over. But they do it.

My point to all this is that it's a whole lot harder to get into Tanzania than it is to get into the USA, where you can just walk across the border, and no one cares where you go or where you are going to stay. And if you don't have a place to stay, we'll find you one and pay for it.

And we wonder why this country is going to hell in a handbasket.

Actually, that is not the case.

Both the US and Europe, make it almost impossible for certain nationalities to get a visa.

But, come in as in ILLEGAL immigrant, and they provide you with everything free of charge!

24 June 2023, 02:02

crbutler

Look at how they treat most African nationals with the visa process.

Generally the problem is for folks who are trying to follow the rules…

I just went through customs at OHare about 2 hours ago.

My global entry had no dings, and the guys were saying that I was free to go… after Larry’s issues, I wasn’t willing to risk it so I asked one of the agents “are you sure… I have guns, and my boots were exposed to animals with known bovine diseases… and all the sudden I needed to see multiple guys.

They were all nice and professional, but it still added time that I could have just walked past.

Trying to follow the rules can be a real PITA.

24 June 2023, 04:21

Michael Robinson

When filling out such forms, I have to push certain memories and knee-jerk reactions out of my head.

Like my memory of and sympathy for and like-minded reaction with the guy who mailed his tax return to the IRS along with a condom, and a note that read, “Next time you f&ck me, use this.”

I believe he got into some trouble.

24 June 2023, 06:47

Use Enough Gun

quote:
My global entry had no dings, and the guys were saying that I was free to go… after Larry’s issues, I wasn’t willing to risk it so I asked one of the agents “are you sure… I have guns, and my boots were exposed to animals with known bovine diseases… and all the sudden I needed to see multiple guys.

They were all nice and professional, but it still added time that I could have just walked past.

Trying to follow the rules can be a real PITA.

Right move in my book. Better safe than sorry later.

27 June 2023, 08:24

lavaca

I wonder how it goes for "illegal" immigrants into Tanzania. Except for the Masai. They seem to be above the law there.

27 June 2023, 09:49

Saeed

Years ago we landed at Dar for our annual hunt.

We had to fill in arrival cards.

An American friend asked what should he put down as his address.

I had already written

Under the Boabab tree by the Kilimbairo River.

He asked fi I was joking.

I wasn't and they accepted it.