Markus’ Blog

Following up on a recent post I have to say that this morning’s US immigration procedure at YVR was the toughest so far.

Not only did the officer ask me what kind of business this trip was about (company meetings), he wanted to know

• what excactly these meetings were about
• if I would actually work on any product or write any code while in the US
• if I had ever thought of moving to the US (the answer to that would be “Hell, no!”) or if I had ever applied for a visa
• why I needed to meet people face-to-face and why we wouldn’t just do phone conferences

I’m sure there were a few more things that I am forgetting right now, but I think these points describe the scenario pretty well.

While I completely understand that it’s their job to make sure that people coming into the country are not going to do anything illegal (if they were to admit it) and that they are paid to ask certain questions and that these questions are given to them by the Ministry for Homeland Security, there is a point when it starts becoming ridiculous.

If the company pays for me to fly to San Jose, rent a car, stay at a hotel, etc. then that sould probably indicate that no, a phone conference won’t quite cut it, right? Which company would go and pay for their employees to fly all over the place if the issues at hand could instead just be solved over the phone?

Yes, we do phone conferencing once a week, but every 3-4 months it just make sense to meet face-to-face.

And what’s all that “have you thought about moving to the US” all about? If I wanted to move to the states, I would just ask my company to apply for a greencard for me and move legally. Why assume that everybody is trying to screw the system? — What for? I don’t need to screw the system.

Oh well, I got through and that’s all that matters in the end.