US imposes 72 hour pre-reg for Visa waiver travellers

French

As the US knobheads are now buddy buddy with the French again they have went with ETSA (Electronic Travel Schema Authorization) done with a french accent.

Viva la France

I really Feel Sorry For Them

I feel sorry for them - I'd hate to live in a coutry with so much fear and dis-trust of the outside world it must be horrible.

At this rate they'll end up like Burma or China in a few years.

The answer to this is...

is in our own hands.

They (or at least their government &/or it's agencies) don't want us there.

Let's not go there.

A few weeks without tourist dollars flooding in should focus their attention nicely.

Just a...

few more of these stupid regulations and no one will want to fly to the US. Then we can close their boarders and stop the arrogant buggers from coming out.

ETA is already in use....

by Australia and they don't seem to care about the association with a terrorist organisation :-) suppose the US thinks its the first with this idea again then!

What's the bet...?

That if UK/EU turned the tables and said any US visitors had to pass us all their details a few days in advance - to stop the terrorists of course - that it would somehow be "anti-competitive"?

Assholes. GF has been banging on about going to LA next year, but it sure ain't happening with all the BS rings you gotta jump thru.

ESTA?

Europeans Shouldn't Travel to America?

Everyone Suspected of Terrorist Affiliation?

Expected Sources of Terrorist Activity?

or perhaps just

...

...

Electronic Scheme for Travel Authorization?

Moon on a stick?

Hmm this is getting silly, we have no control over our own borders, but must conform to EU rules. Perhaps the EU should impose the same criteria on US travellers to the EU, if they bring a laptop, we should copy the harddrive, get their personal details 72 hrs in advance, fingerprints & DNA on arrival. Ask them silly questions, about moral turpitude, ask if they ever donated to NORAID etc, and setup our own Guantanamo in the Falkland islands for any US citizen we don't like the look of!

All for Justin Case you understand, we won't look for commercial advantage in any of the data oh no.......... it's a security thing!

ETA is a terrorist group.... is it?

So is the IRA but they still helped to fund them for decades.

Besides the US has more "home grown" nutters with a gun than all Europe put together. Including the training camps and financing for them.

And this is a problem because......?

They can damned well introduce what they like, I'll not be setting foot in the dump again anyhow......

Can someone tell the Septics that they don't need to keep coming up with these "we're gonna make it dang near impossible for you commy bastards to enter our glorious country" measures, as most non-yanks are now so fed up with this crap that we don't want to bother any more anyway!!!

The important question is, when are the rest of our nations going to have the balls to insist that Americans go through the same crap when THEY travel abroad?

Those entry cards - the truth revealed

"Previously, the consensus was that the little paper entry cards you filled out on arrival in the US were sent to a physical warehouse and consigned to oblivion."

It is a widely believed fact that those cards are mashed down, mixed with water, and used to repair the scorch marks that keep appearing on the box containing the Ark of the Covenant.

I thought everyone knew that?

Mines the one with the snakes - why did it have to be snakes - in the pockets.

Steven R

Easy solution

Don't go.

Tell the folks you *were* going to met in the US why you wont go, and hold the whole thing over video link/Skype/etc.

Better for your carbon foot print too...

electronic travel authorisation *scheme*

Nope, no idea where that rogue S comes from either...

Mines the one trapped in the X Ray machine

That's nice...

What about our "special relationship" with our friends the US government? Don't our friends the US trust us anymore? Probably nothing personal. they simply don't anyone anymore!

Great idea...

...Let's impose the same on any US travellers to the EU, so that they too can be safe.

Anonymous, as I might want to go to the US soon.

Another reason...

... Not to visit the USA!

Why don't they just build a big wall around the country and save us all the bother?

No skin off my nose

Just one more reason the avoid the place. all the crap you have to go through just to take your kids to Florida? No thanks.

What's the betting that soon they will have a huge tourism drive as the numbers are (inexplicably to Washington) down?

Land of the free*

*subject to change, mangle or otherwise be open to abuse by those in power.

I'm pretty sure the S stands for..

SECURE! Anon post because you can't be too SECURE these days.

visa non-waiver?

So the 'merkins are allowing brits to travel to the USA without a visa, provided they apply in advance for a document that allows them entry. Don't most countries call that a 'visa' ?

Remind me, is this to stop terrorists or is it 'for the children' - I lose track of which justifications are used where these days.

Canada

As if we needed one, here's our final excuse to avoid the USA and go to Canada instead. Everything you want from North America, without the drawbacks.

@ Jim Booth - Tourism Drive

You mean you've not seen the "inspiring" (*koff*) adverts to visit California, starring your favourite cybernetic organism? I nearly went, just out of sheer terror.

The Hunt for Red October

Capt. Vasili Borodin: I will live in Montana. And I will marry a round American woman and raise rabbits, and she will cook them for me. And I will have a pickup truck... maybe even a "recreational vehicle." And drive from state to state. Do they let you do that?

Captain Ramius: I suppose.

Capt. Vasili Borodin: No papers?

Captain Ramius: No papers, state to state.

Capt. Vasili Borodin: Well then, in winter I will live in... Arizona. Actually, I think I will need two wives.

Captain Ramius: Oh, at least.

It took only 18 years for that quote to change from funny to sad.

Vindicated

I made the mistake of travelling on a plane that had a refuelling stop in the USA, so had the "privilige" of having my (at that time two) fingerprints taken by border guards wearing Black shirts, who told me that it was all for my own protection! At that point I concluded I was never go back to that place again. Shame, because the people seem to be quite friendly, its just the stinking government that they choose for themselves.

So when they started taking all ten finger I felt completely vindicated. And now, heartily relieved that I will never need to worry about them selling the information to anyone else, because there isn't much of mine amongst it.

One day it will get better, but not in my lifetime.

Were all Crims

Do we have to take a board and get photographed by homeland security against the wall in our Transformers t shirts?

(providing you don't fly with British Airways from Heathrow)

Don't grow a beard or look shifty!

Re Aussie ETA

I don't think Oz is so paranoid about Terrorists, but you just try to get into the country with mud on your boots!!

I like the Visa scheme they have in Turkey. Fly into Istanbul airport, pay £10, have the nice man stick a visa into you passport and stamp it no questions asked.

You may be a terrorist but a slightly poorer terrorist, Capitalism at it's best.

Let them rot

First of all a few things to note.

@ first comment-Kevin

This is the way of the world. Now, dont blame others for coming to your country and taking your job, the simple fact here is that they can only take your job if you are worthless and if you are complaining about it the chances are that you are just that. Be good at what you do and you will have a job no matter what.

As for the other people saying we should do the same to americans, i only can wonder why. At this time you dont wanna make it hard for americans to come to europe. On the contrary you wanna make it easy. Let them all come here and let america rot. The ones who will manage to come to europe will not be useless rednecks for the most part. We will acquire their brain power and their workforce and leave america with inbreds. Why would you want to prevent that?

Overreaction maybe?

And I’m not talking about the US measures; I’m talking about most of the posters here. Virtually everyone buys their ticket more than three days in advance, so for most it surely isn’t a problem.

So you have to give your name, passport number and place you’re staying in the US on a form that takes a couple of minutes to fill out.

Sure, so many hoops to go through! Obviously a much greater effort than lugging the kids around Disneyworld for two weeks would have been.

So much anti-US feeling might just breed a little paranoia in Homeland Security.

No travel

Go Notrth to Canada, nice people there, or go South to Cuba, Customs are less up there own backsides and far less paraniod.

@ Stephen Cole et al - RECIPROCITY

We all keep banging on about how the Mercans should be treated the same as they treat others: I know a place where they do!

Brazil. You got to love their immigration policy....

When the US put the visa fees up.... so did Brazil (Exactly the same fee!)

When the US started to fingerprint non-US visitors, Brazil started fingerprinting... US Citizens.

Nothing like sailing through the queue (I'm a Brit, married to a Brazilian), having filled out the form my tourists visa, no cost, stress or hassle. Speak a little Portuguese and they're even nicer to you.

Meanwhile... the Americans 'guests' have to pay through the nose to be treated like criminals on arrival.... sound familiar? (They didn't look happy)

Why can't my country have some balls (like Brazil) and treat US citizens the way the US treats my fellow countrymen? Naa. Better roll out the red carpet - they're obviously above all that... of course terrorists only come from outside the US.

Mine's the anonymous coat, cos you never know where the black CIA helicopters will turn up.

BTW Brazil is beautiful. Everyone should visit at least once... and no fingerprinting (unless you're from the USA.... ha ha)!!

Ohh b....

Welcome to my Nighmare. The GF not only wants to go to the US, but he's from the US, so the likleyhood of me having to once again be fingerprinted / scanned / probed and, more importantly, treated like I've got a very large chunk of C4 up my arse every time I fly into Newark is great.

How did that saying go, treat people like children and they'll act like children? Nice affect on the world this will be having, treating everyone like terrorists.

The business points are right also, we travel at short notice for work so we'll just be registering most of our company's employees details in January for some serious data-mining.

This does lead to one story of greatness from US Border Control however. When travelling to see the GF...

Border Control :: So is the trip for business?

Me : No, I'm going to visit the GF

BC : She lives here then?

Me : Yes

BC : You are gona take care of business as well then!

Fantastic. Paris because she always requests the the body search

@ Ross

Quite right. Nobody would ever be so nasty as to sign Bobby Tables up on their database.