Whenever I mention the difficulties I have getting into the USA some of my American friends make a great show of apologizing for the awfulness of their country. That’s very kind of them, but in all honesty I should point out that most wealthy countries are pretty bad. As evidence if this I present an article from today’s Guardian from which I learn that thousands of foreign students who have been awarded places at UK universities are unable to start their courses because they can’t get visas.
In this particular case the problem appears to be not xenophobia — the kids in question are entitled to visas even under the new, tougher regulations — but our government’s habit of creating massive new regulatory systems without having any idea how those systems will be administered or funded. However, that’s no consolation to the poor kids missing out on their college courses.
I came to Malaysia as a foreign wife 40 years ago – and because we left in the middle for 8 years to live elsewhere, they won’t give me PR now. Guess I am an undesirable alien. Fortunately, for a yearly price, they do allow me to stay on a social visit non-working pass.
This sort of nonsense happens everywhere.
Glenda:
Sympathy.
As a Brit married to an American my poor husband spends half his life apologising for the awfulness of his country. Have you ever tried answering ‘yes’ to the “are you at present or have you ever been a serial killer?” question for a laugh?…..I wouldn’t recommend it…no bloody sense of humour 😉
(meant to comment on this yesterday when you posted it)… You’re right – there’s a whole colonialist class thing that goes on with visas that’s common to the UK, US, Canada, other places in W. Europe – and think of what D&K went through in NZ! I think what’s so reprehensible about the form it takes here in the good ol’ US of A is that the rules are so biased towards monogamous married upper-class het people (or at least those who appear that way).
If I think about it, though, it looks to me like even the case you’re talking about with the students and the expensive new regulatory bodies *does* boil down to xenophobia. “Protect thine borders at all costs,” drones the giant stone devil on our governments’ post-9/11 shoulders, and they enact these new restrictions without thinking the whole thing through. Harrumph.
Billie:
Right. Immigration rules are very much tailored towards people who live in “standard” heterosexual families. That’s true all over the world.
And the new UK regulations are a result of the current climate of xenophobia, but the delays are just plain government incompetence.