#TTOT Round-Up: Visa & Immigration -

#TTOT Round-Up: Visa & Immigration

By Connie
September 20, 2011
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Every Tuesday it’s Travel Talk on Twitter! Follow the #TTOT hashtag to see what all the commotion and Tweets are about! There are two sessions to join, one at 9:30am GMT and the other at 9:30pm GMT.

Here’s the round-up of this week’s #TTOT:

Q1 via ae_carhire: Ever been stopped at the Airport Immigration? What happened?

directflights: Worked with a guy who bought a replica hand grenade cigarette lighter on holiday. He almost got shot at Dubai Airport
GFexplorers: To the amusement of my friends I was stopped at NZ immigration for taking a tent with me from OZ. They needed to check for bugs
ILoveMyTrips: I find when travelling with 4 screaming kids – no-one stops you at customs
AnisIbrahim: In India and in Myanmar. They saw my journalist visa and wanted to know why I was in their country
EverywhereTrip: I was denied entry into the nation of Kiribait because the ink on the visa bled off the page of my passport
AnthonyOFlynn: Once in new York- questions about black eye in the the visa photo!

Q2 via mezzarino: Most treasured visa in the passport and why?

SteveWBT: Turkmenistan, via the Caspian Sea ferry. Quite rare
jdeheij: My chinese visa in my previous passport. It took me 3 weeks and a fake plainticket to get it
LifesGreatAdv: I love the fact that I have a Pakistani one as it’s something a lot of people are wary of getting these days
worldswaiting: I am very fond of my triangular Zanzibar visa stamp!
Reserve123: My first one – England. It was weirdest feeling when he stamped it. It was the sound of uncertainty and adventure
sillyamerica: I love the one for Stewart, BC. We had to ask them to stamp it for us. It’s cute, and not many people enter Canada from there
LandLopers: Not a real visa but in Galapagos you can have a fun’stamp put in your passport One of the prettiest I have and always get comments

Q3 via himalfootsteps: What’s the funniest question you ever got at immigration?

AnisIbrahim: US visa app- I said I was visiting my boyfriend and the lady asked, “Have you actually met him, sweetie?”
mobilelawyer: My most recent Russian one: “Do you have any experience in specialized weapons training or manufacturing explosives?”
25travels: Have you ever smuggled reptiles or birds illegally?
emmaumiller: Don’t have anything funny, but they made me pull cash out of an ATM at Heathrow – they sure don’t like 1 way tickets
hjortur: I often get funny looks … Iceland? Is that a country?
roniweiss: When I was a kid, the question at the Canadian border: “Why are you here?” ‘Hockey.” “OK, you can go.”
anyaosk: US consul asked me what was my favorite type of ice cream, with a very serious face expression
sweetcarolinepb: Why did you continue to travel by yourself in South America after your family returned to the US? Me: It’s fun
qiranger: “Do Twinkies have meat in them?” From an Australian Immigration Officer.

Q4 via ae_carhire: Have you ever been refused a visa and been given the weirdest reason as to why?

travesseclub: Chinese border officials wouldn’t let us in carrying the Lonely Planet guide book – it lists Taiwan as a separate country
SaraKateTravel: My friends & I almost weren’t allowed in Slovakia because we didn’t have some sticker on car. $ worked though
milkayeanne: Got rejected 3 times when applying US visa after 9/11. Reason from the embassy: Nobody would fly to US at that time
SookeTravel: Refused entry because the people I was travelling with tried to bribe the border guard
idilika: Yes, at the French Consulate in Istanbul for arguing with them about the way they were treating headscarved people: like shit
thesarahbot: Was in India when they suddenly decided tourists can’t reenter too quickly after leaving

Q5 via crashpadder: Do you think it’s fair that the world is not open to travel by everyone?

whereisyvette: Fair? No. Can I understand why countries worry about migrants sneaking in? Yes
fourjandals: The problem is that illegals still scam the system while legals try to do it right and still fail sometimes
packurpassport: I think in an ideal world this would be amazing. Unfortunately we live in a world where some can’t be trusted/don’t have respect
roniweiss: Oh, boy. I wish I was here live to get into this. Of course it’s fair. We live in a world of countries and laws. Deal with it
littlegingerkid: Some places are being spoilt by unrestricted tourism. And clearly politics plays a part. I don’t like it, but I understand
claudiabia: No! I have 4 nieces that had their dreams of coming to visit US crushed by an official that denied their Visas
luxtrvlwrks: Travel opens minds about the world in ways that no other experience can. I wish entire process was easier for all

And there you have it, “Visa & Immigration”!

Next week’s #TTOT topic is “Group Travel.” Submit your questions HERE! Don’t forget to follow the #TTOT hashtag every Tuesday at 9:30am and 9:30pm GMT to chat about all things travel!

As always, a HUGE travel community thank you to our #TTOT hosts and organizers: traveldudes, roniweiss, toddwassel, traveldesigned, insidetravellab, WildJunket, tbloggersunite and mobilelawyer!

Have YOU got anything to add to the Visa & Immigration travel discussion?

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