Not that this is gonna help you now...but I *always* ask the Visa
Network folks for advice when filling out a visa form (for any
country). They've seen it all, and they've seen it more recently
than I have. They know for instance not to refer to any specific
conference when applying for an Indian visa because the rubber-
stampers will focus on those dates and not on your request for a
longer interval. They might also have known about the Journalist /
Writer issue.
In the meantime...hope your appeal works. Have you tried giving it
up to the Goddess of Parking (we call her Gladys in my family). She
helps with job and apartment searches in addition to parking in SF,
so maybe also visas?
Danese
On Feb 26, 2008, at 12:40 PM, Charles Haynes wrote:
On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 12:26 PM, Badri Natarajan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
subversive sweetie a long term visa. They seemed concerned that she
should not write about India and sell it for some reason. I know
that
there are third world dictatorships lacking a free press that are
anxious to control access by foreign journalists, but India?
Err..you mean the same way the USA controls access by foreign
journalists
and makes them get special visas (even those who can otherwise
enter with
visa waivers)?
Tu quoque? The USA is certainly no paragon of visa issuing rectitude,
but I don't understand what rationale there might be for the
restrictions. Is it just tit-for-tat? I can respect that, I admire the
Brazilians for requiring only Americans to get fingerprinted to enter
Brazil.
Eg:
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/jun/05/usa.weekend7>
FWIW, I think she'll probably get a 10 year visa (if not now,
next time
around, when you will presumably not put "writer" under
occupation). It's
just the govt's tendency to control things that is popping up - I
don't
think it is part of any grand design..
Oh, and welcome to the world of needing visas and being subject
to the
whims of immigration authorities..there's a lot of Indians with
experience
of the vagaries of INS visa policy who will sympathize with the
experience..
Some time over beers let me tell you my adventures baiting the US
Border Patrol while living in San Diego. I'm no fan of US immigration
policy...
-- Charles
