Canadian Girlfriend got seriously hassled before entering US this time
Jan 13, 2011, 2:30 am
#166
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
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Regarding the NEXUS advice, it is excellent advice, and I have one, although it's not for everyone. My fiance is unable to reconstruct her multi-year residential and employment information as required-- she has worked and lived in too many places, and at times not worked, and the form doesn't allow gaps (!), and she's unwilling to lie as always, so she is an example of someone who can't qualify for a NEXUS card.
Jan 13, 2011, 2:48 am
#167
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Doha, Qatar
Programs: Air Canada Aeroplan, Lufthansa Miles & More, Flying Blue, Hyatt Gold Passport
Posts: 1,894
Didn't notice the engagement part. Congrats.
1) I disagree that enrolling in "NEXUS" (as you put it) is a complete surrender of privacy rights. Governments do background checks all the time, not under the scope of any program. Just look at all the stories of the Canadians pulling up 15 year old DUIs to extract a "rehabilitation" fee from unwitting Yanks.
2) I had to live scan my fingerprints years ago. First, so I could have a summer job on my dad's car dealership, then so I could obtain the license to practice in my profession. In fact, I found out that the Canadians had access to my fingerprints (or at least that I had fingerprints taken) back in 2005, before I had even considered NEXUS.
3) In many ways, I surrender less of my privacy rights than you or someone else who doesn't have NEXUS or GE does, as I am far less likely to have my belongings searched at the border. I got thanked for paying duty last week on an overage because the CBP agent admitted that they would almost never check a GE person for such a thing. Indeed, one of the biggest reasons for getting GE was to avoid the disgusting behavior of so many bigoted, jingoistic CBP agents.
So yeah. Pick another fight.
1) I disagree that enrolling in "NEXUS" (as you put it) is a complete surrender of privacy rights. Governments do background checks all the time, not under the scope of any program. Just look at all the stories of the Canadians pulling up 15 year old DUIs to extract a "rehabilitation" fee from unwitting Yanks.
2) I had to live scan my fingerprints years ago. First, so I could have a summer job on my dad's car dealership, then so I could obtain the license to practice in my profession. In fact, I found out that the Canadians had access to my fingerprints (or at least that I had fingerprints taken) back in 2005, before I had even considered NEXUS.
3) In many ways, I surrender less of my privacy rights than you or someone else who doesn't have NEXUS or GE does, as I am far less likely to have my belongings searched at the border. I got thanked for paying duty last week on an overage because the CBP agent admitted that they would almost never check a GE person for such a thing. Indeed, one of the biggest reasons for getting GE was to avoid the disgusting behavior of so many bigoted, jingoistic CBP agents.
So yeah. Pick another fight.
Jan 13, 2011, 5:26 pm
#168
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Toronto, NYC, somewhere on planet Earth
Programs: UA 1K, AA ExPlat, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 8,289
As for Nexus, for anyone who travels transborder, it is a very handy card to have. Bypass the queues and long wait, in particular the ones for entering the US. As a governmental agency, the information Nexus had on me was already in the system, including a match of my fingerprints.
Jan 13, 2011, 11:07 pm
#169
Join Date: May 2006
Location: MYF/CMA/SAN/YYZ/YKF
Programs: COdbaUA 1K MM, AA EXP, Bonbon Gold, GHA Titanium, Hertz PC, NEXUS and GE
Posts: 5,839
No "job" requires me to do that. My license to practice law required fingerprints and likely involved a credit check as part of a larger background check.
Jan 14, 2011, 12:26 am
#170
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Doha, Qatar
Programs: Air Canada Aeroplan, Lufthansa Miles & More, Flying Blue, Hyatt Gold Passport
Posts: 1,894
Whether its the employer, the licensing authority, or whatever, nobody gets to do a "background check" on me. I'll move to Argentina and raise cattle for the rest of my life before I'll let that happen. Or maybe go to work for Julian Assange.
Jan 14, 2011, 12:33 am
#171
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: SJC, SFO, YYC
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Posts: 13,437
BTW, why do you present your LPR card to the CBSA?
Jan 14, 2011, 12:08 pm
#172
Join Date: May 2006
Location: MYF/CMA/SAN/YYZ/YKF
Programs: COdbaUA 1K MM, AA EXP, Bonbon Gold, GHA Titanium, Hertz PC, NEXUS and GE
Posts: 5,839
Congrats. I applaud Ms. Assange's efforts to increase transparency in government, but he does need to employ lawyers to fight for his right to do so.
Jan 14, 2011, 5:31 pm
#173
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Port Moody, BC
Posts: 484
I took a year off work after being RIFed from a job, and I marked that timeframe on my NEXUS application as being unemployed; I was prepared to explain (a generous severance package, and careful use of same, allowed me to take it easy before heading back to the daily grind), but it never even came up in the interviews.