Originally Posted by
leandrorar
MAD T1 receives the cheapest airlines. They rutinrlly reject passengers and make them wait in Hell until the airline finds a spot to kick them back.
Granted, they probably spot some people trying to immigrate illegaly, but I would bet most of them are just on vacations.
If you are not caucasian, you are almost always require to show more than 500 euros (for ten days, then 50 more per day), pre-paid accomodations, return ticket and anything probing purpose of travel. Credit cards are not valid, even with bank statements unless stamped by the bank.
That said, I never had any problems at MAD. I'm whity and have a lot of stamps in my passport.
Once been questioned at AMS and requested for proof of registration to a trade show until the officer opened my passport and saw the number of stamps. US visa also helps to aviod questions.
My SO is a blond, white Brazilean (she's a model) (i'm very lucky). When arriving at London she was questioned for about 30 minutes with no secondary inspection. She showed she was flying AF business class, she had hotel reservations, my trade show registration, my itinerary (i was arriving from a different city 2 hours later). They asked a lot of questions including how where we met for the first time,how long have we been dating for and many other questions that should be answered "it's non of your business".
Brasil is currently applying very strong entry requirements for spanish people as retaliation for the hard time they receive when entering Spain. Well eserved in my opinion.
Well, it really is true that some of these schengen countries are indeed used by people for entering and then overstaying and trying to get their residency papers, etc. Spain,Portugal and Italy have this problem from 3rd world nationals, so its only fitting that they would be harsh @ their airports. Even the UK is facing this problem, there is taxpayer pressure on the govts to keep out non-genuine visitors.
Being Brazilian gives you no right to criticize the UK. Each country is free to maintain whatever procedures it sees fit to secure its borders. If you think EU is bad, try going to the USA or Canada.
I would advise against showing any attitude or rude remarks to immigration officials specially if you're a visitor. Such attitude and remarks can get you delayed, or even denied entry to that country, or deportation. Immigration officials have the right to examine all visitors who are seeking entry to the country. It happens everywhere. If you are a visitor you should expect to be questioned and you must generally provide the answers. Otherwise, be prepared to face the consequences. The only country you have a right to enter is your country of birth/nationality/passport.
I suspect the Dutch are getting stringent, could be due to high volume of suspected illegals trying to enter via AMS. All 3rd world passports receive extra scrutiny, it is to be expected. These days even the American and Canadian passports are checked extensively by many UK & EU border control officials. Brazil is still way down on the list, lol.