My wife's sister decided to visit us this week.
By any stretch of the imagination, she is a bright lady. She teaches Biology at a university in Bangkok, Thailand, and what she does not know about the subject is probably not worth knowing.
It is her first visit to Europe. And if you want an assessment of the hassle that she needed to spend seven days here ....
Apart from getting a visa, all her travel documents translated usw and all the other travel related details, she also needed an invitation letter from me, complete with telephone number and email address. The fear is, I think, that she would be brought into the country for illicit purposes (prostitution or working in an illegal labour sweat shop). Well maybe not the country - the ramifications of the Schengen Agreement being that once in the zone, she could go to any other member state, where the rules may not be as strict as in Germany.
Again, all well and good. Gifted scientist she may be, languages are sadly not her forte (no German, not much English). So when she found herself at the airport here and had to spend 10 minutes being grilled by sceptical immigration offices .... OK, imagine the problem.
It is not just Germany though. The UK is not a member of the Schengen Agreement. When I want to go to the UK with my wife, she needs a visa, even though she is a permanent resident of Germany with all the appropriate documentation. We could, for the princely sum of €844, get a 10-year visa for her. As we reached our tenth wedding anniversary last week and had made a grand total of two visits to the UK (involving a grand total of 6 days) during those ten years, it has never struck me as worth it.
So it is normally for us a 6-month visa to cover a short visit. The first time we filled out all the documentation, transferred the appropriate sum of money, and a couple of weeks later got the visa by mail.
The second time though was indicative of the sort of stupidity that had taken over (and I cannot swear that this still applies, but I would not be surprised if it does). Rather than doing this by mail, you have to turn up in person at the visa office of the British Consulate in Düsseldorf, and be subjected to a detailed personal interview - EVEN IF YOU HAVE BEEN AWARDED A VISA FOR A PREVIOUS VISIT!.
Apart from the cost of the visa, you are stuck with your own transport costs to and from Düsseldorf. Even given the excellent direct railway service, you do not get much change out of €100, and imagine if you had to make the journey from the farthest corner of Bavaria or Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. All extra costs.
I read a comment from an obvious supporter of the BNP on one website regularly where the writer implied that thousands of illegal immigrants are pouring into the UK. Through the Channel Tunnel? In which case the police are doing an extraordinarily bad job! Given what I have seen of visa procedures here, getting into the UK is extraordinarily difficult for anyone from outside the EU! So much for illegal immigants flooding in, and other worthless propaganda!
Meanwhile let us put the boot on the other foot. Assume you are a British or German sleazeball who wants to hang around the sleazy bars in Bangkok (7 streets in a city of 6 million people, don't overestimate the importance of this "industry") or Pattaya. You need a visa? Of course not - you get 28 days unlimited access. It also applies to normal tourists, of course, and business people and teachers in universities, wharrever.
Why are the Thais so lenient? Why do they not apply the same draconian laws that the European powers apply to them? Yes, tourism is vital, but surely that also applies in Europe?
As "Third World" countries go, Thailand is quite advanced - it is way ahead of its unfortunate neighbours like Burma and Cambodia. I am surprised that there has not been more of an issue made over how its nationals are treated when they go abroad. The inconsistent double-standard currently applying definitely needs revisiting, and quickly!
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