My Horrible Experience in Germany....

W

wantmygcnow

Volunteer Moderator
Ok where do I start? The trip started with a nightmare. The stupid delta flight from Cincinati to Frankfurt got delayed an hour and then they would not let me board because "per their computer, I need a visa on the travel document." I showed them the letter from the embassy and even the printout from their webpage...They would not listen to me...I was like look at my travel document, it has entry/exit stamps, i have been there before without a visa. But nooooooooo. They were like we cant let you board.

According to them "our computer is more up to date than some website"...and I was like its the EMBASSY'S website damnit!!! not some website.

So finally I had an idea and I went to United's counter and explained them. They looked in the computer and said I dont need a visa. They talked to the delta's supervisor(a redneck) and finally I boarded.

When we landed in Germany. The German Police Control said that I cannot enter their country since my passport wasn't valid 4 months after I depart. It is valid till August 24, 2006 and I was leaving on May 26th. If you do the math.it was valid exactly 90 days. Since i was going to Switzerland and had a visa on it, the officer told me to rebook my flight to switzerland for the same day.

But the problem was my Swiss visa was valid from May 27th so I didn't know if I could enter 2 days before its validity. I had no choice and I took a flight from Frankfurt to Zurich and luckily the officer didn't ask much and let me in.

I stayed in Switzerland for almost 12 days and returned yesterday through JFK where I was asked where I went and If I had gone back to COP.

IF you do decide to go to germany, dont go during World Cup. They are paranoid over there. I have travelled so many times with as little as 2 months valid on my passport and had no trouble..this time I had so much trouble...
 
wantmygcnow said:
Ok where do I start? The trip started with a nightmare. The stupid delta flight from Cincinati to Frankfurt got delayed an hour and then they would not let me board because "per their computer, I need a visa on the travel document." I showed them the letter from the embassy and even the printout from their webpage...They would not listen to me...I was like look at my travel document, it has entry/exit stamps, i have been there before without a visa. But nooooooooo. They were like we cant let you board.

According to them "our computer is more up to date than some website"...and I was like its the EMBASSY'S website damnit!!! not some website.

So finally I had an idea and I went to United's counter and explained them. They looked in the computer and said I dont need a visa. They talked to the delta's supervisor(a redneck) and finally I boarded.

When we landed in Germany. The German Police Control said that I cannot enter their country since my passport wasn't valid 4 months after I depart. It is valid till August 24, 2006 and I was leaving on May 26th. If you do the math.it was valid exactly 90 days. Since i was going to Switzerland and had a visa on it, the officer told me to rebook my flight to switzerland for the same day.

But the problem was my Swiss visa was valid from May 27th so I didn't know if I could enter 2 days before its validity. I had no choice and I took a flight from Frankfurt to Zurich and luckily the officer didn't ask much and let me in.

I stayed in Switzerland for almost 12 days and returned yesterday through JFK where I was asked where I went and If I had gone back to COP.

IF you do decide to go to germany, dont go during World Cup. They are paranoid over there. I have travelled so many times with as little as 2 months valid on my passport and had no trouble..this time I had so much trouble...
Click to expand...

Wow what a nightmare. So basically you skipped your tript to Germany right? :eek:
 
Lazerthegreat said:
Wow what a nightmare. So basically you skipped your tript to Germany right? :eek:
Click to expand...

Lazer,

This trip was to go to Switzerland but stay 2 days in Germany. So when they didnt' let me enter, I had to spend another 200 bucks to buy 2 tickets from Frankfurt to Switzerland on the same day. The tickets I had bought for the 27th of May from Frankfurt to Switzerland went to waste. So yes i skipped trip to germany. Wasted 300 bucks on tickets and hotels I had booked & paid already.

IKAKO,

I usually buy from www.cheaptickets.com

And the question about COP etc is standard at JFK I think. Many have reported the same. This officer was a vietnamese individual and they always seem to give trouble.

This was the worst trip from start to finish.
 
wantmygcnow
I would hate to gloat at your extremely unpleasant experience, but that's a beauty of being an asylee. Remember? "Better being a dog than an asylee" and what happened to you is just another proof that it's, unfortunately, true. :(
 
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Morning said:
wantmygcnow
I would hate to gloat at your extremely unpleasant experience, but that's a beauty of being an asylee. Remember? "Better being a dog than an asylee" and what happened to you is just another proof that it's, unfortunately, true. :(
Click to expand...

Well true. But I think the fact of the matter is I never remember as much security as I did in Germany. Due to the world cup ofcourse. I have travelled so many times to Germany & never had that problem before. Usually, they look at your passport and let you go but this time they were asking everyone questions as to why they wanted entry...

Well what can you do? Nothing. Just grin and bare it...until I get the privilege to become a U.S Citizen.

What pisses me off is that we even get treated bad at home..The immigration officer shouldn't have any business asking if i have been to my COP.
 
wantmygcnow said:
Ok where do I start? The trip started with a nightmare. The stupid delta flight from Cincinati to Frankfurt got delayed an hour and then they would not let me board because "per their computer, I need a visa on the travel document." I showed them the letter from the embassy and even the printout from their webpage...They would not listen to me...I was like look at my travel document, it has entry/exit stamps, i have been there before without a visa. But nooooooooo. They were like we cant let you board.

According to them "our computer is more up to date than some website"...and I was like its the EMBASSY'S website damnit!!! not some website.

So finally I had an idea and I went to United's counter and explained them. They looked in the computer and said I dont need a visa. They talked to the delta's supervisor(a redneck) and finally I boarded.

When we landed in Germany. The German Police Control said that I cannot enter their country since my passport wasn't valid 4 months after I depart. It is valid till August 24, 2006 and I was leaving on May 26th. If you do the math.it was valid exactly 90 days. Since i was going to Switzerland and had a visa on it, the officer told me to rebook my flight to switzerland for the same day.

But the problem was my Swiss visa was valid from May 27th so I didn't know if I could enter 2 days before its validity. I had no choice and I took a flight from Frankfurt to Zurich and luckily the officer didn't ask much and let me in.

I stayed in Switzerland for almost 12 days and returned yesterday through JFK where I was asked where I went and If I had gone back to COP.

IF you do decide to go to germany, dont go during World Cup. They are paranoid over there. I have travelled so many times with as little as 2 months valid on my passport and had no trouble..this time I had so much trouble...
Click to expand...

Oh man! It's such a co-incident! I am in the process of making decision whether to go to Germany or to Switzerland at the end of summer or in early fall. I am glad I read your post. I was going to use my national passport if my GC would be approved by that time or to renew my RTD, but now I am pretty sure I will go to Zurich. ;)
How was your trip to Switzerland?Did you go to The Alps?
 
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wantmygcnow said:
Well true. But I think the fact of the matter is I never remember as much security as I did in Germany. Due to the world cup ofcourse. I have travelled so many times to Germany & never had that problem before. Usually, they look at your passport and let you go but this time they were asking everyone questions as to why they wanted entry...

Well what can you do? Nothing. Just grin and bare it...until I get the privilege to become a U.S Citizen.

What pisses me off is that we even get treated bad at home..The immigration officer shouldn't have any business asking if i have been to my COP.
Click to expand...


I had a Q&A session with IO at JFK when I came back from Turkey 2 weeks ago. Same stupid questions. And by the way I flew by DELTA and I wll never use that airline again. Advise to others: DO NOT USE DELTA.
 
ayyubov said:
I had a Q&A session with IO at JFK when I came back from Turkey 2 weeks ago. Same stupid questions. And by the way I flew by DELTA and I wll never use that airline again. Advise to others: DO NOT USE DELTA.
Click to expand...

Did you use your National Passport for travelling? Have you been asked to go to another room as usual or since you have your GC in hands you don't need to go to secondary inspection room anymore?
 
Minsk said:
Did you use your National Passport for travelling? Have you been asked to go to another room as usual or since you have your GC in hands you don't need to go to secondary inspection room anymore?
Click to expand...


No I used RTD and never been asked to go to another room but was extensively questioned bi IO during passport control. He asked me why I don't have a passport and if I ever went back to COP.
 
Minsk said:
Oh man! It's such a co-incident! I am in the process of making decision whether to go to Germany or to Switzerland at the end of summer or in early fall. I am glad I read your post. I was going to use my national passport if my GC would be approved by that time or to renew my RTD, but now I am pretty sure I will go to Zurich. ;)
How was your trip to Switzerland?Did you go to The Alps?
Click to expand...

Switzerland is like heaven on earth. I stayed in the alps and rented an appartement for my entire stay which had a kitchen,fridge etc. But Switzerland is expensive as a whole. One dish at a restaurant, be it chinese, Indian, mexican is 25 Francs which is about 19 dollars or so.

Its very expensive to visit switzerland.
 
Travel to Germany

I have heard that you don't need a visa on an RTD for Germany. Does anybody know if that is the same for the two-year travel document that we get after receiving GC.
 
surferpal said:
I have heard that you don't need a visa on an RTD for Germany. Does anybody know if that is the same for the two-year travel document that we get after receiving GC.
Click to expand...

You need a visa on Reentry permit(The two year Travel document you're talking about).To avoid a visa keep applying for RTDs untill you get your US citizenship.

RD Aug 22,2001
Approved Sep 15,2005
GC received Sep 20,2005
 
Cadel,
Thanks for your quick response. Does anyone have experience where they have been issued a transit visa for a day or two at German airport. I will be staying a day in the Munich airport and was wondering if the german customs officers would be nice enough to issue me a visa (on the travel document) to stay in a hotel outside the airport.
 
surferpal said:
Cadel,
Thanks for your quick response. Does anyone have experience where they have been issued a transit visa for a day or two at German airport. I will be staying a day in the Munich airport and was wondering if the german customs officers would be nice enough to issue me a visa (on the travel document) to stay in a hotel outside the airport.
Click to expand...

No visa is issued at any german airports. Sorry to tell you this but Germans are the most rudest people in the world. Even if you were dying, they wouldn't let you out without a visa...

In Transit area, they have day beds which you can rent and stay there..I have met people who have stayed more than 24 hours because they wouldnt get a visa and they had missed their flight.
 
Worth a try anyway. I had an experience where I got a transit visa at the Munich airport on my NP about 9 years ago.
 
I recently came from a vacation from Cyprus with a friend. It was a long trip and I had not slept at all so I was hoping not too many questions would be asked as I did not have the energy to put on a smiley face and look all bright-faced when I was dead tired. The IO at JFK took my GC and NP, scanned them or whatever they do with it, stamped the NP for entry, then looked at me maybe for a second and gave them back. Not a single word. Not even a hello, nothing. I guess the IO was as tired as me that she did not bother asking me the questions that are usually asked. Oh, whatev, I am back.
 
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