A couple days ago when I was about to leave Anagram after a hard day of watching customers and reading, my fellow American colleague asked me what I was doing for Christmas, and whether I was going home. I replied of course not, where the hell would I have the money for that after working for less then half the minimum American wage. Turns out he was going home, and then said, I just hope they let me back in the country. As in CZ, the country I live in now. To which I was slightly confused, and said, What are talking about? Of course they will let you in. Not so, he said. Here is why:
The European Union has passed laws dropping all border controls along all EU nations' borders starting this Friday, December 21. In other words, when you travel between the Czech Republic and say, Germany, the border guards will no longer stamp your passport. The border guards thankfully all get to keep their jobs, but it puts us expats living abroad in a slight fix. The problem is that while in theory this is a great idea, which has been imposed on all Western EU allies for years now, it is something new to Central and Eastern European countries. Effectively, the Schengen Laws (which they are called), makes it near impossible for illegal immigrants to hop out of their country of residence and renew their three month travel visa. This has been the practice for many of the thousands of expats living in Central Europe. Instead of going through all the ridiculous hoops of obtaining a work permit and work visa (two separate entities), expats have been renewing their travel visas (allowing them to stay in that country for 3 months) by hopping on a train to a nearby country, and coming back in, letting the border guards stamp their passport for another stint in that selected country. The EU has decided to crack down on these travel visa tyrants.
I find it ironic that after 17 years, the laws change right when I arrive. Fantastic. Fate has a sense of humor.
What is worse about all this is that there is no information anywhere about this. There are articles published in the Prague Post, which I duly noted once I had heard about it a couple days ago. But nothing posted around Prague or on the news networks. No wait, let me rephrase that sentence. Nothing posted in English around Prague, which is just the sort of thing that should be published. Only now, when I walk down the street, I see small billboards with an outline of the Schengen Laws. All in Czech. The only reason I know it is that is it has a large picture of Europe and something about Schengen in the title. Thanks for the heads up guys.
When this information finally came to light, a couple days ago, I had my little freak out session but after that, I knew what we had to do. Get out of the country and back in before the December 21 deadline. Give one last Fuck You to the system. Until March, when we get to figure out what to do about the illegal status. Luckily for us, by that time, Jamie should have her visa covered. She has heard that I can have status on her visa as her non-marital spouse. But that is still hearsay and not confirmed. I could technically get a visa, but I need a company here to sponsor me. I do have the option of letting Culinaria sponsoring me, but to be honest, I really don't like the business, and the non stop 12 hour shifts are ridiculous, and boring. Why would I want to put myself through hell every day? Its either that, or staying illegal. Tough choice.
So Jamie and I leave for Dresden on Thursday for a day trip. I told one of my Czech coworkers about it and she had no idea where Dresden was. It's the closest city outside of the Czech borders. 1.75 hours by train. Christ what is wrong with these people?
If I wanted to stay illegal I could always hop on a flight to the UK in March. Since they are not in Continental Europe, they are exempt from the laws. Also they wanted no part of them, anyway. You gotta love those Brits. Stickin it to the rest of Europe.
In short, the Schengen Laws will change the way I and many others living in Europe deal with the system. As the EU cracks down on immigration (much the same in the US), lives change and it gets tougher. But I have no worries about staying here. The cops are all corrupt and you can buy them off if need be. But I hope it does not come to that. I have never bought someone off and I dont expect to start now. Jamie's parents have decided to urge her to come home if things do not start to change and look up by the end of January. For all of you who know how I feel about her parents, I don't have to say anything. For those who don't, they suck.
If these Europeans think they can get the better of us, they are wrong.
The European Union has passed laws dropping all border controls along all EU nations' borders starting this Friday, December 21. In other words, when you travel between the Czech Republic and say, Germany, the border guards will no longer stamp your passport. The border guards thankfully all get to keep their jobs, but it puts us expats living abroad in a slight fix. The problem is that while in theory this is a great idea, which has been imposed on all Western EU allies for years now, it is something new to Central and Eastern European countries. Effectively, the Schengen Laws (which they are called), makes it near impossible for illegal immigrants to hop out of their country of residence and renew their three month travel visa. This has been the practice for many of the thousands of expats living in Central Europe. Instead of going through all the ridiculous hoops of obtaining a work permit and work visa (two separate entities), expats have been renewing their travel visas (allowing them to stay in that country for 3 months) by hopping on a train to a nearby country, and coming back in, letting the border guards stamp their passport for another stint in that selected country. The EU has decided to crack down on these travel visa tyrants.
I find it ironic that after 17 years, the laws change right when I arrive. Fantastic. Fate has a sense of humor.
What is worse about all this is that there is no information anywhere about this. There are articles published in the Prague Post, which I duly noted once I had heard about it a couple days ago. But nothing posted around Prague or on the news networks. No wait, let me rephrase that sentence. Nothing posted in English around Prague, which is just the sort of thing that should be published. Only now, when I walk down the street, I see small billboards with an outline of the Schengen Laws. All in Czech. The only reason I know it is that is it has a large picture of Europe and something about Schengen in the title. Thanks for the heads up guys.
When this information finally came to light, a couple days ago, I had my little freak out session but after that, I knew what we had to do. Get out of the country and back in before the December 21 deadline. Give one last Fuck You to the system. Until March, when we get to figure out what to do about the illegal status. Luckily for us, by that time, Jamie should have her visa covered. She has heard that I can have status on her visa as her non-marital spouse. But that is still hearsay and not confirmed. I could technically get a visa, but I need a company here to sponsor me. I do have the option of letting Culinaria sponsoring me, but to be honest, I really don't like the business, and the non stop 12 hour shifts are ridiculous, and boring. Why would I want to put myself through hell every day? Its either that, or staying illegal. Tough choice.
So Jamie and I leave for Dresden on Thursday for a day trip. I told one of my Czech coworkers about it and she had no idea where Dresden was. It's the closest city outside of the Czech borders. 1.75 hours by train. Christ what is wrong with these people?
If I wanted to stay illegal I could always hop on a flight to the UK in March. Since they are not in Continental Europe, they are exempt from the laws. Also they wanted no part of them, anyway. You gotta love those Brits. Stickin it to the rest of Europe.
In short, the Schengen Laws will change the way I and many others living in Europe deal with the system. As the EU cracks down on immigration (much the same in the US), lives change and it gets tougher. But I have no worries about staying here. The cops are all corrupt and you can buy them off if need be. But I hope it does not come to that. I have never bought someone off and I dont expect to start now. Jamie's parents have decided to urge her to come home if things do not start to change and look up by the end of January. For all of you who know how I feel about her parents, I don't have to say anything. For those who don't, they suck.
If these Europeans think they can get the better of us, they are wrong.
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