Australian tech-journalist caught by U.S. visa trap

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

---

Dec

For obvious reasons, and not to enrage the DHS, please delete my name and 
other identifying details as well.  I may go to the US one day and dont 
want my name on file for this post.


source itjourno.com.au
18/11/2003

Aussie IT journo caught by US visa trap

By Victoria Lea

Natalie Apostolou is the third journalist in three months to come forward 
about being deported from the USA for not having the correct visa.

Apostolou, who was last week finger-printed, face-scanned, body-searched 
and handcuffed, warned journalists to obtain the correct 'I-visa' before 
travelling to the United States.

"There's a lot of secrecy surrounding this issue and I don't believe the US 
has communicated it fairly to either the media fraternity or the travel 
industry," Apostolou said.

"There's not enough clear information and I feel that Australian passport 
holders are currently being misinformed."

In September, Dan Kaufman reported in the Sydney Morning Herald that he 
been detained, frisked and ultimately kicked out of Las Vegas for not 
having the relevant visa for a working journalist.

Yesterday, news.com.au ran a report describing how Sue Smethurst, a New 
Idea journalist, had been handcuffed, body-searched and then deported from 
LA. Again, the complaint was the lack of correct visa.

One week ago, Communications Day editor Natalie Apostolou had her own 
run-in with US Customs.

Apostolou was on a Virgin Mobile junket to New York. The gig had been 
billed as a 'celebratory transatlantic party', more for Virgin's transport 
business than the telco side, but nevertheless a look-see opportunity for a 
telco writer to be in the same space as Richard Branson and other senior 
Virgin execs.

Apostolou, who has been to the US five times previously as a working 
journalist and never before used a visa, boarded the plane without one.

On arrival in Los Angeles, en route to New York, Apostolou wrote on her 
immigration form that she was, by profession, an 'Editor'.

"Like most journalists, I didn't want to write on the form that I was a 
'Journalist'," Apostolou said. "But I also didn't want to outright lie."

Once at Immigration, Apostolou was "grilled" by a Customs official.

"She asked me why I was here; I said I was here for a conference. She asked 
if I was a journalist; I said in effect I was. She asked if I might 
interview someone while I was here; I said it was a possibility."

Apostolou's passport was confiscated and she was put in a private room. 
After an hour, two different officials entered with a new batch of questions.

"They brought up this stipulation that there are certain people who don't 
qualify for the visa waiver program and those people include journalists," 
Apostolou said.

"They asked me if I was aware of that and I explained that I was in the 
country as a guest of Virgin, but not actually there in a working capacity.

"They were like: 'Are you saying that our person at the immigration desk 
lied?'"

Apostolou was then put through another interview, this time 'under oath'.

She was fingerprinted, body-searched and her mug shot was taken. Her 
luggage was searched and her handbag contents itemised. Her palms and face 
were scanned and she was body-searched again.

After an interval she was told she was being deported.

"They hand-cuffed me and marched me out of LA Airport and put me in a 
detention centre for ten hours."

Apostolou was then allowed a collect phone call. She dialled her host, 
Virgin Mobile's managing director in New York.

"He said, 'Natalie! Are you in a bar or something uptown?' I told him, 'No, 
I'm in a detention centre in LA.'"

After 10 hours, Apostolou was put on a plane back to Australia.

Almost one week later, she is in the process of filing an official 
complaint with the US Embassy in Sydney. She also has plans to write up her 
own report on what happened.

In the meantime, she had two points to share with fellow media members.

"Most Australians can travel to the US under the visa waiver program but 
there are various groups exempt from that, and they include journalists," 
Apostolou said.

"What the US immigration told me in no uncertain terms is that a 
journalist, whether they are travelling for work or pleasure, and if they 
are going to be honest about their profession and say they're a journalist, 
will always need an I-visa.

"It is all a matter of luck of course - perhaps the person at the desk 
might let you through. But the impression I came away with is that 
September 11 has changed everything: US immigration has decided to start 
enforcing this law about media. They've heavily cracked down and there are 
now no grey areas."

However, Apostolou claimed that information regarding the issue remains grey.

"If you look at the US Embassy site, depending on how you read the section 
on visas, you could believe that a journalist doesn't need one," she argued.

On the Visa Waiver Program page, media is not mentioned. The page reads 
that as long as you're planning to be in the US for less than 90 days, for 
the purpose of business or pleasure (not government), have an onward ticket 
and no criminal record, you'll be fine.

Yet it does say this:

"Some travellers are not eligible by law to enter the United States. These 
include people with... certain visa refusals and other problems with US 
immigration laws or visas. Such travellers may apply for specially 
annotated visas; but they may not use the visa waiver program. If they 
attempt to travel visa-free, they will be refused entry into the United 
States."

That includes media, which you can find on another page if you keep reading 
the fine print.

"Visitors to the United States who report on news events and who are 
engaged in activities to gather information for the media should obtain an 
I-visa."

Apostolou would like this information brought out of fine print territory 
and into general understanding.

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