s much as I sympathise with the parents for their kids getting refused to land in India, I should point out, Mumbai officials did the right thing. Whether it is a white skin or brown skin a law is a law is a law...
The couple forgot(or did not care) to carry the PIO cards of their kids and they blame officials for not bending the law to give permission to enter the country?!
I would like to ask them not to take the green card and ask the same to US immigration officials. Here they wouldn't have dared to approach an US immigration officer with that kind of request.
It is a same pitiful approach of doing everything systematically or legally when you are outside of India and when you enter the country, you think you can talk into officials and make the law flexible to your cause...
First let me state the immigration rules. Any foreign citizen must apply for a visa before they leave their home country to India. India does not grant temporary visas on arrival except when (a) the arriving person has Indian Origin AND (b) The passenger has arrived in India on a last minute purchased ticket for a family or medical or personal emergency.
Clearly none of these criteria are fully satisfied here. But that being said I have no idea how the French guy got his visa. That is discrimination. Also they should have waited for 2 hours.
Now imagine you landing in the US with your kid and his/her passport leaving his/her US visa back home. Do you think the USCIS (INS) officials would show you any kind of leniency of letting him/her in? NO WAY!!
That being said, I know of people (Indians) who landed here in the US without their papers and they were kept at the airport until they could ask someone home to fax copies of their documenst which tehy were able to verify thru the computer files on these guys. Once they did that they allowed them in on a 30 day permit within which they had to go to Washington DC and show their original documents and get their stay extended
Guys,come on..u gotta have some common sense...any person with brains shud realize that international travel does require documentation including visas.
Maybe what India cud do is have better electronic copies in place so that atleast ppl who are PIO's or kids of former Indians can get in without hard copies ...and just on the basis of electronic records..
But you cannot blame the guards for that.they are doing their duty...while the immigration guys cud have shown sympathy for the kids...well...its a debatable issue. But they were just doing their duty and there is no way u can accuse them.
Firstly, Imigration officers did a great job by sticking to the rule book. Here the question is "Why was the RULE BOOK closed for the French national by allowing a Transit VISA?".
Parents / Passengers should be more careful while crossing International borders. It is not as simple as shown in movies.
I am in total agreement with the Mumbai immigrations. Mr. Vijay & his family acted very irresposibly. I guess the first thing one needs to check when travelling are your travel documents. I am just ammazzed that inspite of travelling to India so many times, How can one forget their visa/passport.
It is a human tendency to blame someone else for your own mistake. Thank your stars that you were in India and not in USA. If you had travelled to the USA without a visa your entire family would have been scrutinized and questioned. Rules are rules.My friend who is an American citizen had an identical experience. She too was deported. As far as the french man is concerned we do not know the details and hence should not speculate.
If you want to blame anyone other than your family. Blame the airport authorities at Boston who let you on the flt to India without proper documentation.
I am very proud to say I am an Indian living in the USA. Immigrations did their job. Bravo
I am very sorry to listen to your story, Vijay. Our people are simply jelous and SLAVES to WHITE. They may have collected University Degrees, but did not attain primary education on Humanity. Basically, Mother of Thieves shouts in high pitch - these Stupids are corrupted, so made you sufferer without a mercy to you and your children. Yes, I also faced the same experience on my wife's Tatkal passport while coming for the first time, because of a stamp saying that it is issued on urgent basis and Temporary and No further negotiations allowed. The stupid Mumbai Police brigade refused to clear her boarding saying, they cannot put a clearance stamp because of last phrase. Finally, after lot of requests and saying that this passport means for SINGLE journey, after a wait of an hour blankly, a senior officer somehow allowed us to move. Thanks GOD, Thank to our beloved Indian Monkeys for this valuable lesson. Only request to you Please Donot loose your heart - Sages in India live in a Forest. So do we.
I demand an immediate suspension of the ACP/DCP/CP and all other immigration officials at the Mumbai International Airport. I demand a parliamentary enquiry into the issue. I also demand a two day boycott of Mumbai Airport by all Indian passport holders. I also demand a law in the parliament by virtue of which all individuals who are in any form related to India, will be allowed full access to the country with all their friends and relatives. I also demand a law which forces immigration officials to issue entry visas to individuals who have forgotten to bring their visas with them while coming to India. I demand a law which does not allow entry visas to people with white skins. I demand a 'Pravasi Purush' award for the individual affected personally by this issue. I demand an immediate closure of the Mumbai International Airport till all the above demands are met.
It shows 2 failures and very normal behaviour from some over jealous immigration officers. Some folks have written about US immigration etc. - maybe they travelled there but do not understand a dime on how USCIS (earlier INS) and Dept. of Security and Immigration works.
a. We do not have storage; basic stuff to do look-ups. I travel to India almost thrice a year and asked my friend in customs on that. He was all smiles and said - to maintain that storage and run an active system you need educated folks.
b. We do not give "Transit" access which most countries do outside few countries in Africa and Asia (no one normally visits them too :)) e.g. Sudan, Togo etc.
c. Frustrated people sits across any nation. Also, in this rediff columns you'll see some folks who have such comments. It's not what the US Immigration or UK Immigration would do - it is what is "Right" and "Wrong". I will not be surprised if Vijay showed initial anger which warranted a response; but sending them back is definitely a shame.
US Immigration does allow 24 hour guarded transit & telecom/fax help; guarantor 3 day VISA is also awarded if a blood relation in US guarantees.
