saltwatersteve.com/travel

We spent a bit of time on international diplomacy today because we are planning to go to Bolivia next (after Argentina) and we have heard that they are going to start requiring American citizens to pay for a visa (similar to the Brazilian and Paraguayan system). Before you let this anger you, you should consider the absolutely ridiculously costly (money and time) system that the U.S. makes foreigners (from non VWP countries) go through just to come visit our country:

(here’s an exerpt from the official U.S. visa site:
http://www.unitedstatesvisas.gov/visiting.html)

The U.S. government made some changes in visa procedures after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We made changes in various procedures to make sure that both U.S. citizens and visitors are safe. Advance planning by travelers is essential, for them to have their visa when they need it to come to the U.S. For most visa applicants, an interview is required as a standard part of visa processing. Visa applications are evaluated very carefully and take more time now than in the past. Some applications require additional security screening. Improved and automated procedures have considerably sped up visa clearance procedures.

(some more quotes from the official pdf document on the process at:
http://www.unitedstatesvisas.gov/pdfs/gettingavisa.02.03.pdf)

Because of this process,
many visas take at least several weeks, but some can take longer.

Be sure to ask what fees are required and how they
can be paid. Application fees are non-refundable
and must be paid before your appointment.

Painting a lovely picture for you? In case you’re curious, this is required of Bolivian citizens, since Bolivia is not one of the ‘approved’ Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries. Neither are Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico (the countries Bush recently visited via his first class ticket aboard Air Force One Airlines). While we’re at it, neither are any other countries in the two continents that makes up ‘the Americas’, save Canada.

I cannot imagine how our trip would be if these countries treated us as the U.S. treats citizens from their countries. Interviews? Weeks of applications? Our four month trip would be spent by 3 and a half months of interviews/applications leaving two weeks for travel. If we were approved, that is.

Do I feel privileged? Not exactly. More specifically, I feel embarrassed, and definitely sad because the friends we make down here most likely will never come visit us thanks to this process. We are happy, however, to have the freedom of speech which protects our rights to say these mostly negative things about our government’s policies.

Back to the point- we have talked to people (from two different Latin American countries) who are familiar with this process and they informed us that some of the things a foreign citizen has to show are that they own real estate and/or have a job and/or something else that will prove to the U.S. that they will return home. Let’s think about that for a second from our (i.e. Meghan & Steve’s) point of view. Real Estate - uhh, no. Sold it. Job - uhh, no. Got Laid off last year. So if we had to prove that we were returning home to the U.S., could we do it?