Back in business

My new passport arrived today, ten days ahead of when the Embassy promised to deliver it.  It feels sort of odd to have a clean, thin document again, pages crisp at the edges and unmarked by visa stamps.  Strange, too, to see an expiration date of 2027.  Where will I be when that date rolls around, 72 years old?

Stranger still is the question of what security there really is in these documents.

My nationality is as a US citizen, permanent UK resident, and Netherlands long-term resident.  My domicile of origin is American, my domicile of choice is European.  It’s all a bit tangled, moreso with Brexit which will split my Dutch and British status in unknown and possibly contradictory ways.

And, as the recent ban on US entry to Green Card holders demonstrates, while citizenship is a right, residency is a privilege.   A ‘Green Card’ is a document conferring permanent US residency.  It is  earned by living in the US for years, taking integration tests, passing government reviews and documentation checks, spending a majority of time in the US for many years, and not engaging in any activities that are either illegal or economically dependent. 

It’s not much different in the UK and NL: 5 years uninterrupted permit, civil integration including language and culture, maintain nationality, yearly review of status, and a history of tax payments on economic contributions.

The process is time consuming and expensive, takes persistence and resilience, and establishes beyond doubt your personal and political history and intentions.

It is ‘extreme vetting’.

Charles Cooke wrote a thoughtful piece on this topic last week in the National Review, a respected conservative US magazine.  He reminds the nativists that permanent residents are, indeed, different.

By law and by expectation, this country is their home; their base; the ground in which their roots are planted. Because of this, permanent residents are able to purchase, own, and carry firearms; they are required to register with the selective service; and they are treated for tax and welfare purposes as are U.S. citizens. They can’t vote or serve on a jury, but, other than, they effectively enjoy all the liberties that natural born Americans enjoy. When they re-enter the country, the agent says “Welcome Home,”.

They are not Americans, and they mustn’t pretend to be. But they are as close as one can get without being one.

I do feel a bit threatened and insecure when British and EU politicians talk about yearly fees for residents and of reinstating visa fees.  I worry that barring permanent residents from the US invites the same at other borders.  And dual citizenship should not be a litmus test for loyalty or patriotism.

Finally, its important to remember that virtually all immigrants are neither refugees or terrorists.  Like me, we seek opportunity and a better life, and are willing to work for it and to sacrifice for it.  I read a wonderful essay by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee, Sizzler and the Search for the American Dream, that is more typical of most of us:

Our family immigrated to the United States in the late 1970s. We left behind our friends, our family, our language, our customs and everything we knew. We squeezed everything that was important to us into two giant, seventy-kilo bags per person, and still managed to have room to wedge in our hopes and dreams.

Renewing my passport

‘You’re not going to be able to travel with this much longer,’ the Customs Agent warned, shaking his head and wagging my dog-eared passport.    The book bulged with two extra sets of pages, edges curling.  Even moreso, years of cross-border travel had filled almost every page filled with via stamps.

‘If a page falls out, we’ll have to confiscate it,’ was the final warning.

Citizens must surrender their passport in order to renew it.  That effectively grounds me for several weeks, difficult even when things aren’t busy.  Still, nothing to be done but to do it:  I looked through the US, UK, NL web sites for Citizen Services.  Embassy – London looked like my best bet.

Arrangements for renewing and replacing are made online, no more than a month in advance. Available slots fill quickly, so I jumped on my preferred date as Christmas approached. 

All appointments are early-morning, necessitating peak-fare train journeys and rush-hour Tube transfers. 

It’s a bit like applying for the British Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), requiring appointment confirmation, photographs, filled-in forms, and current passport at hand.  Document processing costs around $150 with expedited service and return shipping. 

 

I hopped the early bus and train, a foggy dank start to the day with everyone huddled silent against the cold.  Train delays led to confusion at the station, with automated and live announcements giving competing accounts of the next platform.  Commuters boarded and exited with each call, vying to be the first out.  I tucked into a corner with a book.

 

The train met the Tube to Marble Arch, and finally a  walk down Park Lane and past La Gavroche into Mayfair where the US makes it’s home.  8:30 sharp, I was lined up outside the steel fence at Grosvenor Square, citizens to the left, foreign nationals to the right.

 

‘Any large electronics?’  frowned a security agent.

Laptop, tablet, camera, phone: my 21st century mobile office. 

‘You can’t bring the laptop, the camera; we can no longer store them here either. ‘

so…?

Life flourishes in overlooked ecological niches: Gould Pharmacy is one.  A small immigrant-owned drug store, it is doing a brisk business in one-hour storage of large-electronics.  Stop at the card table.at the main entrance, slip items into a bag, fill in the form, and everything was sealed up and whisked away for £3 per item. 

A steady stream of harried people flowed in from the Embassy.   I bet that this service earns thousands of pounds each day doing nothing more than renting out shelf space.

 

‘Back in line and through the airport-style search and scan, I then made my way around the building.  The current Embassy was built in the 1950’s, a modernist design by Finnish-American architect, Eero Saarinen, who also designed St. Louis’s gateway Arch.  It’s defining feature is an 11-meter gilded eagle on the roof, guarding the main entrance.  Heavily patrolled by uniformed and plainclothes security, the narrow entry path bends between stone walls topped with curtain glass and high fences capped with cameras, before ending at a chilly marble reception desk.

 

I expected that ex-President Obama’s pictures would have been replaced with President Trump’s portrait, but neither man was in evidence.  Neither were the current or nominated ambassadors: framed pictures only highlighted counselor officials.  Abstract posters alternated public landscapes with founding fathers. 

Attitudes ranged from brusque to irritated: papers pushed back and forth, stamps thumped onto documents, an over-the-shoulder wave towards the waiting room.

However, once in, it all proceeds pretty efficiently, documents examined and bagged, papers signed, instructions for mailing and following up in case of an emergency.  A separate cashiers window accepts cards for payment; DHL runs a shipping center in the main lobby for prepaid envelopes. ‘In and out in about 20 minutes.

And a quick stop to collect my things at Goulds.

My new passport should arrive mid-February, I’ll be limited to UK travel until then, but business can flow on in the Netherlands and I’ll back ahead of Carnival.

Final note: the current Embassy (Grade II listed, so it will not be demolished) is scheduled to be replaced by a new, similar building in South London in the coming years.  I don’t know about the moat, but the cube along the river looks stylish.

Troubled times

I was in the middle of early morning conference calls when the phone chimed and text messages started pinging through  You’re not in Brussels, are you?  I tapped into the Guardian and then the New York Times, picked up the early live bulletins from Zaventem and the city center.  The billowing smoke, the dazed commuters, the sirens and ambulances.  It’s so sad: places I’ve been, peoples I know.  I feel so badly for the senseless violence being inflicted on the innocent and vulnerable.

I’m not checking into Facebook any more, so didn’t think to use their Safety Check feature (I don’t think that it would be widely seen there, anyway).  Instead, I ‘buddy-checked’ with the the people that I keep advised of my location, day to day.  Then, ‘touched base with extended family and friends via a short note, as always, letting them know that I’m safe, where I am and will be, and that I’ll keep in contact as things unfold and any plans change.

The expat network was contacting one another by the afternoon, far-flung friends and colleagues checking in on Skype or email.  It’s nice when people remember and care.  We all traverse the same transport network, airport, ferries, subway and metro.  One colleague was in Brussels airport hours before the explosions.  We all agree that we can’t anticipate events, and therefore can’t adjust our lives around the fear of them.  But I do try to minimize time in airports and train stations, sometimes avoid public gatherings that might attract trouble.

The US embassy sends out advance alerts weekly, usually with the flavor of:

Dutch police have notified the U.S. Consulate General in Amsterdam that a demonstration is scheduled to occur at Schiphol Airport tomorrow morning, Friday, 18 March, 2016, from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the “Arrivals & Schiphol Plaza” area in front of the KMAR Station. 

Demonstrators are expected to arrive via train and march to the “Arrivals & Schiphol Plaza” area of the airport.  Police estimate approximately 50-100 participants.  The anti-Islamisation movement PEGIDA Netherlands is sponsoring this demonstration. Police will be present in large numbers for the demonstration. 

U.S. citizens traveling via train to or from Schiphol Airport are advised to avoid this area. Exercise an appropriate level of security and situational awareness if you are in the vicinity of Schiphol Airport or while traveling on a train stopping at Schiphol. 

Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful, however, can turn confrontational and escalate into violence with little warning.  Avoid areas of demonstrations, and exercise caution if in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations.

As it turns out, this one had some validity as there were weapons seized and some arrests.

In any case,  ‘Stay safe’ as travelers have been reminding one another since 9/11.  In these times, it unfortunately takes the place of ‘Be well’.

Windy, wet Monday flu vaccination alert

 

The weather has turned dismal, a uniform colorless grey, dim, misty drizzle; the boats are ghosts along the water, the bridges only faint lines in the mist.  The streets are vacant, only the occasional  pedestrian blows by, umbrella flattened to their head.

The phones are starting to quiet as US residents move into the Thanksgiving holiday.  It’s a hard time to be in Europe, this was always the time that the family got together for a day of cooking, toasting the bird as it went into the oven and thinking of things to be thankful about as it came out.  The most memorable Thanksgiving was the year that my daughter was born the day before: my son, 2 years old, and I had a patched together dinner and talked about his new sister.

I prevailed on a Dutch friend this year to help me find some turkey for the holiday.  The local butchers said that they couldn’t help with ordering, and the Markt Square vendors didn’t have the bird.  We finally visited a shop that specializes in game meats, rabbit, venison, and such, located outside of town: they had turkey breasts for about $2.50 per pound.  So I got a couple and feel like I’m really making progress.  I’m dusting off the cranberry and pie recopies and am joining friends for a traditional dinner.

Against this warm memory, the US Consulate sent along an urgent announcement about the  H1N1 flu:

The Dutch Minister of Health has decided, as a preventive measure, to recommend that all children born between 23 November 2004 and 23 May 2009 be vaccinated against the H1N1 virus.  Furthermore, all members of households with babies younger than 5 months old are strongly advised to be vaccinated as well.

The country-wide vaccination program will be carried out by the municipal health services (Gemeentelijke Gezondheisdsdienst, GGD) and comprises two vaccinations with an interval between them of approximately two weeks.  Vaccination will start on 23 November 2009 and will be free of charge.  The GGD vaccination scheme is mentioned on http://www.grieppandemie.nl/informatie_voor/kinderen/oproep_vaccinatie.

If you are quarantined or placed in isolation due to 2009-H1N1 influenza, please contact the Consulate General so we can monitor your situation.  U.S. citizens residing or traveling in the Netherlands are encouraged to register with the Consulate General through the State Department's travel registration website to obtain updated travel and security information.

Further thoughts on Plan B (and swine flu)

  NOTE: The Warden at the US embassy in Amsterdam has issued a bulletin reminding US citizens living in the Netherlands that “In case the need arises for antiviral medications, to access these antivirals without delay in The Netherlands, you MUST have registered with a “huisarts” (family/general practitioner physician) for everyone in your family.”

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I’ve written twice in the last year about the importance of good “Plan B” thinking: expatriate workers are guests in the Netherlands, and if the primary justification for residency becomes invalid, then contingency plans have to be ready.  In one post, I covered things to consider when moving off the expatriate agreement, in the other, items to take care of when moving within the country.

While it may not come to pass, I am now confronted with the likelihood of substantial change to my expatriate assignment, or the possibility of losing it altogether.  One appropriate response could be to wrap up the assignment gracefully and move on to a new assignment back in the US or elsewhere.  That may happen although, as I wrote earlier, the push and pull of current and future assignments hasn’t yet led back across the pond.

Another option for me is to move to local contract.  Many of the same considerations apply as in generally coming off of the expat agreement: there are substantial costs that have to be considered in exchange for continuing to live in the Netherlands.  I’ve found a few additional considerations that are worth adding to the growing list:

• Health insurance: I have been covered under US Blue Cross insurance, which protects me worldwide.  However, all workers in the Netherlands are required to have local health insurance unless they meet very narrow exclusions: covered by a US health insurance policy while on short-duration overseas assignment with a firm that has access to the exclusion.  If you assume that you qualify for the exclusion but don’t, then you may be liable for a fine equivalent to the amount of Dutch health insurance premiums across the period that you were working in the Netherlands.
• Social Security:  Once on local contract, you cease to be making social security payments.  This freezes your benefits, now pegged to your last US paychecks and the years you’ve worked,  rather than to your further earnings and additional service in the Netherlands.  There is a Dutch equivalent, but you need many years of work to qualify for benefits.
• 401(k) / IRA:  The US-based employee contribution and matching programs for retirement are no longer available.  While you can still make IRA contributions, both the qualification and computation are more complicated, based on Foreign Earned Income Exclusion.  Check this source for guidance, then see a tax expert.
• Credit Reports: There can be an immediate impact to your credit rating if you change jobs, including going to local contract, or become self-employed.  This can significantly affect your ability to get a loan and the rates you will pay.  Also, when your income, banking, and tax records all move off-shore, that may have further impacts on whether your financial records are even available to US rating companies.

I’m sure there will be more: I’m still asking and learning…

What to do if you lose your US passport

My passport lies somewhere on this lively street in Ghent.

I've never lost a passport before, and am still kicking myself for doing it this time. My small Grey wallet with my passport, USB stick, Bluetooth earpiece, business cards, and bank decoder was under my arm, along with my umbrella, when I left the hotel, and was no longer there when I reached the conference center. I immediately walked back along the street twice, but no luck: someone was quicker than I was to spot it.

All's well, but there are some lessons learned along the way that might be helpful to others in a similar situation.

1) Make a backup. Years ago, someone suggested that I put a scan of my critical documents up on the Internet where I could always access them from anywhere. So I scanned my passport, driver's license, and birth certificate in a password-protected file that I mailed to a supplemental Yahoo account. It was easy to just download and print it to have all of the information and documentation that the embassy required.

2) Keep your residence card separate from your passport. I had my Dutch cards in my wallet, so those didn't get lost. As it turns out, those cards are the important ones: the visa and passport stamps pare irrelevant, superceded by the residence card. I can still travel within the Schengen Area and verify my Dutch residency with that, alone.

3) Report the loss to the police. I was reluctant to do this: I knew that it was really gone, and thought that filling out a police report was a waste of time and an invitation to trouble. A friend convinced me to talk to the hotel clerk, who was happy to call the local station and give them the information about the loss. As it turned out, it mattered. The Belgians tend to put "found" documents into the nearest postal box, where they find their way (eventually) to the police, so it could produce a result. And the US embassy really, really wants to hear that you did tell the police (although you don't have to show them the report).

4) Consult the Embassy on-line. The US Embassy has a section for what to do if your passport is lost or stolen. There are two forms to print and fill out before you go to Amsterdam: one to report the loss (DS-64), and another to apply for a new Passport book (DS-11). You will also need information about your old passport: again, the importance of having a backup.

5) Make an Appointment. The US embassy REQUIRES an appointment for everything: showing up at the gate at 8:30 am to try to plead through the intercom is futile (I saw people do it). Make the appointment on-line, and be there on-time or you will not be admitted, even to drop off the forms. Bring the forms, your birth certificate (the Apostille worked well), and two passport photos (make sure they comply to new US rules for size and composition). If you are asking for expedited service, you need to bring proof that you are traveling within the next 10 days. And bring a credit card or cash (68 euros for me).

6) Bring no more than you need to. The Embassy is absolutely paranoid about letting you bring anything into the building. Leave the computer, camera, cell phone, Mp3 player, USB stick, outside: they will confiscate it at the door further delaying you going in and out. Similarly, don't bring friends: fmaily is okay if approved when you make the appointment. Do bring photo ID, filled-in paperwork, patience, and a smile. And change enough for two hours on the parking meter.

7) What is an emergency? The web site says that an emergency document for immediate travel is issued if you are flying out within 10 days. In fact, they process replacement passports faster, and the desk agent said that they prefer to do it only for 5 days or less. Similarly, the web site says that you can come without an appointment if you are traveling within 10 days: in reality, it's 5 or less.

Postscript: June 5. I never did get a phone call, so, expecting the worst, I made an appointment, took all my paperwork, proof of travel, and new photos and went to the Embassy this morning. Fortunately the passport was there. it's one of the new ones with lots more anti-counterfeiting detail inside and an embedded RFID chip. It also has an endorsement that it is a replacement for a lost passport: I was advised that if you lose two within ten years, then you start getting issues special ones with shorter terms.

Anyway, all's well that ends well.

Guard, gate, guard, gate

Last week, I went to the US Embassy in Amsterdam to add more pages to my passport: the accumulation of visa stamps has overwhelmed the original pages, and Dutch customs authorities were threatening to turn me away if they couldn't find a place to stamp. I stood in the cold rain and step-stopped through security: An intercom, a gate, a search by a guard, a line inside a sturdy cage, another gate admitting only one, an antechamber with an interview, confiscation of my electronics, another gate. A similar process, only slightly faster, to leave.

In an era when Europe is removing barriers, the US seems to be obsessed with adding them. As I travel, I've seen increased suspicion of everyone at the American borders. Checked bags are routinely opened, carry-on's disassembled, clothes removed. Coming through DIA last week, I was sensed inside a sealed air chamber, shoes on, entering, then off, exiting, on top of the usual procedures. There seems no end to it: TSA is now proposing new rules requiring more information and 72 hours to process it before flying into the country (The Register).

I do speak out, but know that there is increased scrutiny of phone calls, emails, blog postings, and travel records. Financial databases are being connected and mined; phone records are saved and searched (EFF). I can't wire money easily, invest in stocks here at all, because of new money laundering regulations. My corporate security already follows me though a GPS chip in my phone; public Internet sites reveal my entire history of addresses and associations (Intelius): the government certainly can do more with the information and tools that it already has.

Participatory democracy requires civil liberty and personal privacy. That is inconsistent with being searched, monitored, and investigated. The US government justifies its expanded surveillance, suspicion, and data mining by the threat made manifest on 9/11. But the European community, faced with far more active threats, still remains committed to open borders, open flows of information, and community-based surveillance with greater oversight. There is an inclusive spread of democracy and rule of law through economic and political incentive rather than military intervention.

I do worry about this issue, and write my representatives about the erosion of civil liberties and privacy. I am concerned by news of federal Attorneys General who refuse to renounce the use of torture, of a witless executive who defends renditions, and of attacks on the press as unpatriotic simply for telling the disagreeable truth.

Civil liberties that are surrendered to the government cannot be regained. It is vital to speak out against this erosion: I support the EFF and others in this stand.

Beware the schoolchildren (and confuse the rats)

I registered with the American Embassy when I arrived, which gets me the Consular Alerts.  This gem came in yesterday:

   The Consulate General wishes to alert U.S. Citizens traveling to and residing in The Netherlands that demonstrations by secondary school students have taken place during the past week, and may continue over the next days.

   A gathering on Monday, November 26, on the Museumplein in Amsterdam turned violent, with students throwing rocks and other material, and the police responding with water canons.  Although the Consulate General has not been notified of specific demonstrations planned, there have been calls on the Internet for students to resume demonstrations throughout The Netherlands on Wednesday morning, November 28.  There have also been calls for protests to continue over the following days.

   American Citizens are advised to exercise caution, and to avoid large groups of secondary school students.

This begs at least two questions.  Why are the students rioting?

Hundreds of schools students gathered at the Museumplein in Amsterdam on Monday morning to protest the requirement that they spend 1,040 hours in class each school year. (Expatica)

That isn't really that difficult a school year, is it??

And should we really exercise caution around all gatherings of children...?

The scientists came out with something almost as good...

The Ig Nobel Award in linguistics has been given to “A University of Barcelona team for showing that rats are unable to tell the difference between a person speaking Japanese backwards and somebody speaking Dutch backwards” (BBC News)