when i went to Ukraine on 27 january, i entered the country in a ukrainian car with with 4 Ukrainians (with whom i spoke limited hungarian and never even tried english). as we were waiting in line to cross and i was getting ready to fill out the paper i filled out last time (passport info and reason for visit), for whatever reason (i don't think money was involved although it's possible), we were bumped into a second shorter line. our driver showed our passports (all five looking the same when seen as a pile), and i never ever filled out that paper. i never asked the driver for a paper because his job is actually to take people across the border (so i assumed he knew what he was doing), and i never said, hey can we go back to the border guard because i think i need a little paper (because Ukraine is not really the kind of country where you politely ask somebody if they know what they're doing -even if competency is generally lower than other places, questioning competency is equivalent to suggesting that you'd like to give them a bribe).
so i hoped for the best...
as i was leaving the country on 7 february, the border guard asked for half of the paper i never filled out. (the border keeps one copy and the visitor keeps the other half in their visa). the borderguard said that losing that paper would cost me 500 grivnya (a 100 US dollars). i said that i'd never gotten a paper. he insisted that i'd lost it. and the penalty was 350 grivnya (not sure if the original border guard gave the new price or if someone else had gotten involved by then and had quoted that fee - but the suspiciously quick change of fines made it fairly obvious that it was less of a penalty and more of a bribe). i remained insistent that i'd never filled out a paper. (and i had a stamp in my passport from entering so they couldn't charge me with entering illegally.) so they went to look for the paper. and i and my friend and the driver taking us waited. and we developed the theory that when i went into the country they never really looked closely at the pile of same-coloured passports - and just let us all in.
and we waited. eventually my passport returned from the other office. and a bit later we were allowed to talk to them again. they never acknowledged that they hadn't found the other half of my paper (although by not insisting again on a fine indicates that they hadn't) but instead asked when i wanted to come back again. i said summer (through the driver). they said i should have known better about not filling in the paper (i had but thought that questioning a Ukrainian border guard who had let me in without the proper paperwork had more potential problems than trying to get out without that paperwork - not sure if i was right). and because i should have known, i was going to be banned from entering Ukraine for 6 months (if you do the math, i could return again on August 8). seeing as they had asked me when i wanted to return before telling me that i was banned for an amount of time that they now knew could be inconvenient me, this sounded suspiciously like bribe potential and less of a policy. i was somewhat indifferent to their threat - having my passport say that i was banned from Ukraine seemed a rather fascinating experience that actually had no consequences on my life as no country outside of Ukraine would find their 'ban' of my entering Ukraine that relevant - and Ukraine's system is not so advanced that this ban would register if i used my other passport - one of the joys of being a double citizen. however, the driver and my friend didn't quite recognize that Ukraine's border policy whims could really have no effect on my life - and also thought it ridiculous that the border guards could suggest that i should be punished for what was really their mistake - and thus told them that this was not acceptable. off went my passport again with someone else, we waited some more, and eventually with no explanation (but finally stamped) my passport was returned to me.
we had waited a bit over an hour in total. but we had paid no extra money. and somewhat to my disappointment (the thought of me being considered dangerous amuses me), i didn't get anything in my passport banning me from returning to Ukraine (at least not officially - although i might take my other passport next time - and i have an extra copy of the paper for next time :))
and well, that's Ukraine. it was the first time i really had problems crossing the border, though. well, except for a ten minute discussion another time about not having a different paper in my passport (i had crossed into Ukraine at a different place which hadn't given out those papers). oh, and i've been hit on by border guards - i think it had more to do with the fact that most people don't see a lot of Canadian passports :)
i always have loved the great adventures of 'regular' life in Ukraine, so it's no wonder that i appreciate the adventure of living with the community in Amsterdam - in the 'zoo' that i call my crazy family.
2 comments:
This is a slightly crazy story that made me laugh. It could never happen in China, since everyone can tell at a glance I'm not Chinese :). Usually Chinese immigration is pretty orderly, although the last time I came back they called a supervisor over and they were looking at my passport and then told me to wait. The supervisor took my passport away to some back room and I waited. Eventually he came back, they stamped it and let me go--with no explanation. For all I know, it was because they were looking at the wrong residence permit or something....
About China... when I was living in China in '99, I had forgotten to register with the local authorities when I moved to another city. Nothing happened for several months until I ordered some books from Amazon in the states. Then someone came to knock at my door. I was told I must visit some office. I can't remember if it was at the police station or where exactly. But some kind of office. And I was talking to 2 officials. They were trying to explain the gravity of the situation to me through my interpreter. Anyhow to make a long story short, initially they were trying to fine me about 4 times what I ended up paying. My interpreter negotiated it down to a few hundred RMB. Finally after 3 or 4 reductions (she was more or less haggling like you would in the market), the official finally stood his ground and told us politely that we must pay this (newly agreed upon) amount and that further negotiation was not possible. During this whole process he was going through it with the attitude like he was doing us a favor. Since we were in the wrong, perhaps he was. I guess things could have been much worse if we had given them problems.
Personally I like the "gray area" of the law, as it leaves room for getting out of certain situations. Provided the officials are reasonable about it.
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