Border Controls for the UK

[Chance]

At least three performers have told me that they were turned back from the border once the police noticed their busking props and lack of working papers.

Anyone else care to give their stories?

Can anyone offer current information about getting through UK Customs?

------------------
Each man's given a bag of tools,
An hourglass,
A book of rules;

And each man's built,
'ere his hour's flown,
A stumbling block -
Or a stepping stone.

[Blake]

I have found several ways of entry!!

One is if you have a grandparent of uk descent get a luxury 4 year working visa!!

OR buy a duplicate set of props or get them made in the country and leave them there with a friend or in storage so that every time you walk through customs you are "just visiting"!

Dont go there at all!

Send it through a freight company and pick it up after you land it will still have to clear customs BUT you already have!!

Apply for a working visa (boring)

marry a uk resident.

thats all from me I know that you have probably figured most of this out chance baby but I hope some of this is useful.

I suggest you post the stuff you told me about the us situation as ive found that to be more than handy.

cheers blake

[martin ewen]

Years ago there was the facility of flying into Dublin (which was far more casual) then catching a bus or train south to a port close to Cork where a ferry would take you to wales and then the bus or train would take you from there to London or whereever. The customs on the entry to Wales was always unmanned so once into Dublin you had basicly made it. I have been heckled by customs on arrival to london almost every time untill I got a british passport. (too complicated and emotional to go into here) this chink might still be available.

[AJJames]

Chance,
and to whom so ever wishes to come visit my green and pleasant land, Blake and Martin have both offered useful advice, but I feel I can offer more info on the subject, although I hold a british passport, I was married to a non UK resident and I had some problems before and after we were married getting her in to London and Dover and Harwich,the only port she smoothly traversed was Rotterdam to Hull,over the years I think Sam must have spent atleast a week in total under interogation by immigration officers but she was always let in eventually , one time we had my props ,her props, photos of us both busking all over europe etc but we still got through , so this essentially is a message of hope, even when you're caught bang to rights ,you can still get in,
as shallow as it seems ,they tend to judge you on appearances and if you(chance) still look like an insurance clerk ,you'll breeze it ,but for anyone else out there that doesn't share Chances uncanny resemblance to a respectable member of society,do not loose faith I have met the crustiest blaggers in the world (usually from Australia) Rumpol(when he had dreads)Ashley, Damien, AB,all of which I have met at Edinburgh so there's no need for anyone to fear British Immigration , they aren't really trying to stop clowns and artists that's what you have to tell your self, they want to fry bigger fish,
by the way, if any of you try Martins trick of flying into NORTHERN Ireland and ferry to Holyhead make sure it is Dublin and not Belfast you travel from on to the mainland, if you don't know why ,don't bother leaving Kansas.

[Butterfly Man]

Interestingly enough AJ hit the nail on the head when he mentions appearance. God knows I had many a misfortune with INS officials all over the globe because of my big beautiful butterflied chrome dome... I still longingly miss those cavity searches.
Nowadays, with my oh-so respectable prosthetic hair, I literally breeze through customs... sometimes (like in Australia) they actually gave me a 5 year business visa ... so boys, take it from a lad who knows ... people do judge you by 1st impressions ... (forget it Lucky, you might as well just stay home).

One final word of advice ... don't (repeat Do Not) go through any border with Nick Nickolas ... take my word for it.

Moth Head

[Butterfly Man]

What a difference a toupee makes!

[This message has been edited by Butterfly Man (edited 01-16-2001).]

[Butterfly Man]

Thought y'all might like this story... certainly, it is related to this thread ...

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due


A few years back, my good friend Waldo was having trouble getting in and out of countries. Let’s face it, when you show up at someone’s border with only a backpack of dirty props and a weeks worth of smelly laundry, customs officials don’t exactly roll out the red carpet. Waldo might receive a lot of respect at an IJA convention but that doesn't get you VIP treatment on your way to Bern.

I'm pretty sure just about everyone out there in buskerdom knows the traveler’s check “double your net worth bit”. Unfortunately, even this can be hard to pull off when you add a rained out season in Covent Garden to a sprained left wrist from Octoberfest. Your financial portfolio might as well be labeled i-t-i-n-e-r-a-n-t.

Now we all know that being a street performer can be at least as lucrative as an assistant manager’s job at Denny’s but try telling that to a credit card company. Lucky for me, I made myself a legitimate member of the middle class years ago by doing the NACA college circuit. During that time, I somehow duped American Express into giving me my very own credit card. Believe me, having one of those little pieces of plastic makes border crossing conversations go much smoother.

So a few years later, while Waldo was visiting me in San Francisco, I received notification in the mail (syncronicity?) that I was now qualified for an American Express Gold Card. After we both stopped laughing, we used the enclosed application to apply for him to become a member on my account ... did I mention he was a good friend?

This was our agreement ... he would pay the annual fee of $75 and use the card for ID purposes only!

HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try telling that to Waldo, a month and many thousands of miles later, somewhere in Luzern, with a Swiss nubile whispering into his ear something he wished he could understand.

Soooooo back in the U.S.A., dear sweet, trusting I, start to receive bar/restaurant and (dare I reveal it) hotel bills from exotic places I can’t even pronounce properly. Never, except during my show, had I ever used such abusive language!

Honestly, I did nothing about the bills (except pay them). I knew there would soon be a day of reckoning (or at least a Renegade Stage to vent my fury on) so I let it pass and watched as the bills accumulated.

Now, call it destiny, fate or karmic debt but later that same year, while doing shows in Perth, Australia my wallet gets lifted from my hotel room (while I was sleeping!) So what’s the first thing anyone does??? ... That’s right! ... you cancel your credit cards!!!

I swear on Gazzo’s grave that I didn’t even think about the fact that I was canceling Waldo’s card at the same time! But to be honest, even if I had thought of it, I had no idea where he was or how to contact him, so there was nothing I could have done anyway.

Flash forward one month ... I’m back in the states @ Pier 39 in San Francisco and some guy walks up to me after one of my shows and says he just got back from Europe. He asks me do I know a juggler named “Waldo”? I go “Yeah, sure ... how’s he doin’?” This guy then tells me this story of woe about how when he met this guy Waldo he found him sitting on a curb in the rain, soaking wet having just got kicked out of his hotel ... something about a credit card being taken away and cut in two.

It all hit me in a flash!! ... canceling the credit card!!! ... Oh my Gawd!!!... what I had done?! What scum I was! How could I have done something like that to a friend, a fellow juggler, a veritable icon in the street performing world!

But no matter how I felt, there really was nothing I could do at that point.
I knew I was soon scheduled to perform at a festival in Cardiff, Wales and that Waldo was going to be there as well. So I hastily wrote American Express and had his Gold Card reinstated and replaced so when we met he wouldn’t punch, or worse, pass clubs with me.

Picture (if you will) my arrival in Cardiff... Waldo’s already there ... I go to the mall ... there he is ... about a block away ... he sees me too... we walk towards each other... he has a strange look on his face ... we both start to apologize at the same time... “What, you’re not mad?” ... “No, I thought you were!” ... “Me?” ... “No, man I thought you were!”

Over beers he explained how he had met this young lass in Switzerland and wanted to impress her so he used the credit card for dinner. In turn, I explained to him how I had gotten ripped off in Australia had to cancel the card. Apparently, that guy I had met at the Pier had walked up to him just as it had started raining and he was sitting on the curb because he was waiting for a cab. He was not destitute, he was just switching hotels.

Here’s the best part. About 6 months later I got a letter addressed to Waldo, himself. It was from Visa saying he’s been pre-approved for his own credit card. Apparently, they share information with other credit card companies and Waldo was now eligible for his very own card.

He filled out the application and sent it in. Since at the time he had no real address he used the Hawaiian Vaudeville Company’s, as some of you know is just a bunch of stoned juggler’s that hang out on the Big Island. When Visa called them up to verify employment they answered the phone with a very professional “HVC, Can I help you?”

Visa asked to speak with Waldo ... but were told “I’m sorry, he’s on the golf course right now and is unavailable”. So Visa thinks “Whoa! this guy has his own company, a secretary and can play golf on a Thursday” ... they sent him his own card ... pronto!

Last summer, Waldo bought me lunch while we were hanging out together in Montreal. He paid the bill with his Visa card.

Burp!

[chickenfish]

vis-a-vis Roberts sad lament for the days of body-cavity search, and close to the thread, when ever i travel cross border i shove a piece of paper with "fuck you" written on it up my copious ass. You could of course substitute "is this your card?" or "ooh up a bit, thta's it" or somesuch. Whatever you write i feel sure it will brighten their day. After all it's a shitty job they're doing and are we not entertainers?
peace
doug

[Chance]

Thanks for helping out guys, and for the funny bits as well. Now if we can get back on track and tell all the curious onlookers out there how to escape and evade those damned British border agents, we might get some new genes added to the pool at Covent Garden!

------------------
Each man's given a bag of tools,
An hourglass,
A book of rules;

And each man's built,
'ere his hour's flown,
A stumbling block -
Or a stepping stone.

[Butterfly Man]

'Nuff said re: appearance and obvious proof of your "ability to support yourself" ... the next thing to look at is your personal travel documents (e.g. plane ticket with a "return" date) ... remember, you can always change your "plans" once safely inside royal soil.
Remember boyz ... there are juggling conventions going on everywhere, all the time and you can be performing for free at any public show on any given day... just carry an IJA magazine along with you and look like a loser.
And one final word of advice ... not to be overlooked ... always carry keys with you (even if you don't live anywhere and never owned a car) ... believe it or not, keys (which you can find extra or old ones anywhere in any ones home) tell a lot about who you are to an INS agent.

Jingles the Jocular Felon

[Butterfly Man]

If you are going to Australia and get a work visa, ask for Class UC sub class 456 rather than 420 (which they normally give) ... for 5 dollars more you get multiple entries for four years.

[This message has been edited by Butterfly Man (edited 01-19-2001).]

[theballoonman]

i also found,after landing in the uk several times at different airports...that glascow was the easier of the lot...scots bein a tad bit more laid back...and its only a 45 min train to edinborogh....cheers

[worldwidese]

Caveat! Be aware that right now the UK (and most of western Europe) is doing its' best to stave off a flood of gypsies migrating from eastern Europe. Several hundred families a month have been arriving. So things are tightening up for anyone arriving from across the channel. A friend of ours from South America who arrived by car from France WITH a contract, was turned back. Main reason (the officials said,) was that he was carrying money from many different European countries.
So buck up gang, and dress like a business tycoon, and don't while away the moments in line at the port of entry by telling fortunes! Kelly

[Blake]

I have found some financial institutions give out Visa DEBIT
cards look and feel like the real deal but you can have nothin' in your account and still look good in plastic.
Has worked for me more than once.
eveb managed to overdraw it a coupla times which is theoretically not possible.
Got mine from a credit union and has come in handy.

[Byron Bertram]

When I went to Edinburgh in 99, I was worried about getting through the boarder with my stuff. I sent my stuff by air which took a week and cost about $350 Canadian. Then when I went through the boarder in Manchester, customs must've been on a day off or something. No one was there. There instead was a bunch of girls offering everybody who got off a flight free milk!!! No problem. I just wasted $350 for no reason. It's better to be saft than sorry I guess.