Originally posted by chancremechanicI think you missed the point that she's already there and not planning to come back. The question was about citizenship, not about where to live.
Yeah, who would want to come here and have to work for the American dream when they can sit on their arse and have others pay for their "days off"......🙄
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Originally posted by mokkoLol, yes, I am aware of that. 😀 I doubt anybody would get a ticket for walking when the light is red here (driving is a different matter, of cousre), and everybody does it, but it's still against the rules. But on most corners there are no traffic lights. Some have a zebra crossing, but most don't even have white lines. If there are traffic lights or a zebra crossing nearby, you are supposed to cross there, but otherwise you can cross wherever (yes, I misspelt that the last time, but you made it even worse 😠) you want.
Red light mean stop...Green light means go.
Originally posted by chancremechanicYou do realize that the "american dream" is just that these days? A dream. Whereas I'm leading a good and healthy life over here in good ol' Sweden, you're working for a dream. Yes, I can see how I would want to move over there. Ha ha... 😵
Yeah, who would want to come here and have to work for the American dream when they can sit on their arse and have others pay for their "days off"......🙄
{Sidenote: I speak of the US of course, not Canada. Canada is a much better society in just about every respect (or so I've been told).}
Originally posted by wormwoodThere has been controversy in Australia about similar situations. How long do you have to stay in a country to belong in that country?
that's nothing. I know a guy who moved from germany into u.s. when he was 2 years old. thirty years later he got caught smoking pot. nothing unusual there, but ten years later, when the big brother turned on paranoia machine, things started to happen. bad things: one day two well dressed man showed up on his door. "you'll have to come with us, sir." no reas ...[text shortened]... ve heard other similar stories since. I think "police state" might be an understatement.
The answer, in a strict legal sense, is that it really doesn't matter. If you never take out citizenship, you have (legally) shown no allegiance to that country and it's not under much of an obligation to show 'allegiance' to you.
One of the courts here drew the line at a guy who had been born in Sweden because his Australian mother (of Swedish descent) went into labour a bit early and had to stay put rather than come back home first. He'd been here since he was a couple of weeks old. But really, he never would have had a PROBLEM if he'd ever bothered to acquire citizenship. Probably liked avoiding the compulsory voting system we have...
Originally posted by arrakisOkay, RIGHT way to challenge a ticket, go to court (or better yet, just write to the authority that issued the ticket!) and explain why you think you shouldn't pay.
Many years ago my oldest sister had to pay a traffic ticket for going 10 miles over. She parked at the meter in front of the courthouse, putting in enough money to last an hour... However, because she hit the courthouse right before lunch, she was there a little over an hour. 1 hour and 5 minutes to be exact.
Imagine her surprize when she went to her car ...[text shortened]... owards that $5.00 parking ticket. Sure messed up her life though.
True story.
Unilateral declarations like your sister's are (a) only going to lead to trouble and (b) pretty arrogant frankly. What, she thinks the traffic cop is supposed to KNOW where the owner of the car is and what they're doing?
Yup definately go challenge the ticket
Done that a few times and either got the ticket dropped or lessened the fee.
Pleaded being a student when I got a R500 for speeding dropped down to R150.
Got a fine for parking on the wrong side of the road in america when they were clearing the streets after a heavy snowfall. Went to the council said I a) come from friggn S.Africa where they don`t have snow and how am I supposed to know which side of the street to park? The apparently put up signs, told them no sign was posted on my street. She said she`ll check and apparently the sign was a street away "not my street" so ticket dropped. Or just bride them!
Originally posted by orfeoA lovely story from Bill Bryson (author): I think he was originally American and his wife British, but could be confused as he's lived in both for long periods. Anyway, an American friend of his came back to the US with his daughter, who had been born in Britain. They’d arranged for her to have US residency, but for part of it she was taken into an interrogation type room and asked a stream of questions such as "do you or have you ever been a communist", "do you intend to assassinate the president" and "are you a practicing homosexual" - all of which might make some loose sense before you take into account that the girl was only 5 years old!
There has been controversy in Australia about similar situations. How long do you have to stay in a country to belong in that country?
The answer, in a strict legal sense, is that it really doesn't matter. If you never take out citizenship, you have (legally) shown no allegiance to that country and it's not under much of an obligation to show 'allegiance' ...[text shortened]... d to acquire citizenship. Probably liked avoiding the compulsory voting system we have...
In contrast, Bill was moving back to the UK with his family after several years in the US. On arrival at UK customs they got stopped because whereas all of his older children had been born in the UK his youngest had been born in the US and had no British citizenship - something that hadn't occurred to him. The officer informed him that technically, as they intended to reside in the UK, his son would have to return to the US and file for residency, but said that he would consult with his supervisor. When he came back the officer leaned over and told Bill to reply to his supervisor with simply "2 weeks". When the supervisor arrived and asked how long they intended to remain in the UK, Bill gave the answer of 2 weeks, to which the supervisor replied that there was no problem with their entry - but while they were on their 'holiday' they might want to consider applying for residency for their youngest 'just in case they decided to stay longer'.
I've done a horrible job of paraphrasing what he wrote, and have certainly got some details wrong, but the gist is still there and I find it a lovely (if admittedly individual) example of the difference between blindly following the letter of the law and using some common sense and human decency.