USA, Canada /
My boyfriend is being deported to Poland because his US visa expired, help needed [53]
I guess I don't follow. Poland and several other countries did not meet the requirements so they're not part of the VWP. Czech Republic did - so they're part of VWP (I think?)
Right, the VWP consists of two criteria. One is the refusal rate, which is arbitrary, and some how magically dropped from near 30% to 13.8% in a single year. The second is the overstay rate, which is a bit more scientific, still a guess because US-VISIT doesn't work, but still hard criteria. The first is known, the second number is nowhere to be found. I'm not saying that it was some sort of conspiracy, but it is very, very, very odd that the refusal rate would drop by such a large amount over the period of 12 months.
Back before the latest round of countries included in the VWP, I knew quite a few people from both countries applying for visas. I don't know any Czechs who were refused, that includes recently graduated students, young people with no property or jobs...you know, people you would think might not come back.... On the other hand, In Poland I know of a
12 year old who was refused a visa as well as a grandmother... That really boggles the mind.
Seeing as the refusal rate is the statistic that is constantly referenced as the reason for non inclusion in the VWP, well, it just looks a bit odd.
I agree with you completely on the Mexican issue, it's important to remember that they're becoming a very powerful voting block as well.
With the health care bill fiasco, we're pretty much assured that the Republicans are going to sweep congress. Hopefully this time they'll focus on domestic policy...
