Van Wely denied entry to U.S. for lacking a work visa
On Monday night at Newark Airport Loek van Wely was denied to enter the United States because he “lacked a work visa”. When the Dutch grandmaster told the authorities that, among other things, he was going to teach chess to American kids, they considered this an illegal working activity. As a result of that, Van Wely’s entry was refused, he got detained, handcuffed and escorted by police to a plane and deported.
Monday, July 9th at 21.30 Loek van Wely arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport. He had just started a big trip to the USA. As always, at customs he was asked what he was going to do in the USA, and he explained that he would celebrate holidays, play poker, play chess and participate in two chess camps.
This attracted their attention,
Van Wely told us on the phone on Wednesday night.
I explained that I was going to teach kids chess, and they asked if I would be earning money with this. I said yes, and told them how much. Then they detained me.
Van Wely was held in a small room for eight hours, and had to hand over his mobile phone.
I was allowed to make one phone call, as if I was some dangerous criminal. I called the Duch consulate, but they couldn’t help me,
said Van Wely. On Tuesday morning at 04:30 AM he was handcuffed and escorted to a terminal. There he had to wait for another 4.5 hours before he was escorted by police to a plane which flew him back to London. (He had also flown to Newark via London.)
Besides visiting Atlantic City, New York and Las Vegas, Van Wely was going to coach quite strong teenagers, rated between 2200 and 2500, in Saint Louis for a few days. Later he would also join a short chess camp in L.A.
Instead of considering this a noble act, they looked at this as an illegal working activity. (…) I was surprised I didn’t end up in Guantanamo Bay,
Van Wely wrote on Facebook, where he revealed the whole affair in a status update on Wednesday.
Full article here on Chessvibes.
Beyond stupid by the authorities but this pattern of abuse of incoming travelers has become all too common. Some personnel in Customs and especially the TSA seem to do this sort of thing simply because they can.
That´s a shame for US authorities!
So sad.
Why not let him make several more calls? Perhaps he could have found a US GM to tell them that he was once a Candidates player for the World chess championship.
Common sense is not that common.
Good to see the Obama Administration crack down on out-sourcing and shady characters like Van Wely who come to take jobs from our own chess Grand Masters and contribute to the trade deficit. The last thing America needs is ideas from abroad. They should have done a little water boarding of Mr Van Wely to shake down any novelties he might be concealing.
Idiots indeed.
This country has become an ignorant, authoritarian stinking pile of feces!
This country has become an ignorant, authoritarian stinking pile of feces!
USA’s authotities never stops disgusting me. Crazy cowboys.
Like in any other country, including Netherlands, you need a working visa to make money in a country. And you need to ask for one to get it. It’s a shame he don’t understand: peoples who invited him let him down, not US authorities. This is not a “noble act”, it’s a business for him, as in “not free from my hearth”. I’m sure he can get a working visa for “special abilities” if he came back to earth and ask for it.
U.S. chess camp organizers can avoid this happening to their lecturers by arranging for J1 or similar visas, the same way other summer camps handle this. There are a number of websites specializing in visas for camps, such as http://www.migrationexpert.com/exchange_visa/
Academics, au pairs, students, etc use this process all the time.
U.S. chess camp organizers can avoid this happening to their lecturers by arranging for J1 or similar visas, the same way other summer camps handle this. There are a number of websites specializing in visas for camps, such as http://www.migrationexpert.com/exchange_visa/
Academics, au pairs, students, etc use this process all the time.
U.S. chess camp organizers can avoid this happening in the future by arranging for J1 or similar visas, the same way other summer camps handle this. There are a number of websites specializing in visas for camps, such as http://www.migrationexpert.com/exchange_visa/
Academics, au pairs, students, etc use this process in other fields.
Sad that this happened.
Yes and while this GM was being detained for not having the “proper and special visa” a couple of hundred pounds of drugs went right through that same airport, they had the “proper and special visa”.
Had one of our American GM’s landed in the Netherlands to teach at a chess camp, I can assure you he would not have been deported.
Again, our government is always concerned about the people that can legally enter the country while those that cannot do so legally – well they simply walk right into the country.
Anon who talks about water boarding: that’s a real good one! 🙂
I like GM Van Wely. He has a great sense of humor. I even have one of his instructional DVD’s. Clearly he was honest with the ICE officials. BUT WHY DIDN’T HE GET THE PROPER VISA BEFORE HE CAME?? It’s not a big deal, based on what he was planning to do. That is just laziness.
Van Wely works for al-qaeda. He is a terrorist like Karpov and Carlsen.
Ok, he did not have a working visa, but was it necessary to handcuff him like a criminal? Can’t they just tell the difference between a crime and a mistake? You can deny a person entrance, but handcuffing?
It seems they enjoy mistreating people everytime they have a chance. Pathetic.
I think he should have gotten a work visa ahead of time, but I also think the authorities could have contacted whoever the promoters of the chess camp were and come to some understanding and fined them and allowed him in. Someone would have had to come to the airport to release him perhaps. Handcuffs? A bit heavy handed.