I AM CLUELESS
 

Hi i am a Brit in Grand Rapids with a problem.

I cant get home! I came to the USA 3 months ago on a visiter visa the day I was due to fly out I ended up in hospital after a fall BA will not honer my ticket, i tried and failed to get a new ticket home but having very few people in the uk. I failed with that route.

I tried the embassy no joy they told me it was a immigration problem, so today after a week being here over my visa I called the department of immigration who told me they cant do anything to help, but to contact local charities or my local paper here in the USA.

I did but nothing, so I am now in the USA no money on a friends floor cant get home and needing a beer more than you know.

Any ideas, thoughts or someone willing to post me in a big box back home!

Thanks Chris

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Have you tried calling the British embassy to get advice?

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Yes they told me there was nothing they can do, that it was US Immigration issue and nothing to do with them

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Didn't you have any travel insurance?

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

I did but only took it for a few weeks then extended my stay and it didnt cross my mind to extend my insurance

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Can't you buy a one way on your Credit card and pay it off once you are home and working.

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

I wish i could but its maxed

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

In extreme circumstances the British Embassy will help:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...5&postcount=45

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Why wont BA honor the ticket? By the way, make sure you keep records of everything and get hospital records and all that stuff. If you overstay your visa/VWP this can be forgiven under certain circumstances but you need to prove it.

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

OK ! .... Just how have you survived so far ?

Where are you staying ?

Who's computer are you using ?

Sell the f**kin thing and buy a ticket home.

Rob a bank or store, get arrested have free meals and accomodation in the nick, then when you get out they will deport you anyway :rofl:


This is a riddiculous situation you are in :rofl:

Why did you wait till the waiver expired ? You are not far from the bridge to Canada in Detriot, try and cross it and explain to the Canadia Imigration, they will send you to the US side who will detain you and deport you back to the UK ..... I know this is what happens form past experience :)

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Probably one of the cut price tickets...you can normally change the dates for a fee which is much less than buying another ticket.

I hope the OP has some sort of medical evidence to show the airline/embassy/USCIS.

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

BA said that if i stayed in Hospital over night then they might, but i was in the A & E at the time of my flight, i have a copy of all the paperwork and it shows the time so for that i am thankfull, i just e-mailed BA yet again but nothing.

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

No it was a full price ticket i changed the dates on it once, but now they are just being bloody minded

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Contact Virgin, tell them how badly you have been treated by BA ..... They may help you, but make sure you contact the UK office, not the US one (American staff have no sympathy)

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Good plan

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

What!?! Contact there HQ in the UK in writing...also enclose a copy of your email to Virgin. :sneaky:

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

I remember why i love Yorkshire girls now lol, just want to get home to Leeds

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

That's a problem right there. You need to call and get to a high up person or go to the airport and have at it with the BA management there.

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

they are obliged to fly you home if you get deported...hand yourself in...sorted...

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

i thought that so i called the US immigration department and got told to contact the press lol so much for security

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

I would take your documentation, air tickets, ER docs etc to an airport with flights back to the UK. Ask for Immigration and tell them the story face to face.Either they will force BA to take you or may even extend your visa to get it sorted.But be ready to fly at any time. The longer you leave it the worse the Immigration will think your trying it on and not look favourably at you, when you finally sort it.

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

You normally only see immigration officials when you enter the country and you cannot enter that area?

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

I can't express how much these two paragraphs offend me. There is just so much fail. I'm sorry BA wouldn't "honer" your ticket and that you've overstayed your "visiter visa" (you're here on a visa waiver, my friend, meaning you don't have a visa.)

I'll second the question; whose computer are you using?

Also, am I meant to take pity on you and send you money for getting home?
Please post some contact details and I'll get right on it. Western Union? Moneygram?


"Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid." - John Wayne. :)

Keep us posted how this pans out.

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

There's no way this is the whole story. Like Octang, I smell bullshit and/or a scam.

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Probably just wants to couch-surf and bum around the States for a few months.

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

And how do you suggest he does that with no money?:rolleyes:

My suggestion - commit yourself a crime and force them to deport you back to the UK - on their dime.....:rofl:

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Number 1 i have asked for no money from anyone on here and i wont, i only posted to get advice as the embassy wont help me BA wont help me and the US immigration wont help me. I am in a bit of a mess and dont want your money just advice and as i am aware thats still free?

And number 2 i didnt know about the visa thing but i am still only allowed 90 days in the country

And number 3 i can get on a computer at any library in the USA all i need is ID

But to the other person who told me i was trying a scam i have the documentary proof of what i saying i have the phone records showing me calling the department of homeland security i have e-mails from BA saying i cant fly and i have my passport showing my 90 days are up.

So if it is a scam i am pulling out all the stops and making it look real, or maybe just maybe i am in a bit of a hole and thats where you can put your bloody thoughts!

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Doh! Willmore, we send him the money. Wait, a better suggestion. OP should get his ass to Washington and ask for a bailout.

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

I'm just hoping there is at least one of you out there who can appreciate how much restraint it takes to avoid a waving red flag like this one:
I AM CLUELESS
English Idiot

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Then get your head out of your arse. Emailing BA won't get you anywhere. Phone up and demand to talk to a supervisor, and keep going until they agree to honor your return flight. It's not ****ing rocket science!

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

So your friend can't pony up some airfare?
You have no family?

If your insurance expired, how did you pay for your treatment in the hospital?

I don't mean to make light of your situation but it just seems... odd.

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Also if i wanted to couch-surf dont you think it would have been a better plan for me to start it say 90 days ago not a week after my visa is up, it makes more sense.

And i take it your saying i came to the states with no way of getting back to the UK but i had to have a return ticket before they would let me in.

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

How did you pay for your A&E treatment?

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

I didnt pay they are sending me a bill to my address in the uk, and i dont have family, the few people i know dont have the money 2 weeks before christmas.

Your right it does look odd and when i got off the phone with homeland security last night as i reported myself as a illegal alien, and got told to call back in the morning they didnt even take my name.

But what i am saying is the truth, i will write a book when i get there and make a fortune.

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

He hasnt asked for money, show him some compassion.....

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Dont you think i have done that?

I haven just sat back and let this happen, the moment i found out they would not help i called them, then i called the uk office, then i sent e-mails,

What do i do next chain myself naked to there office?

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Okay, okay, calm down. Did you give the hospital a false address? If not, you're going to have to write that bestseller to cover your hospital bills.
What exactly did they do? Please don't say you let them prick you with any needles! An ambulance perchance? -shudder-

If you really are in trouble, look for contact information for Dean Churm. He posts here occasionally. He's the British Consul (search the forums for Dean Churm, username "British Consul").

Good luck.

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Your whole situation seems a bit surreal to be honest and I don't know what Embassy you called but my advice if you are really stuck, which you seem to be would be to try them again, 9 times out of 10 they won't help you financially because that's just not possible if you think of the amount of cases they have to deal with where people call wanting money, but they will do what they can to help you get home, at the end of the day if you are geninuely in a situation that is beyond your control and it's as bad as you say they will try to help or at least advise you on what to do rather than just saying they can't help.

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

Listen, I get cynicism, I'm quite a critic myself.

However...

The UK citizen that is on this site, is staying with me.

I am also the friend that drove him to the hospital (where I work, mind you), to be looked at the day that his flight was due out. After attempting to reschedule his flight with no success, I called the next morning (because often airlines will have a "missed flight policy" allowing rebooking of a flight if the airline is contacted within 24 hours of said departure). Again, no help from BA. They stated to me that the only way his ticket would be honored (I can spell just fine, but how pety are you to scoff at someone for a typo or error in spelling....) The only way his ticket would be honored was with proof of a hospital admission. Oh!! I wish I would have know, then, rather than allowing him to slip on doggie water dish puddles, and tumble down the linoleum stairs, I shall attempt to shove him firmly as he slides down...ensuring an admission and a rescheduling of the flight per British Airlines guidlines. Hah!

Anyhow.

BA would not help unless he was ADMITTED into the hospital. I was in contact with the local UK consulate office twice. Twice I was returned a call from " the emergency hotline number" and a lovely lady with a fine british accent told me "im sorry this is now a matter of US immigrations and we cannot help him."

I have witnessed his calls to ICE (Immigration Enforcement), as well as the US Department of State, the local newspaper, and failed attempts for a return email from BA.

So....

I do not have the funds to send him home... and we are at a loss of ideas on where to turn next. If he were looking to couch surf I am quite sure he would have done that beginning Sept 5th, when he entered the country, rather than after his 90 day stay was up.

Any REAL ideas? We would love to hear them. Not too keen on "breaking the law and getting deported" as the only option.

Thank you kindly,

"The friend in the US"

Re: I AM CLUELESS
 

I can't win, Willmore. Last night you accused me of being too syruppy!