Initially appeared on doktorko.com 11/6/2005.
A few months ago, during a conversation with the eminent Dr. Barias (founder of Doktorko), it came up that if and when i decide to have children, i should make sure that s/he is born here in the US. I agreed in principle, if only to ensure that my kid has options when s/he grows up (which, when you think about it, is really the only lasting legacy that a parent can bequeath upon his child). One thing that caught my ear was his statement that the child would have the advantage of having a US Passport - which would allow him or her to travel freely around the world with no restrictions (i.e. without the need for a Visa).
This of course both piqued my interest and provoked my patriotic fervor. Are the Americans so omnipotent that they can travel anywhere with impunity?! Grabe na ito, i know they're a rich country (arguably the richest, although baon rin naman sa utang, haha) but to impose restrictions on all travelers entering their country and be unrestricted when they themselves travel?! Putragis itong mga 'kano na ito!
(As an aside, the reason i feel so passionate about this is that i've known a few Americans - including ones with dual-citizenship - who made so many flag-waving statements (i.e. "I'm so proud to be American!") that it made me sick. I guess i can forgive the true-blue 'kano - but to have dual citizenship and not be proud of being Filipino? That's just blind colonialism.)
Still, as with most things, i forgot about that conversation until recently (i.e. this morning). Then i decided to google it and settle the issue once and for all.
Spending five minutes on research, i found that it's evidently not true that Americans can travel anywhere with gleeful abandon. True, they can go to many places without travel Visas - but mostly these are First World countries with whom they probably have reciprocating agreements (i.e. the European countries). And even then, there are stipulations on how long they can stay - usually 90 days before they need to produce more travel documents. For many countries of interest, they are still required to have travel Visas.
Noteworthy to mention: travel to our beloved Philippines does not require a Visa for the first 21 days; but thereafter it does. Still unfair, given how much trouble we have to go through when want to go stateside, but not as lopsided as i first thought.
Here's a link.
Oh well, at least this calms me down a little bit.
Not so omnipotent after all.
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