Keep a Low Profile Before You Go to America

The story is remarkably simple.

"Mr. Tian, I start in the spring semester. Nothing's going on these few days — where are you going for New Year's?"

"Russia."

"Take me along."

"No."

After much pleading — "please," various English equivalents, the works —

"Fine. Come along."

At the Russian border, customs presumably saw my passport bristling with Western visas and didn't flag me. But the student — holding a passport with a single, solitary American visa stamped inside — was pulled aside and marched to a small room.

After squatting by the wall for a while, he was released. He opened his passport to check the entry stamp.

The Russian entry stamp, stamped squarely on top of the US visa.

The Russian entry stamp had been applied directly on top of the American visa page.

The student spent the next few days equal parts sightseeing and venting. I listened and privately thought: this is genuinely unfortunate, but also — was it malice? A dark joke? A border officer who just wanted to watch the chaos? Impossible to say.

After a restless New Year's, he decided to go home early.

Which meant he needed an exit stamp to match. The customs officer obliged.

The exit stamp, completing the set.

The lesson writes itself. If you are heading to the United States — especially soon, especially on a fresh student visa — keep a low profile and do not wander. Some stamps are harder to explain than others.