Salam be hame va salam be Arman asabani ;)
Baba mardom karo zendegi daran, hame ke mese man o to allaf nistan dadashe man :).
Chi mikhastam begam??
Ahan… rooze shanbe tasmim gereftim ba Parmis ye sar berim Buffalo.
Kar nadarim enghadr fes fes kardim ke saat shod 1 zohr.
Parmis mikhast mive o ye meghdar khordani biare ke man nazashtam chon midoonestam ke too marz hameye khordania ro migiran, makhsoosan marze zamini.
Belakhare saate 3 residim be marz nobate mashine ma ke shod ye officer-e home land security ke ye zane latin kochooloo bood …
Officer (without greeting) : Citizenship?
Me: Good afternoon officer we are Canadian.( I gave her our passports).
O: what is the purpose of travel?
Me: Shopping in Buffalo.
O: How long are you planning to stay?
Me: one night we will be back tomorrow afternoon.
O: I see your place of birth is Iran, do you have another passport?
Me: yes we do but we don’t use it.
O: is your Iranian passport still valid?
Me: I think so, but I am not sure.
O: When did you go to Canada?
Me: 2001.
O: How come you became Canadian so soon?
Me: We immigrated to Canada and became permanent residents since our arrival in 2001. Under Canadian law every permanents can apply for Canadian citizenship after three years.
O: have you ever traveled to Iran since your arrival to Canada?
Me: yes.
O: Why?
Me: to visit our family and friends.
...Officer talks on the Radio,” K9 unit two Persians in a red van” and she keeps our passports
O: Follow the red line to office (she gives me a ticket, number 19).
Inside the office there are many people from different nations.
Jamaican, Ukrainians, Arabs, Indians (from India), Pakistanis and….
Jamaicans kids are playing with Arab kids and Indian mom is breast feeding her kid.
Pakistanis are frowning and looking at everyone with anger.
After 1 hour they call us: Mr. Ayman Shifiloo.
Me: ma ro seda kard pasho berim (we wait until they open the door by releasing the magnetic lock).
We are inside and a black officer calls my name.
O: Sir, do you have your Iranian passport with you?
Me: no I don’t, I don’t use it so I don’t carry it around.
O: But it’s still valid right?
Me: Most probably yes.
O: Why do you have a Persian Passport?
Me: Because we are Persian.
O: Sir, I asked you a simple question, are you Canadian or Persian?
Me: Both, Under both counties laws we can have another citizenship as well.
O: When will you use your Persian passport?
(I am starting to realize that owning an Iranian passport is an issue)
Me: I don’t know probably never, or probably when I want to go to Iran,
O: So you won’t use your Canadian pass for traveling to Iran.
Me: Look officer I have validated my Iranian passport two years ago in Ottawa because I wanted to be able to travel to Iran and at that time that was the only passport I got and then I became Canadian last October (5 months ago).
O: Sir, I will need to talk to my supervisor, so have a seat and we will call you.
We sit for another 20 minutes and he calls us again.
O: Sir after talking to my supervisor I realized that you have to go through some procedures here, here is a pamphlet you have to read.( and he gives me a 20 pages document and we start reading it right away).
(after 15 mins) Me: Ok we read the document.
O: have a seat and I’ll call you.
(Parmis needs to go to washroom)
Me: officer could you please open the door my wife needs to use the washroom.
O: sure (and he releases the lock)
While Parmis is walking out of the door a black guy takes the opportunity and steps in.
(Very loud almost yelling ) a white officer: Where are you going?
Black guy: I need to get my passport.
O: Get out and stay out, we will call you when it’s your turn.
(On his way out) Black guy: Jesus !!! holy crap!! fuck!! Pigs!!
Door opens and a Ukrainian family come in, they are all wearing suits and night dresses.
O: Where are you going?
Ukrainian family: We are going to our cousin’s wedding in Niagara falls( US Side) and we will be back tonight.
Officer gives them their documents (Ukrainian Passports) and they happily leave.
Our officer sees Parmis behind the door and opens the door.A Brazilian family comes in at the same time.
White Officer: Ctizenship?
Brazilian Family: Brazilian.
O: Where are you going in states?
BF: We are going to NY
O: What’s your status in Canada?
BF: we are permanent residents since January 2006.
O: Ok have a safe trip.
And Brazilian family leave the office.
Officer calls us.
O: Sir I need to take your left and right index finger prints.
And I put my left index finger on the scanner and then the right one.
O: Now I need to take your picture.
I smile and he takes my picture.
O: Please have a seat and I will call you.
Parmis and I are tired. An Iranian family comes in they have the same problem. Mother in law in the family is a 65-70 years old woman who happened to have a valid Persian passport, they finger print her and took her picture .I start talking to them
Me: sadagheye sare velayate faghihe dige and I smile. They don’t answer obviously they don’t want to communicate.
Officer calls Parmis and the same goes for Parmis except scanner cannot scan Parmis’s finger lines and she has to try it again and again.
After almost 10 minutes Parmis is done with the procedures and she sits besides me for another 20 minutes.
Officer calls us and says we are done and we can also happily enter United States of America.
Me: I have a question I flew once before and didn’t go through these procedures.
O: Let me check
And he checks his computer and says : I do not see any violation here but you should explain why you didn’t say the first time that you have a Persian passport.
Me: No one asked the first time.
O: You are good to go for now and please notice that you have to do the same when going back to Canada.
Me: Finger print and Picture again?
O: yes.
I am about to ask the officer why again that Parmis hits gently my back and I realize that she means I should shut the fuck up so we can get the hell out of here.
Me and Parmis: Thanks
O: You’re welcome.
We go out tired and angry, but we get over it little by little.
Sunday we go through the same stupid procedures to get back to Canada.
Now on the border to Canada:
Canadian officer (without greeting): Citizenship?
Me: Good afternoon, Canadian.
CO: Do you have anything to declare?
Me: No
CO: Have a good day.
