There was one aspect of the Djokovic visa saga that I found particularly interesting and that was his blunder on his entry form. The question was whether he had visited any countries prior to arrival in Australia and he, or rather ‘his team,’ answered “no” even though he, and his team, had been in Spain. This lie was dutifully described as an “error.”
But entry forms can be tricky. Flying into Vietnam in 1994 I was given a number of forms, per usual for a communist country, one of which asked my occupation. This seemingly straightforward question was made complicated by the fact that I was traveling on a tourist visa. So I didn’t want to write journalist, even though I was then employed by, and traveling to Vietnam for, the Sun-Sentinel. I waffled between “travel writer” and “economist” and finally went with the former. My hope was that the customs officer would see me as the harmless, insignificant creature that my colleagues back in the newsroom viewed me as.
He stamped my passport without hesitation.
