Travels in the Levant

About a week ago, we had a very interesting experience at the Jordanian police department. When I arrived in Jordan I was given a stamp next to my visa saying “report to nearest police station in 2 weeks.” Apperently the multi-entry visa I got in the US is good for three months, but it must be extended if I want to stay longer than two weeks. Even the people who bought their visas at the Amman airport got this stamp and so all 14 students, Curtis, Regan, and Tawfiq to a field trip to the nearest police station. We tried to find cabs but there wern’t enough to fit us all so we got on one of the many, filthy, mini buses that connect various parts of Amman. The 10 minute ride cost about 20 cents. At the police station, we all dutifully explained to the police that we just needed to extend our visas (for free) and dutifully handed over our passports. There was a little garden behind the station so some of us went and sat on the benches. Several policemen lounged around the yard and one was pulling leaves of a nearby tree and eating them. We waiting and waited and after an hour went to check on our passports. They were still “being processed.” We were then informed that the regulations had changed and that an “blood test” (I read AIDS test) was required to remain in the country more than two weeks. This test could only be performed at one hospital in Amman and would cost around $25. Not only that, but if we got the test we would have to go back 2 days later, pick of the results, and take them to the police station. The alternative, they informed us, was to pay a fine of 2JD ($2.6) per day we remained in the country after the first two weeks. This seemed strange as none of us had thought we would have to pay to stay longer than two weeks. A little while later we were informed that the price had gone down to 1.5JD per day. This whole situation still baffles me, but I decided I did not want to go through the pain and trouble of getting AIDS, and so will just have to pay the fine (on top of an exit fee) when I leave the country. Talk about a tourists racket.

After waiting another 40 minutes and with still no sign of our passports we decided to take action. Curtis told us we were going to play “ugly Americans” and so the whole group of went and stood in the tiny reception office. By standing around and getting in the way of everything that (wasn’t) happening, we were more of a nussance than the police could handle. It wasn’t long until half of us got our passports back and only another 15 minutes until the rest were returned. Curtis told us that all and all, we had gotten off easily. Hopefully, none of us will have to return to the ineffecient beaurocracy of the Jordanian police, possibly worse than American drivers lisence offices.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 29th, 2005 at 8:29 am and is filed under Amman, Jordan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.