Back in The Village again
9 March 2009 by Mike GogulskiPosted in diary | 26 Comments »
I just returned from the Slovak Aliens’ Police office, where I received my freshly-minted 1954 Convention Travel Document (cestovný doklad osoby bez štátnej príslušnosti).
I also submitted an application there for issuance of a replacement sticker for my residence permit, which I’ll have to pick up there in a couple of weeks.
Slovakia stateless person's 1954 Convention Travel Document, cover
So, I’m now an officially-documented stateless person. I’m also once again officially a human being, at least as far as concerns those annoying institutions like banks, government offices and so on, which treat people like they don’t exist if they don’t have currently-valid state identity papers.
Surprising to me, my new Proof of Humanity actually does have information and the Slovak national regalia on the front cover.
Some interesting text, verbatim from the English version, from page 33:
The holder of travel document under the Convention of 28 September 1954 is an alien with legal status of a person without state citizenship, who was granted a permission for permanent residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic. He/she is under protection of the Slovak Republic. All whom it may concern are hereby requested to afford the holder of this travel document all necessary aid and protection according to international law.
And the data page
Oooooh, protection!
Some typical translation errors there with regard to the use of articles. Neat conflict, too, between what this document says and what my visa says. I’m actually here on a temporary residence permit, not permanent.
In any case, coming back from bureaucroland I couldn’t get Iron Maiden’s old track “Back in The Village” out of my head.
Welcome back to The Village, Number Six.
(Updated: linked to full-resolution images)
Iron Maiden, “Back in the Village”, Powerslave, 1984.
Turn the spotlights on the people,
Switch the dial and eat the worm.
Take your chances, kill the engine,
Drop your bombs and let it burn.
White flags shot to ribbons,
The truce is black and burned,
Shellshock in the kitchen,
Tables overturned.
CHORUS
Back in the village again,
In the village.
I’m back in the village again.
Throwing dice now, rolling loaded,
I see sixes all the way.
In a black hole, and I’m spinning
As my wings get shot away.
BRIDGE
Questions are a burden,
And answers are a prison for oneself,
Shellshock in the kitchen,
Tables start to burn.
CHORUS
No breaks on the inside,
Paper cats and burning barns,
There’s a fox among the chickens,
And a killer in the hounds.
BRIDGE
CHORUS
But still we walk into the valley,
And others try to kill the inner flame,
We’re burning brighter than before,
I don’t have a number, I’M A NAME!
CHORUS x2
Back in the village,
And I’m back in the village,
And I’m back in the village, again
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26 Responses to “Back in The Village again”
By Sunni on 9 March 2009
Interesting. As an aside, I never was a fan of Iron Maiden, dunno why (maybe my brother, who was my supplier, wasn’t a fan) … methinkest it’s time to remedy that.
By Darian W on 9 March 2009
For your audio visual enjoyment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tb8Jo11uGo
By Mike Gogulski on 9 March 2009
@Sunni: You’ve perhaps seen the most freedom-oriented Maiden stuff here already, though there is more. Still, see if you can get the snolfs to dance to it
@Darian: Excellent! Now, this is the song that should have been going through my head, though the later track was a fit, too. Cheers
By Stephanie on 10 March 2009
Perhaps you don’t need the reissuance of the temporary residence permit now that you have a document that says you’re a permanent resident. At any rate, congrats on being back on the radar and officially accepted by the Slovak gov’t and, therefore, the EU. You’ve come out the other side successfully.
By Mike Gogulski on 10 March 2009
@Stephanie: I’m not convinced this was any big win, really. Saying “fuck it” to US citizenship was the point. This is now just a survival measure, and something I wouldn’t engage in at all if I didn’t feel the risks of not doing so were so high. Meh.
By alex on 11 March 2009
excellent. thanks for the pictures.
a few things i notice:
a. valid for only 15 months?! why is that? is that when your temporary residency expires? i hope the thing is not too expensive if it has such short validity.
b. what i find hilarious is that the document type “PA” actually stands for passport. at any rate it does not stand for “titre de voyage”. i think most countries use “P” for passport, i know switzerland uses “PA” for their non-biometric passports. wonder what they use for travel documents.
c. it is hilarious that they could not be bothered to have a proper translation into english in there. is there a french text as well?
d. phoenix instead phoenix, united states (in slovak) is weird.
e. that’s it.
By alex on 11 March 2009
i forgot: i hope there are many pages for visas if you intend to travel outside of the EU/Schengen!
By liv on 11 March 2009
That’s so cool… I’m jealous…
Although I’m not sure I know a whole lot of where you’re living…
Taking that sort of giant leap deserves a “well done.”
By Mike Gogulski on 11 March 2009
@Alex: yes, it’s co-terminous with my visa expiration. However, the passport’s validity can be extended via notations and stamps on the inside. Yes, there’s French text, but I can’t judge the translation quality there. Probably this is one of very few such documents issued by Slovakia. Yes, Phoenix without the country is odd! And it has the standard number of pages, 34 I think.
@Liv: Thanks! Slovakia’s no stranger than Greensboro
By alex on 12 March 2009
there is no standard in passport page numbers as far as i know. usa has few, countries like singapore many more.
give me the french please. i wanna judge it!
alex
By Nemam.Ani.Na.Kavu on 12 March 2009
Cool, thanks for posting the photos.
How does it work, if you would like to visit a country that did not sign the convention? Are there any potential complications?
-
Čo Ťa priviedlo práve na Slovensko, ak sa smiem spýtať?
By Seth on 12 March 2009
I think it’s great that the city of Phoenix is listed w/out a corresponding state mafia territory designator. I look foward to the day when “countries” and “states” no longer exist nor enjoy the grip on the publics mind that they seem to at present.
By Mike Gogulski on 13 March 2009
@Alex: Okay, at some point
@Nemam: As far as I know, this is accepted anywhere as an official identity/travel document, regardless of whether or not the country is party to the treaty. However, I now no longer am covered by any visa reciprocity regime, so traveling anywhere outside the Schengen zone will require me to obtain a visa in advance. Myslím si, že mám odpoveď na Tvoju otázku tu: http://www.nostate.com/284/why-slovakia/
@Seth: Hey, that is cool! Good eye, sir!
By alex on 20 March 2009
k. thanks. =)
By Libby Snipp on 11 May 2009
This is very interesting.
What would happen if you apply for a visa to travel to the so-called US and/or other countries outside the Schengen zone? Would you be willing to try it?
I look forward to learning more from your experiences!
By Mike Gogulski on 11 May 2009
As far as I know, I would need to go through the most-restrictive visa application rigamarole. Haven’t done that yet, and don’t really have a plan or need to do so in the immediate future.
At least applying for a visa to visit the US would be quite an event. I would expect it to be denied, though going through the process could lead to an interesting series of blog postings
By Name1 on 15 June 2009
Are you going to apply for a Permanent Residence Permit in Slovkia?
The traveler’s document may not provide for Visa Free outside the Schengen, but your Temporary/Permanent Slovak Residence sticker may allow you access to other international countries. Also, there are some ‘Visa on Arrival’ countries to travel to in the world.
Partial List?
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Cuba
Djibouti
Egypt
Gambia
Georgia
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Laos
Macao
Maldives
Mozambique
Nepal
Togo
Zambia
Zimbabwe
The countries allowing travel based on your EU Residence Permit could be more interesting tho.
By manuel salta on 28 July 2009
07/29/2009
to: MR MICHAEL JUDE GOGULSKI
(stateless person)
dear mr gpgulski myfren,
good afternoon! i have seen your SLOVAK REPUBLIC TRAVEL DOCUMENT & IDENTIFICATION will you please kindly send me the contact email address and the websites of the foreign affairs department in slovac republic were your travel documents issued? be informed that i am also a “stateless person” together with my childrens. i am a World Service Authority Passport holder, issued at WSA-tokyo office, japan. but my WSA Passport do not want to recognized by the united states government & other foreign embassy’s here in the philippines. it is a great pleasure if you can help me to acquire said Slovac Republic Travel Documents for stateless person/s, like me. heres my direct email address just in case you read this: mansalta2003@yahoo.com. thank you very very much. hope to hear from you soon myfren Michael Gogulski. MANSALTA
By Mike Gogulski on 28 July 2009
Manuel, see http://www.minv.sk/?uhcp for the Interior Ministry’s Aliens’ Police division, and http://www.minv.sk/?kontakty-25&kontakt=507&od=1757 to send them an email.
Warning, it’s all in Slovak!
By Sean on 4 November 2009
Shouldn’t you wait until you get citizenship in
another country before you renounce your own?
I’d imagine it would make things easier.
By Mike Gogulski on 4 November 2009
@Sean: Perhaps it would have, but it’s done. And, by certain measures, life is pretty hard regardless.
By Subversive Uncle Frank on 27 February 2010
It may be your actual experience that you would have to go through the hardest visa process to travel to the U.S., but the U.S. is a signer to the human rights declaration.
It includes the right to return to your country and there is no “except if you renounced citizenship.”
In addition, the U.S. Supreme court has specifically ruled that renouncing your citizenship does not in any way affect your right to enter the U.S., remain in the U.S. or seek gainful employment.
If you want to give it a try, I wouldn’t apply for a visa. I would take your cancelled passport, your new travel document, your certificate of loss of nationality and your birth certificate and simply go.
Once immigration reads their own regulations, they should allow you to enter.
By Jessica Sideways on 7 April 2010
Oooh, protection. Does that mean they will hire bodyguards for you? How’d you swing that? ;-P
@Uncle: Yeah, we’ll see about that, especially if I return to the United States of Jesusland with a nationality and passport under the VWPP.
By Anonymous on 24 April 2010
Good on you, Mike. What’s funny is that I’ve just applied for US citizenship (I’m an asylee in the US) because I’m tired of the travel document (which is woefully expensive here- almost $400 for a document that lasts a year!). I would love some of your courage and conviction. Maybe someday…
By TheOneLaw on 17 May 2010
Alternative travel documents are available
for those who meet the requirements.
Ask around, if you are interested.
It is never the end of the world,
merely an utterly difficult situation.