DENIED

On Tuesday, I get on Virgin Atlantic Airlines around midnight heading to Heathrow Airport in London. The flight was great!  I had the entire row to myself. Caught up on all the latest movies, had some good food, went through some music, got some sleep and woke up landing in Wednesday morning ready to take on London for a mini weekend tour. 

I head toward customs. I’m messaging all my friends, posting pictures on my Facebook and Twitter. The line moved quickly. All I had was a small carry on and my backpack. With a smile on my face, I walked up to the immigration officer and then it began.

First, to fully understand the story let me explain what my original travel plans were. Arrive in London on Wednesday morning. I had a friend from the states there on business that I was meeting up with til Friday. On Friday, I planned to meet with one of the promoters during the day and play at a club that night. Saturday same thing and leave on Sunday. I would be at a hotel the first two nights, then was going to be staying with one of my DJ friends over there, but I had no idea where he lived because he was going to just pick me up. All my contacts were through my BBM, Blackberry messenger, or email since its easier just to use your data plan when you travel then paying for international calls. My DJ friend was out of the country til Thursday, which didn’t matter since I had other plans with friends and was meeting him on Friday at the club. 

Now I’ve traveled and played in different countries before. Usually, you say I’m here for vacation for a couple days, all I have is a backpack and a carry on and there’s really no questions or hassle. Get into the country, DJ, and head back. Never once being asked to provide any documents. People do it all the time, if you’re a traveling DJ most likely you have as well. You think to yourself, I have a laptop, some headphones and records...I’m into music and that’s what I travel with. It’s not a crime....or is it?

Im going to share with you step by step what happened. The questions and the process. Some of it will be conversation. 

O: Officer and Me. I walked up to the desk. The officer was a young woman probably mid-twenties. I was smiling, she was smiling, and I handed my filled out form. Occupation: Entertainment.

O: Hello sir, what is your purpose for being here. Me: I’m here for a couple of days visiting some friends. O: Who are you visiting? Me: I’m staying with my friend at a hotel, he’s an American, here on business, I also have some friends that live here as well. O: Who are the London friends you are visiting here? Me: A couple people I know that I met through over the summer while I was DJing in Spain. O: Yes, I see entertainment, so you’re a DJ? Me: Yes, I’m a professional DJ. Now remember, the officer is young female around my age, whom I sure after work goes to the same clubs I’d probably be working at that weekend. Very calm and friendly.  O: So you’re a DJ, and are you playing here?...It begins. Now the “officer” starts to come out and I realize that I need to be very careful with the next words I’m about to say. Me: No, I’m not playing here or getting paid for any type of work.     

O: Do you mind stepping over here so we can take a look at your bags real quick? Me: Sure, no problem. Again, I’ve traveled before and have had my bags searched. I still wasn’t too worried.

They open my bags. My carry on had some clothes and then they opened my backpack. My DJ laptop with my DJ name all over it. Records, needles, headphones, and a huge stack of business cards. O: So this is what you use to DJ? Me: Yes. O: Can I have one of your business cards? Me: Sure. O: Ok sir, can you just follow me real quick, we just have to do a further search on you. Me: No, problem. They take me to this room. The nice sweet girl still smiling. O: Give me your hands real quick, just have to take your fingerprints before you enter the room. Oh and if you can sit right there while I take your picture.  Me: Is everything OK? What’s the reason for bringing me back here? O: We’ll I have reason to believe you’re not here only for vacation and we just need to ask you a few more questions before we let you through. 

She then takes me down stairs, underneath the airport, to this room. All concrete. I walk inside. There’s two people sitting at a desk. They weren’t officers, just supervisors to watch the people being held. They did a pat down. They kept my bags, and took my cell phone. They then put me into a locked holding room. O: You need to wait here and someone will be with you shortly ask you some questions. Door closed. I took a seat. Inside, the room there were a couple other people. Some were Arab, an Indian kid, an English guy, a girl from some place I’ve never heard of and a Black former US soldier named Reggie. Reggie just flew in from Washington D.C. He was a disabled vet. who had a fiance and two children living in London. He also was stationed there for 3 years of his service. He was there to finalize wedding plans. His last visit, his fiance came down with the swine flu. He stayed with her. His visa expired and he left 7 days later. That’s why he was being held. I spoke to him the most and had to watch him take phone call after phone call inside there from his crying kids and future wife explaining that he might not make it to see them. By the way, the idea that we are US Citizens and have rights and protection from our embassy and someone will come and save us...false.

After 3 hours, another female officer walks in. O: Dean, come with me please. She takes me to the interrogation room. The way the process works is they ask you a bunch of questions, writing down WORD for WORD what you say. They then take that piece of paper, bring it to their chief, who you never see, and from what they give him he makes a judgement to let you stay or to deny you entry. O: So you say you’re here for vacation correct? Me: Yes. O: So you are not DJing or getting paid to DJ anywhere here? Me: No. O: Well, we took a looked at your website (on business card) and a couple others and they say you are playing Friday and Saturday night. At this point, I knew what they saw but still was confident I can work through it. Me: We’ll let me explain. I know it seems like that but the reality is I was coming over here for vacation. I have some other DJ friends that are playing and sometimes as DJ’s you can hop on and play for a little while. But, I’m not getting paid, I wasn’t planning on playing, it was strictly for promotional use and on my websites I just made it seem bigger then it was. Nothing is set and I wasn’t planning to work. It’s a situation where if I show up, I might just go on for a little bit as a guest, get some good pictures and press for back in America and that’s all. That was the best I could say at that point. O: Well, even if you are not getting paid like you said, and it’s only for promotional use, if there are people paying inside the club to come and see you, you still need a work visa. Me: Again, I’m not working, they are not paying me, and I don’t even know if I will get a chance to play. O: All your websites and the clubs are promoting you saying that you are playing. Ok. Follow me back, I’m going to talk to my chief and see what he says. They bring me back to the waiting room again. 

Another 3 hours goes by. I have no phone so I can’t contact anyone. The only London contacts I have are on my BBM, and the DJ I was supposed to meet up with isn’t in town til Friday. They did have a phone you can use inside the room, but it was for incoming calls and I had no access to any numbers or anyway to tell anyone what was happening. A second officer comes back, brings me to the room again, to ask me more questions. 

Now remember, they write down everything you say and the only defense you have to the chief is whatever they relay when they’re done. O: So it says on your website that you are playing on Friday and Saturday correct? Me: Yes, on my WEBSITE is says that I’m playing. But again I’m not playing. I just posted that for promotional use for people back in the states. I’m not working and not getting paid. O: We believe you do plan to work here. If that is the case you need to have a work sponsorship. Now the club or promoter should have a sponsorship number that they can give. Usually, you need this before you enter, but we also grant temporary ones since you’ll be here for only a couple days. Me: Great, how can I get that number for you? O: We’ll the club or your promoter friend you mentioned would have to provide that. Me: No problem, I have his contact in my phone, you can call him and I’m sure he can give you all the information you need. O: No, we’re not calling anyone for you. Me: We’ll can I call him and he can give me that info. O: No, you can not call him either or have your phone. 

At this point, I just had a 9 hour flight, I was sitting in a holding room for over 6hrs, was interrogated 3 times and I decided to try to be human. I looked in the eyes of the officer, she too was around my age.  Me: Listen, I came to London to meet some friends and see your beautiful city. Go to the palace, see Big Ben, take a picture at the Stone hedge and have fun with some friends in between. I have my own business, I’m trying to expand into Europe, I brought my equipment, just in case any opportunities came around. I’m not working here, I’m not getting paid, that is not the reason why I’m here. I will sign any papers, I will even let you hold my DJ bag until I leave, at least let me spend some time here. I understand this is your job and I respect that, but from person to person I know you know how I’m being treated isn’t right. You’re making to be a criminal, you’ve kept me in a room for 6-7 hours, I’ve done nothing but be co-operative. Please help. O: Ok. Have a seat back in the waiting room and we will let you know.

Another 2 hours goes by, one by one they would call people out there. At this time, after 8 hours with people you say goodbye and wish them good luck. Everyone that was in the holding room was denied access and sent back to there countries...even Reggie. The officer calls me into the room. O: Dean, I have to inform you that you have been denied access. Since, there is no flight out til tomorrow, instead of holding you in detention, we will release you for the evening. We will hold your passport, you must return tomorrow morning 3 hours before your flight, get a new boarding pass, bring it to immigration and we will give you your passport back and make sure you get back on the plane back to Miami. I suggest next time you come to “visit” you leave you’re DJ bag at home. 

I’m now back. I decided to share this story, one to explain why I will not be playing this weekend in London and also for my fellow DJ’s, entertainers, or any traveler for that matter. The world is a different place now. Google my name and in seconds you can find everything about my life. Facebook, Twitter, blog, websites, videos, it’s all there and pretty impossible to hide. So here’s my advice. If you are planning on doing any type of business where you will be getting paid. Cash, check, whatever it is, make sure you have the proper documents before you go to that country. If you can’t get them, then you can’t work there. Also, make sure you have everything ready including your travel documents and answers. Your flight confirmation, when you are arriving and leaving. Your hotel information. If you’re staying with friends, their names, addresses and telephone numbers. Very specific. Write down emergency numbers you can call separate from your phone. The biggest thing is to remember that your first statement or answers hold the most weight if this should ever happen to you. They record everything. It’s important to prepare and to not just wing it and see what happens. It doesn’t work in this world anymore. I’m not upset or have anything bad to say about what has happened. When I arrived home to the states, I told the US officer what they did and he informed me that we treat people the same way and are even tougher. As for London, arrangements are already being made to come back and play in very near future so the tour will go on. Next time, I will have my working visa in hand. If anyone has any questions you can contact me through Facebook or Twitter or go to my website for all contact info. Hope this helped. Please share this story with others so hopefully it does not happen to you or anyone else.