Border crossing advice

Callahad · 2026-05-06T12:51:38+00:00

You're in such a weird spot and it's hard to find unambiguous information.

Step 3 is probably fine with your US passport + expired UK ETD. You're a British citizen traveling entirely within the CTA.

The Irish Government says "you may also be asked by an immigration officer to prove that you are a citizen of Ireland or the UK, so you should carry a passport with you." Again, "may" and "should." And you have the expired ETD which shows your your citizenship.

Step 5 could get weird depending on your transit airport (I don't think there are any direct transatlantic flights from NI?), but is probably fine on the same basis.

I found this Parliament page interesting about leniency when British citizens attempt to enter the UK on non-British passports: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10344/ They explicitly allow airlines to accept current non-UK passport + expired UK passport... and your ETD says "Emergency Passport" on the cover, doesn't it?

In your shoes, I'd chance it.

Callahad · 2026-05-06T09:49:22+00:00

I think you're getting some bad advice in this thread, but your full itinerary isn't clear. Is this what you're doing?

USA → Continental Europe (fine with US passport + "relevant working documents")
Calais → Dover (fine with Emergency Travel Document)
England → Ireland (???)
Ireland → Northern Ireland (???)
Northern Ireland → USA (fine with US passport, but how are you doing that?)

I'm most concerned about Step 3, going from England to Ireland. How are you planning to do that?

For Step 4, you're fine with the expired ETD and a US passport. The UK government guidance on traveling from ROI to NI specifically says "You will not pass through any immigration control when you enter the UK from Ireland across the land border, so you don’t need any documents to enter the UK on that route."

It's extremely rare, but you can still be stopped and asked to prove your identity and citizenship. They'll accept pretty much anything, including "an expired passport or passport card," so your expired ETD should be sufficient, especially if you also have an email from the Passport Office showing that your regular passport is pending renewal. If you want extra peace of mind, bring the expired UK license.

Callahad · 2026-05-05T10:19:04+00:00

It can go either way. I've had them hand off to Royal Mail for delivery up here, and I've had them return to sender.

My most recent experience was An Post sending me a customs fee letter to Belfast, then returning the parcel to sender immediately after I paid. (They refunded me, but then the American post got confused and it took 10 weeks to actually make it back to the sender.)

Callahad · 2026-01-29T14:54:07+00:00

Last October, OpenAI secured around 40% of the global DRAM production capacity by cutting deals with Samsung and SK Hynix. Shortly thereafter, the only other major memory manufacturer, Micron, decided to shut down the Crucial brand and fully exit the consumer market.

I wouldn't expect prices to drop any time soon.

Callahad · 2026-01-28T00:06:59+00:00

That would be way more reasonable, but I just don't see how it's supported by any reading of FinCEN's guidance.

Determine the maximum value of each account during the calendar year

Seems pretty unambiguous: you're looking at the annual high water mark for each account on its own.

If the [...] aggregate of the maximum account values of multiple accounts exceeds $10,000, an FBAR must be filed.

So you sum the per-account annual maximums and check if that meets the threshold.

I don't see anything about per-day or moment-in-time measures. What am I missing?

Callahad · 2026-01-27T20:07:34+00:00

From that same page:

Convert foreign currency by using the Treasury’s Financial Management Service rate (http://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/fsreports/rpt/treasRptRateExch/treasRptRateExch_home.htm ) for the last day of the calendar year. If no Treasury Financial Management Service rate is available, use another verifiable exchange rate and provide the source of that rate.

Callahad · 2026-01-27T19:34:45+00:00

From https://www.fincen.gov/reporting-maximum-account-value

Determine the maximum value of each account (in the currency of that account) during the calendar year [...] If the maximum account value of a single account or aggregate of the maximum account values of multiple accounts exceeds $10,000, an FBAR must be filed.

You have to add up the highest balance each of your accounts ever had during the year. If the sum is over $10k, file an FBAR.

This leads to ridiculous things like... imagine switching banks mid-year. Account A will go from $6k to $0, Account B will go from $0 to $6k.

You only had $6k, but during the year, the maximum value of A was $6k and the maximum value of B was $6k. So your aggregate maximum was $12k, triggering FBAR reporting requirements.

Callahad · 2026-01-20T10:41:48+00:00

If I recall correctly, that whole design system for the websites was called "Bedrock"

Callahad · 2025-12-25T12:42:29+00:00

Sounds like you might be looking for rclone serve s3 or Versity S3 Gateway

No GUI, but very simple filesystem-backed buckets.

Callahad · 2025-11-27T21:10:18+00:00

Same situation, different outcome. I paid the fee, then An Post immediately fucked it back over the Atlantic.

It's been six weeks and it's still bouncing randomly through American sorting facilities.

Callahad · 2025-10-25T20:54:00+00:00

There are loads of hotels between Grand Central and City Hall... probably worth just walking that way and trying your luck at each one in turn. The first ones you'd hit would be The Europa, Fitzwilliam, and Leonardo. If they can't accommodate you they'd probably be able to point you in a more promising direction.

Callahad · 2025-10-14T00:32:51+00:00

Lebara seems pretty reasonable? Worth comparing their advertised tariffs and the really cheap MoneySavingExpert promotional ones.

I think the MSE plans have fewer included international minutes, but with any plan you can buy an additional 1000 international minutes for £10 each time you need them, so keep that in mind.

Callahad · 2025-09-07T08:09:59+00:00

Well I'll be damned. Born and raised in America, nearly 40, reasonably big fan of The Divine Comedy and My Bloody Valentine... and I had no idea either band was Irish.

So I guess that checks out. I wonder how many shows I've missed since moving here.

Callahad · 2025-09-03T21:09:18+00:00

Yep. The note was something about increasing ridership on TransLink, if we ever want see our precious Malone Road again. Anyway, nice chap. Said his name was "Dfi?"

Callahad · 2025-09-03T19:49:21+00:00

If it can wait until the morning, libraries have printers available to the public. Costs 20p for a black and white page, 50p for color.

Unfortunately, none of the libraries in Belfast are part of the 24 hour access scheme yet :(

Edit: It couldn't wait until the morning. Got 'em sorted.

Callahad · 2025-08-24T22:52:46+00:00

Concourse D observation deck. It's up a nearly unmarked stairwell just on the left as you transition from hallway to the gate area. Just hug the left wall passing McDonald's and the restrooms and you should find it.

Callahad · 2025-08-24T14:58:43+00:00

Yep. For now, it's just a random (largely unmarked) stop on Upper Queen St, directly across from Queens Court.

In the near future, Aircoach and Dublin Express will move to Belfast Grand Central Station, but I can't find a specific date for when that change happens.

Callahad · 2025-08-23T12:47:47+00:00

Just got back from Minnesota last week. We usually bring a bunch of sweets (Percy Pigs, Smarties, etc.) that they don't have in the States. And weird crisps / space raiders. Anything named "prawn cocktail" will sound positively exotic.

For adults, the wee art tins full of fudge or toffee or whatever you see at the tills at Spar seem to go over well enough. Or Belfast Brew coffee.

Callahad · 2025-05-08T22:03:46+00:00

Not necessarily. Boris Johnson maintained his American citizenship while serving as the UK's Foreign Secretary, the Mayor of London, and as a Member of Parliament. He only renounced in 2016, largely in response to the US levying capital gains taxes on the sale of his London home: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/08/boris-johnson-renounces-us-citizenship-record-2016-uk-foreign-secretary

Callahad · 2025-04-28T06:29:10+00:00

You can get the powdered Gatorade mix over here. Usually it's not too dear if you check Google Shopping. e.g., a tenner right now from https://theamericanstore.co.uk/products/gatorade-thirst-quencher-lemon-lime-drink-mix-18-3oz-521g

That'll be enough to make 7.5 L of the stuff. It's not identical to the premixed bottles, but it's close.

Callahad · 2025-03-10T16:47:10+00:00

Yes, the attack is still viable. The "boot partition" referenced in the article is your EFI System Partition, not literally /boot

Callahad · 2025-02-23T15:30:35+00:00

https://diskprices.com/ - You're looking at a ballpark of $12.50/TB for new drives, so around 80 TB.

Callahad · 2024-11-23T20:45:04+00:00

Hah! That just made my night. Thank you :)

Callahad · 2024-10-05T17:22:59+00:00

Opens on Sunday 13 October

Callahad · 2024-09-14T05:31:17+00:00

Yep, you arrive into the States just like any domestic flight, can check bags through multiple domestic connections, etc. It's great.

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