| RavenBlog |
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| Comments on Wednesday 15 September 2004: |
| Those of you who have been reading for a long time might remember my fun with immigration times as I wheedled my way into America, where I didn't really want to be anyway. Or you probably won't, since most of the fun occurred a couple of years before the blog even started, but it was still going several months in. Which is quite indicative of how fun it was, really. And that's just the preliminary part of the immigration which took more than two years - the actual permanentising of the visa wasn't for another year or two beyond that. More recently, you might remember my having mentioned that the Australian immigration people are remarkably efficient. Or more recently still, you might remember my remarking about how America's shitty bureaucracy is still the most awkward factor even if you're immigrating to Australia. Today's addition to the tale is the completion. Two days ago I dropped the requisite American and UK police certificates into the immigration office. Today I got the "visa granted" letter. Yes, two days after I gave them the final documents. Meaning they sent the letter out just one day later. That's more like customer service than bureaucracy, except that most customer service isn't that good either. Why, you might be thinking if you'd bothered to remember or look up details, which you haven't because that would be insane, was I only dropping off the police certificates two days ago, when I was applying for them six months ago? Because, of course, that's how long the FBI took. The British document, which I sent off for two months later, got back to me two months earlier. The American one, as well as being slowest, had the largest processing fee. So, once again my feelings of, tax-wise, grudging every cent the American government demanded, and not minding at all the money the Australian government wants, is renewed. Some governments make life easier. [08:10] |
| Casey |
| Congratulations on getting your papers. I remember you describing the horrors of US immigration policy on the CoV. It's been a while since I've last seen you there. Hope to see you around. Good luck. |