Saturday, October 10, 2009

The Visa Fiasco

Here's a funny story...


So my venture to London is being made possible through the Student Working Abroad Program (SWAP), which helps you get a working holiday Visa, among other things. There's a bunch of steps in getting said Visa, the final one being a trip to Edmonton to get my 'biometrics' done. This is finger-printing and a retinal scan. Before you go all "Oooo, Big Brother" on me, it's actually quite practical because such a high volume of people arrive in London Airports with no documentation at all, let alone forged stuff. They're just trying to keep the riff-raff out. *laughs*

So I get all my paperwork in order and use a day off to make the three hour drive up to Edmonton for my ten minute biometrics appointment. As I'm leaving the office for the three hour drive back to Calgary, it sort of occurs to me that I don't remember getting my Passport back from them. Then I check the Very Important Sealed Envelope they gave me. It MUST remain sealed and I'm to mail it off to the British High Commission ASAP. Squeezing it gently, I locate my passport down in the corner, so I breathe a sigh of relief.

I drive back to Calgary and mail it off, express, at a cost of $14. It's gonna get there in two days, maximum, and according to the women at biometrics, I'll get it all back in four to six weeks.

So the next day I'm working a closing shift at that place that isn't really 'work' because this is my real job. It's a close shift and I'm heading up for my dinner break around five-ish when my heart suddenly freezes in my throat. Sitting at home, because I'm terribly practical and the opportunity presented itself, are plane tickets for my London 'Preview'.

Departure date: November 1st! A ten day trip to check out my accommodation, get some job interviews and prepare myself for the Official Move in January. And those plane tickets were for a date which was just then exactly four weeks away.


And me without a passport.


Because it was a close shift and there was no way I could do anything about it until the next day, I spent that evening telling every co-worker who would listen all about my foolish mistake and how I might have to maybe cancel on that ten day trip and wouldn't that be funny? Eventually?

I called SWAP the next day and left a long rambley message asking if they knew how to put a rush on things or if I could get a temporary passport or anything?

They called back and 'phew'... let me know that it takes them about five to ten days to process the application. So I checked my e-mail and the tracking number on the parcel, confirming it had been signed for and was safely at the British High Commission. My mind was at ease, although the Elephant of Doubt was sort of tapping my shoulder. But on Monday, this Monday the 5th, SWAP called to let me know my Visa, and therefore, passport, was in!

Picking it up has been incredibly reassuring, not only for confirming that my ten day trip at the start of November will happen, but also because this is really it. I'm really moving to London for a year! It's going to be fantastic and now that it's three months away I'm beginning to get hugely excited. I keep thinking of all the fabulous art I'll see, the museums I'll visit, the historic places that will take my breath away. I am so full of anticipation.

I love potential. I love finding it in all the little things I do every day, but I love creating it as well. This trip is going to be so incredible for my writing, my art, my imagination and my soul. *smiles the widest smile*

And to throw an image in with this post... a Faery Fox!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Express yourself here
criticize constructively
I am receptive