Mild Elation & Mild Dissapointment: Encounters with the Immigration Department.
Things never turn out the way you expect them to. Well, not in my world anyway - and our encounter with the Immigration Department was no exception to this rule. Feeling sick with nerves, Chris and I met with our case officer on Tuesday morning feeling every bit like we were being called in front of a jury who would decide whether we would become well acquainted with the gallows.
Linda (our case officer) was a large frumpy girl and possibly younger than us both. She was nice enough although she began the interview with a crushing blow. Chris' police check wasn't good enough for the visa application and we would have to apply for another police check - one that would take 2 months to get from the UK thus delaying any decision on Chris' visa, thus preventing him from working for another 2 months, thus leaving us stuck in our shitty rotting flat for another 2 months and thus preventing us from having the money we need to fly to Brisbane next month for our good friends' wedding.
JESUSUFFERINGFUCK!
The root of the problem here is England, or more specifically - the long running dispute over Scotland's constitutional rights to be recognised as a country in its own right. Chris' police check came from Disclosure Scotland, issued from the Scottish Police Headquarters in Glasgow and bearing the Scottish Executive seal of approval.
For the love of beaurocracy, you couldn't find a more official document if you'd had the Queen herself bleed on it! But OHHHH NO, it's not good enough for this little colonial outpost. The Australian Immigration Department only want police checks issued by (and here's the irony) Scotland Yard. The real kicker is that Scotland Yard will receive our cheque and application, then they will contact the Scottish Police Headquarters just as we have already done, and they will reach precisely the same conclusion that we have already reached which is that Chris has no criminal record.
It took a lot of self restraint not to reach over the desk and throttle dear Linda - not because it was her fault specifically (although she could have told us sooner!) but just because at that moment she was the only embodiment of the entire fecked-up, arbitrary system in the room at the time and we were at the end of our tethers. Through gritted teeth I showed her the guidelines I had printed off the Immigration Dept's own web site which stated that applicants must have police checks from their relevant UK jurisdictions (ie: Wales, Scotland, Isle of Man, etc, etc). That document was dated April 2006. Apparently things can change swiftly and without notice in the cloistered world of Immigration and there is no room for appeal.
ARSEBUGGERYCRAP!
On the up side, however - the remainder of the interview went swimmingly! We answered questions about where and how we met and who does the cooking and the washing up (Chris and Chris), etc. It was like we were in a Meg Ryan movie the way we finished eachother's sentences and had cute little arguments over little small and seemingly insignificant domestic details. There could be no doubt about the 'genuine and ongoing nature' of our relationship whatsoever.
Linda then told us that basically we had it in the bag. The police check was just a formality (albeit an annoying one) but once that's sorted, Chris will have temporary residency.
YAHOOTHANKCHRIST!
So then we pleaded for Chris' work restrictions to be waived in the meantime so he can take the Chrisco Hampers job he's been offered. The job starts in August and it will be damn good money and god knows we need it. We were given another stack of inscrutable forms to complete and now the waiting game begins again. Hopefully we will know within a week if Chris can work at Chrisco.
We are so sick of waiting around and sick to death of feeling as though our lives are in the hands of Government departments and shifting laws. We left the interview with completely mixed feelings and went and sobbed with frustration and relief into our pint glasses. We were hoping for a deciion on the spot but instead we were handing another bucket load of beaurocratic nonsense to deal with. On the other hand we now know it will definitely go ahead... just not for another 2 months or more.
The champagne is still on ice but at least we now know it will be drunk in the spirit of celebration.
YIPPEE!
Do you think I could charge the Immi Dept for all the hair dye I need to cover all the greys I've acquired in the last 12 months? There must be a form for that somewhere.
Linda (our case officer) was a large frumpy girl and possibly younger than us both. She was nice enough although she began the interview with a crushing blow. Chris' police check wasn't good enough for the visa application and we would have to apply for another police check - one that would take 2 months to get from the UK thus delaying any decision on Chris' visa, thus preventing him from working for another 2 months, thus leaving us stuck in our shitty rotting flat for another 2 months and thus preventing us from having the money we need to fly to Brisbane next month for our good friends' wedding.
JESUSUFFERINGFUCK!
The root of the problem here is England, or more specifically - the long running dispute over Scotland's constitutional rights to be recognised as a country in its own right. Chris' police check came from Disclosure Scotland, issued from the Scottish Police Headquarters in Glasgow and bearing the Scottish Executive seal of approval.
For the love of beaurocracy, you couldn't find a more official document if you'd had the Queen herself bleed on it! But OHHHH NO, it's not good enough for this little colonial outpost. The Australian Immigration Department only want police checks issued by (and here's the irony) Scotland Yard. The real kicker is that Scotland Yard will receive our cheque and application, then they will contact the Scottish Police Headquarters just as we have already done, and they will reach precisely the same conclusion that we have already reached which is that Chris has no criminal record.
It took a lot of self restraint not to reach over the desk and throttle dear Linda - not because it was her fault specifically (although she could have told us sooner!) but just because at that moment she was the only embodiment of the entire fecked-up, arbitrary system in the room at the time and we were at the end of our tethers. Through gritted teeth I showed her the guidelines I had printed off the Immigration Dept's own web site which stated that applicants must have police checks from their relevant UK jurisdictions (ie: Wales, Scotland, Isle of Man, etc, etc). That document was dated April 2006. Apparently things can change swiftly and without notice in the cloistered world of Immigration and there is no room for appeal.
ARSEBUGGERYCRAP!
On the up side, however - the remainder of the interview went swimmingly! We answered questions about where and how we met and who does the cooking and the washing up (Chris and Chris), etc. It was like we were in a Meg Ryan movie the way we finished eachother's sentences and had cute little arguments over little small and seemingly insignificant domestic details. There could be no doubt about the 'genuine and ongoing nature' of our relationship whatsoever.
Linda then told us that basically we had it in the bag. The police check was just a formality (albeit an annoying one) but once that's sorted, Chris will have temporary residency.
YAHOOTHANKCHRIST!
So then we pleaded for Chris' work restrictions to be waived in the meantime so he can take the Chrisco Hampers job he's been offered. The job starts in August and it will be damn good money and god knows we need it. We were given another stack of inscrutable forms to complete and now the waiting game begins again. Hopefully we will know within a week if Chris can work at Chrisco.
We are so sick of waiting around and sick to death of feeling as though our lives are in the hands of Government departments and shifting laws. We left the interview with completely mixed feelings and went and sobbed with frustration and relief into our pint glasses. We were hoping for a deciion on the spot but instead we were handing another bucket load of beaurocratic nonsense to deal with. On the other hand we now know it will definitely go ahead... just not for another 2 months or more.
The champagne is still on ice but at least we now know it will be drunk in the spirit of celebration.
YIPPEE!
Do you think I could charge the Immi Dept for all the hair dye I need to cover all the greys I've acquired in the last 12 months? There must be a form for that somewhere.