The Reid-Rogers family continues trying to leave the
country
Sep/26/05 13:53
Well,
Cliff had made a back-up appointment to go in to the
Consulate, just in case something went wrong. He had
made it for the earliest possible date-- around three
weeks from when it was made, which was just a day
before we were supposed to fly. So he went in, armed
with all of our documents, new ID photos, and copies
of his correspondence with the work permits office,
instructing him that we had to apply for an Academic
Visitor visa. The Consulate representatives were
sympathetic, but told him that it just wasn’t
their fault that the work-permits office had given us
the wrong advice, doggone it, and we did indeed have
to get a work permit and re-apply.
Thus began the first scramble. Our tenant very kindly offered to let us stay in the house a few more days, our future landlords were notified, and we set about packing up the house while the University of Swansea set the wheels in motion for a work permit. While this might seem at first glance to be a gift of a few extra days to prepare, we were in fact a week behind because Cliff had spent whole days preparing his appeal on the visa issue, then lost hours on the phone arranging a cancellation of our plane tickets and figuring out what we would do next. And instead of just packing for the trip to Swansea, we also had to pack for the indefinite stay in the US waiting for the visas, which involved lots of warm-weather things we had no intention of bringing over with us. So we endeavored to get the house in order, pack, and nudge along the visa/work permit process.
We finally headed out on Sunday night, and drove down to Stone Harbor (New Jersey). Cliff’s mom had offered to put us up, and when she found that her houses were full, she found us a condo to stay in for that week. Thanks, Jacqueline! So we had a mini-vacation in Stone Harbor, figuring a little beach time wouldn’t hurt while we waited for the wheels to turn. Then on Thursday we headed down to Washington, DC, for the wedding of good friends of ours, Tom and Christiane Rosenborg. They kindly welcomed us last-minute guests, and we had a wonderful time, now as houseguests of Tom (Sr.) and Nancy Rosenborg, where Hannah had a wonderful week being spoiled. We followed the work-permit process as best we could via e-mail and cell phone. When it looked like we would have the work permit the following Tuesday, we booked airplane tickets for Thursday Sept. 15th. Since we were now in Washington, DC, the direct flight out of JFK would have been problematic, so we booked Washington – JFK – Heathrow, with (luckily) an eventual return flight straight into JFK.
Thus began the first scramble. Our tenant very kindly offered to let us stay in the house a few more days, our future landlords were notified, and we set about packing up the house while the University of Swansea set the wheels in motion for a work permit. While this might seem at first glance to be a gift of a few extra days to prepare, we were in fact a week behind because Cliff had spent whole days preparing his appeal on the visa issue, then lost hours on the phone arranging a cancellation of our plane tickets and figuring out what we would do next. And instead of just packing for the trip to Swansea, we also had to pack for the indefinite stay in the US waiting for the visas, which involved lots of warm-weather things we had no intention of bringing over with us. So we endeavored to get the house in order, pack, and nudge along the visa/work permit process.
We finally headed out on Sunday night, and drove down to Stone Harbor (New Jersey). Cliff’s mom had offered to put us up, and when she found that her houses were full, she found us a condo to stay in for that week. Thanks, Jacqueline! So we had a mini-vacation in Stone Harbor, figuring a little beach time wouldn’t hurt while we waited for the wheels to turn. Then on Thursday we headed down to Washington, DC, for the wedding of good friends of ours, Tom and Christiane Rosenborg. They kindly welcomed us last-minute guests, and we had a wonderful time, now as houseguests of Tom (Sr.) and Nancy Rosenborg, where Hannah had a wonderful week being spoiled. We followed the work-permit process as best we could via e-mail and cell phone. When it looked like we would have the work permit the following Tuesday, we booked airplane tickets for Thursday Sept. 15th. Since we were now in Washington, DC, the direct flight out of JFK would have been problematic, so we booked Washington – JFK – Heathrow, with (luckily) an eventual return flight straight into JFK.