The Reid-Rogers family tries to leave the country
Sep/26/05 13:51
So
here begins our story…
Back in April, when we learned we would be staying in Swansea, Wales, in the fall, Cliff began researching British visas. He checked out the UK immigration web pages, which turned out to be utterly confusing and sometimes self-contradictory—the regulations sometimes having been changed without corresponding updates on the information being given out, neither to the affected offices or their webmasters. We could call the consulate, but the only number they provide is that of an outsourced customer-service company, and they were charging $2.10 a minute for inquiries. Cliff tried e-mailing the consulate, using the address from their web site; it bounced back: “no such address exists,” further reinforcing our faith in the British bureaucracy. Cliff e-mailed the only office he could find contact info for: the Work Permits Office. They told him he had to apply for an "Academic Visitor” visa, which didn’t require a work permit. So Cliff felt pretty confident the whole visa thing would be pretty easy to manage. We had the whole summer to apply.
Later that spring we applied for Hannah’s passport, and got one exactly two weeks after mailing it in. After talking to some friends, I decided I should renew mine also, since it would expire next summer, and a two-week turnaround seemed very encouraging. I mailed the application to the specified address in Connecticut. They, in turn, immediately tossed it back in the mail to an office in New Hampshire, a step which took nearly a week. They then proceeded to sit on it through the entire month of July. When I phoned for updates, all they could tell me was that it could be processed tomorrow, it could be processed in mid-August. For a simple matter of $85 I could have it in three business days. We waited, because passports and visas were already pretty pricey, and we figured how long could it take to submit my name to a database? Of course, weeks passed and their answer never changed: “We have utterly no idea what the status of your passport is.” Finally we caved and paid the $85, I got my passport, and we could apply for a visa. Cliff assembled the small mound of supporting documents, and we filed electronically for our visas (this becomes significant later.) Meanwhile, Cliff booked our flight tickets for Thursday, Sept. 1, since ticket costs skyrocket if you book too close to departure, and we didn’t want to risk not getting a flight out. Our new tenant was scheduled to move in on Friday, and we were expected by our landlords. Everything was set.
Now consider that we had included telephone number and e-mail address on all three visa applications for our family. When a week passed without a phone call or e-mail notification of any problems, we were fairly confident we would be on a plane that Thursday. Monday morning we greeted the FedEx truck, eagerly opened up our visa documents… and the consulate, saying we had applied for the wrong category of visa and indeed did need a work permit, had rejected our applications. AND kept our six ID photos, which would cost another $15 and half-hour to have re-taken. We were out $500 in application fees plus postage plus photos, and now, as rejected visa applicants, we were forbidden to enter the UK.
Back in April, when we learned we would be staying in Swansea, Wales, in the fall, Cliff began researching British visas. He checked out the UK immigration web pages, which turned out to be utterly confusing and sometimes self-contradictory—the regulations sometimes having been changed without corresponding updates on the information being given out, neither to the affected offices or their webmasters. We could call the consulate, but the only number they provide is that of an outsourced customer-service company, and they were charging $2.10 a minute for inquiries. Cliff tried e-mailing the consulate, using the address from their web site; it bounced back: “no such address exists,” further reinforcing our faith in the British bureaucracy. Cliff e-mailed the only office he could find contact info for: the Work Permits Office. They told him he had to apply for an "Academic Visitor” visa, which didn’t require a work permit. So Cliff felt pretty confident the whole visa thing would be pretty easy to manage. We had the whole summer to apply.
Later that spring we applied for Hannah’s passport, and got one exactly two weeks after mailing it in. After talking to some friends, I decided I should renew mine also, since it would expire next summer, and a two-week turnaround seemed very encouraging. I mailed the application to the specified address in Connecticut. They, in turn, immediately tossed it back in the mail to an office in New Hampshire, a step which took nearly a week. They then proceeded to sit on it through the entire month of July. When I phoned for updates, all they could tell me was that it could be processed tomorrow, it could be processed in mid-August. For a simple matter of $85 I could have it in three business days. We waited, because passports and visas were already pretty pricey, and we figured how long could it take to submit my name to a database? Of course, weeks passed and their answer never changed: “We have utterly no idea what the status of your passport is.” Finally we caved and paid the $85, I got my passport, and we could apply for a visa. Cliff assembled the small mound of supporting documents, and we filed electronically for our visas (this becomes significant later.) Meanwhile, Cliff booked our flight tickets for Thursday, Sept. 1, since ticket costs skyrocket if you book too close to departure, and we didn’t want to risk not getting a flight out. Our new tenant was scheduled to move in on Friday, and we were expected by our landlords. Everything was set.
Now consider that we had included telephone number and e-mail address on all three visa applications for our family. When a week passed without a phone call or e-mail notification of any problems, we were fairly confident we would be on a plane that Thursday. Monday morning we greeted the FedEx truck, eagerly opened up our visa documents… and the consulate, saying we had applied for the wrong category of visa and indeed did need a work permit, had rejected our applications. AND kept our six ID photos, which would cost another $15 and half-hour to have re-taken. We were out $500 in application fees plus postage plus photos, and now, as rejected visa applicants, we were forbidden to enter the UK.