On Wednesday of last week when Dan and I landed in Manchester, we ran into a litttttle immigration hurdle. We won't go so far as to call it an "issue," because it is all settled now. However, that morning and for the next 6 days it sure felt like more than an issue.
At the first stop- the visa desk- we encountered a lady who we think is the same lady that let us into England in April, but she apparently didn't like our landing card information this time around. On the card it asks profession and Dan put down poker player. We filled one out in April so in an effort to be honest and our cards matching up, he wrote the same thing down again. After a while at the desk answering some routine questions, Immigration Lady sent us to a side room to sit while she spoke with her boss.
In the hour it took her to discuss her next move we were joined by a cast of characters. First, there was bi-polar Bob. He is actually bi-polar, not me judging...and he is a writer. Apparently Bob had run out of paper because his offense was writing on the pages of his passport...like allll over his passport...stories of people he saw on the plane and ideas he had. Also, Bob must have used up all of his passport pages because the left leg of his pants included a grocery list and the first chapter of a novel he wanted to write. In sharpie. On his pants.
Next, a stream of 5 or 6 different people from a flight landing from Angola mingled around in the room, each waiting for their turn with the translator explaining why they brought no luggage or wanted to stay with a relative for more than 6 months. Lastly, we were joined by a young boy who hid in the bathroom until the line was completely gone and only one person remained at the visa desk waiting to check passports. The boy lied and was caught about 5 different times, but they let him through when he pointed through the window at another African American man who either looked up or acknowledged him staring and the Visa man allowed him to go. Never in a million years do I think the man he pointed to was his guardian, but hey...I was just sitting and watching. Not my call.
Once our hour had passed, Immigration lady came back and said they decided to give us a temporary admittance to the country, but we needed to get all of our things and shut down our apartment and return the following Tuesday for an interview. We mentioned to her that we had a flight to Dublin the following Friday and she simply said they would put us on the first flight back to Chicago- where we came from- once a decision was made. Perfect. Not only had this taken up Dan's entire birthday, but we were in jeopardy of missing the Notre Dame game in Dublin. The game we planned our entire travel for 2012 around attending. No big deal. Plus, we had a 4 1/2 hour wait to figure out our next step while she wrote out all of the paperwork. It was obviously our lucky day.
So in the days that followed we scrambled around trying to get things tied up in Manchester, printing all sorts of documents showing everything from funds to pictures of us doing touristy things. We packed and cleaned and made sure our life was all tidy on paper and in a suitcase. We researched other options of places to live, and more importantly how quickly we could board a flight in Chicago (if we were sent back) and make it back to Dublin in time for the game/weekend we had planned.
Fast forward to Tuesday morning...we lug all of our suitcases to the airport and to the employee check in where we are supposed to meet someone from immigration. Apparently we were told incorrect information and they had zero plans to send us anywhere that day. We were not supposed to have luggage of any kind and no decision had been made. Relief! We were starting with a clean slate of an argument and maybe we still had a chance.
After dealing with the bag situation, a gentleman took Dan into the interview and quizzed him for about and hour and 20 minutes. When he finally came out he said it was "good." After the fact Dan told me they went through all of the docs we printed, banking information, work information, etc. So now the guy wants to interview me. Here is how the 7 minute interview went:
Immigration Guy: "So, what do you do all day?"
Katie: "run, clean, cook, read....um shop?"
Immigration Guy: "And why exactly do you have no career aspirations?"
Katie: "What?! Well I do have career aspirations, but we are taking this time to travel and see the world before we settle down and have kids."
IG: "And why do you not have kids yet?"
K: "We are only 28 and have been married for just 3 years. We just don't yet."
IG: "Well most people who want kids have them by the time they are 28."
K: "Perfect."
Needless to say this was not the best 7 minutes of my life. And all I kept thinking was, "If this is how Dan's interview went and he said it was good we reallllly need to have a chat about the meaning of the word good." I was really scared that my answers were ruining our chances of getting to stay.
So to end this amazing conversation, my dear friend Immigration Guy said, "Well, to be honest you are borderline." Perfect. I already was thinking about the fun weekend we could have in Chicago. Windy City here we come!
After much discussion, they did somehow agree to let us into England. I guess the whole problem that we were stopped for in the beginning is that there are two options when you enter England: 1. You get a 6 month stamp to enter or 2. You are denied. Since we left 4 1/2 months into our stay in England and then returned, they thought we were trying to extend our 6 months when we in fact had zero intention of staying past October 1st. So it really had very little to do with poker or anything else. They just didn't want us holing up in England so Dan could work while going home every 4 to 5 months to restart our 6 month stay.
We didn't get flagged or punished or fined. They put in our file we are set to leave on October 1st. If we stay longer until the second 6 month stamp expires then try to return we will have a real issue. We also were advised to stay away from England for the next year or 2 so our hiccup could get out of the system.
All in all we are not Bonnie & Clyde or Claire Danes from Brokedown Palace. But we did have a slight issue and word did sort of spread so I wanted to set the record straight here...after the interview and weekend in Dublin.
Tomorrow will be a post about Dublin and all of the fun we had! Keep checking back for more fun stories and reading my long posts....next time someone asks my career aspirations I can say blogger and these updates will prove my point ;)
