American bureaucracy is a nightmare! I can't believe how piece of cake getting an English passport was compared to this. Funny how that was easier than RETURNING TO MY OWN COUNTRY. R and I really underestimated this. We knew it wasn't going to be as easy as it was for my great-grandparents, catching a boat from Bremen and turning up at Ellis Island with $50 in their pocket and some distant relative's address scribbled on a piece of paper. We knew it wouldn't be like that, but Jeez. It's been a stress-a-thon.
The main hurdle now is that I have to prove the USA is my real domicile. Never mind the fact that I've lived in the UK for 12 years, have a British passport, and feel pretty much half and half. No. I have to "sever my ties with the UK," provide tax records, property records, and get microchipped. Well, the latter is made up but feels very plausible after the crap they've thrown at us. The lady who interviewed R was a real sourpuss. My mom's asking me "Did you tell them your flights are booked and your wedding is all planned and you have to be there in a week?" Bless her, I didn't have the heart to tell her that these people are not interested in human concerns. It's papers that matter, printed papers in black ink in duplicate, and lots of small green ones.
1 comment:
Sounds about right. I haven't had much truck with immigration recently, but from my experiences of travelling abroad, it seems like pretty much anyone working in any kind of official capacity at an airport is institutionally mirthless...
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