Paper Anniversary

It's our first anniversary!

First anniversary is paper, and that's exactly what we received. The MBE (mystery brown envelope) arrived in the morning.

As you can see they really don't want anything to happen to it. I'd be tempted to see what's inside if I didn't already know. It's our well-travelled bundle of paperwork: Scotland, Chicago, California, New Hampshire, London, Scotland…and eventually PA.

Interview at the Embassy

I was a bit casual about turning up and getting my visa interview at the embassy done. We'd frontloaded our application and been meticulous about sending originals and two copies of each document to the NVC. I've been to the US embassy before for a visa. I kept thinking 'it's just a formality'.

Then, the night before, I got worried that I would need to take copies of everything with me, or that they would point out some anomaly in the paperwork. I was staying with my gran just outside of London so I could hop on the train into the city about 6am and get there on time. I barely slept.

Appointment at 8am, I reached Bond St underground at 7:59am. I wandered down to the embassy a little late and saw a sizeable but quick-moving queue (I knew this was okay because appointment times aren't really exact, they're just staggered entry times for visa applicants). I showed my appointment letter and passport, confirmed I had no electricals on me, and was in by 8:30am. There were plenty of people who ignored or didn't know about the no electricals rule. They were directed to the pharmacy round the corner that does a nice side business in storing mobile phones for three quid a go. I heard some folks whingeing "would be handy if they told us this before we turned up" - hmm, they really do! 

Got my I-number (that's "i" for "immigrant), went to the 1970s airport style waiting room (the pictures on the wall are comedy) and got some passport photos from the booth. My appointment letter said they had them already but, well I was worried and didn't want to leave anything to chance. I didn't need to bother.

I was called to a window and a woman brought out my file. There was all of our paperwork. Everything we'd submitted since last June, in order, with notations at each question. Just how many people have read those forms in the past year? How long did they sit untouched? It was kind of funny to see our well-travelled papers again.

I waited for ages to be called again, and while I was far more relaxed, I couldn't concentrate on reading or knitting. I just sat and relaxed a bit while watching all the N-numbers and the odd Is, Es and Ds get called (I guess D is diplomatic, but E?). I watched the people attached to the numbers and tried to guess the stories that their own paper bundles would tell. Non-immigrants had blue pieces of paper, immigrants had pink. A well-dressed man with his partner looked like the kind to get a diplomatic passport (jealous!). A family with a small child. Plenty of young adults probably heading to Camp America this summer.

Eventually I was called back up to see a friendly guy. He asked a few questions, including "why the USA and not the UK?" and "when is your anniversary?" - it's next week. And no, we don't get to spend it together.

After only a couple of minutes, he said "I have no problem approving this visa."

I was out by about 10:40am.

I did get shouted at as I was leaving the Embassy because I was wandering along looking at the flags (there are fifty state flags and I was looking for my future home state!) and got told to turn back to the exit! Oops. 

I grabbed an iced coffee and headed back to my gran's. The whole thing was entirely anti-climatic.

Visa Medical

"I just paid £300 to have a woman stab me with needles and look at my boobs. I reckon it would have been cheaper to go to Soho."*

A couple of weeks ago I got an email from another TV company offering me more work back down in London. Again, I've loved the challenge, and it's also given me the opportunity to spend extra weekends with my grandparents and other family members down here.

Yesterday I had my visa medical. This is a necessity that I had planned to do ages ago, but ended up leaving until the last minute. There's only one medical practice in the UK that can carry these out and it's in central London. They make sure you're up to date with certain vaccinations (and dole them out at a price if not), take a chest X-Ray, and perform various other tests. This included checking out my boobs "for signs of surgery".

The ordeal only took  45 minutes, but I realized that it serves an important function in the whole vetting process, beyond ensuring that I'm not contagious with TB or Varicella (that's chickenpox to you and me!).

45 minutes is the longest time any 'official' will spend with me during the visa journey. Their forms include questions asking if I look well-fed and honest, and they asked me seemingly unrelated questions that I've already answered on paper, like had I ever been arrested in another country? They also asked about the choice we had made about moving to the US.

As the lady stuck a needle into my arm and I nearly fainted, she joked, "You know it'd be easier if he came here right?" I had to laugh and agree with her. Mr and I both knew that, but we also made a firm decision to try life out in the USA.

Next week is my embassy appointment, and I already know to expect it to be a lot less invasive than the medical.


*Joke kind of stolen from a friend of mine.

On the edge of nowhere

Click for more photos.

I've finished working at the BBC now so I returned from London and headed up to the Outer Hebrides for a short break and a chance to catch up with some old friends. This place is breathtaking. It's a barren, yet very lived in, environment. Occasionally, while driving around, we'd spot old tractors, trucks and buses abandoned by the roadside to decay, because they'd never make it back to the town or to the mainland. Unused houses are left empty, and the moors are dotted with seemingly untouched shielings.

Some of the shielings really are untouched, crumbling or barely standing against the elements. Some are still used during the summer months and show distant signs of life inside - a gas stove or an old board game for instance.

After my interview and my visa gets approved, I want to fly out as soon as I can. I have a bit of time now to take a UK tour, meeting up with friends and family to say farewell. Right now, I really am on the edge of nowhere. It's not a bad place to be.

A shieling. Click for more photos.

Consulation

I was sitting in the BBC bar chatting to the production team tonight after working on the live show when something exciting happened.

I've had a blast working down here. From the moment I stepped into Television Centre, I thought "I belong here!". It reminded me of my days as a theatre brat. TVC in itself is an amazing building steeped in history. I hear the BBC is selling it off in a few years, so it's been a real honour to get the chance to be a part of its history.

So I was talking to some of the interns and they are all interested in my situation. One of them asked when I was heading to the New World, to which I said "I don't know exactly, I don't have my visa interview yet. Once I get the date I'll have a firmer idea of when I'm going."

People ask us this question a lot and it's hard to answer because I've been living week to week recently. I deliberately left my previous job early so I didn't have to keep them hanging on while I'm hanging on. The next stage could happen very fast, when it happens.

During our conversation, someone poured me a glass of wine and I checked my emails on my phone. And there it was. A letter from the National Visa Center with a date for US embassy interview.

"Hey, can you repeat your question to me?"

"When are you moving to the States?"

I showed them my phone. "It looks like I'm moving in June!"

A small leap: Visa application is in!

It's official - my visa application is in!

This stage of the process splits in two, where my job is to apply for the visa, and Mr's job is to provide his financial information. At this stage, the visa application is just like a standard application - I have to provide a ton of personal information (most of which they have already) about my past, my residences, my jobs, and my family. Mr's paperwork is a little more interesting because it requires him to accept total financial responsibility for me.

As a married couple, we didn't see this as such a big deal, but it is an incredibly important element of the immigration process. No country wants a new immigrant to become a financial burden on the state, so it becomes the petitioner's responsibility to ensure that doesn't happen. Not only does Mr have to prove he has enough money to sustain us both, but he also has to agree that if I ever did access any state aid, he would be required to pay it back. This means it'd be useless for me to try to access welfare or any other kind of benefit.

The financial requirements for a family migrant petition is proof of income/savings 125% above the US poverty guidelines. It's not a huge burden, but it can also be topped up by using co-sponsors, such as family members who sign the same forms accepting financial responsibility for the immigrant.

In this way, the state is placing trust in the petitioner and their family with regards to the character and potential financial burden of an immigrant family member. As I said, no country wants or needs new dependents, but I also believe it's because it's assumed that the petitioner is the best judge of character of the immigrant, and therefore the best judge of whether the immigrant's intent is good and true. The petitioner takes all responsibility for the immigrant and is therefore first line in defence of any potential fraud. Of course, no immigration officer spends as much time with a potential immigrant as the petitioner, so it makes sense.

Despite having already made our marriage vows promising to share our worldly goods, I did ask Mr to make sure he was absolutely sure he wanted to be financially responsible for me!

In other news, I've handed in my notice at work. I'll be sad to leave such a great position at a great organisation, but in other other news, I've also secured a month's placement in London with the BBC straight after I leave. The past few months I've had quite a few offers of placements at the BBC and was unable to take them up. I'm excited to be taking time to get some extra TV production experience after attending the TV festival, and before I head to the USA.

Take me down to the windy city

I dropped Mr at the airport early in the morning and headed back to the city to get a train home. I almost got blown down Princes St in the process, and then ended up stranded in the train station when every train to and from the city was cancelled.

Then all flights were cancelled, so we got an extra week with each other.

I managed to catch some spooky footage of the wind. MontBlanc have been running a movie competition called Beauty of a Second and I found this rather inspiring, so here are fifty five seconds of this Scottish windy day: