Arcadian Functor

occasional meanderings in physics' brave new world

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Marni D. Sheppeard

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Oxford Life II

Although it's not really my business, I decided to phone the Home Office, just to see if somebody would talk to me. After the inevitable time on hold, I finally spoke to a lady who told me that I should have emailed (not phoned) another division of the Borders Agency, because there was nothing on their system about visas that had been issued overseas. Whilst on hold, the voice message explained that there were no personal appointments available in March, except possibly, under certain circumstances, in Glasgow.

She then explained that issues with visas should be referred to the issuing authority, that is to say, Wellington. Since I am no longer in New Zealand, and my visa stamp expires in only 2 weeks, I expressed some doubt that the Wellington people would be able to help, especially given their achievement record to date, which resulted in the job being given to another country. I wonder, if I posted my passport to a random person at the Home Office in London, how long would it take them to figure out where it was?

3 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Congratulations on finally making it up North, have fun there with the backward seasons! :)

March 19, 2009 9:31 AM  
Blogger L. Riofrio said...

As C3PO says in his impeccable British accent, "this is madness!"

Speaking of Glasgow, the two immigrants who drove into Glasgow airport in their exploding car had no problems being let into the UK.

We can see why many are tempted to overstay their visa.

March 20, 2009 2:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Louise, I don't think they were "two immigrants". One of them was British-born. He's commonly referred to in the media as Iraqi, but his father lived and worked as a doctor in England at the time when his son was born, so the son would presumably have been a British national. The other was born in India; I don't know the basis on which he gained entry to the UK (e.g. whether as an immigrant or a tourist).

It's worth being careful: the word "immigrant" has enough negative connotations as it is.

March 20, 2009 6:57 AM  

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