Accepted!!

Our papers were accepted!! Along with a large sum of money, but I didn't really expect that to be rejected.  Now we wait about three weeks for the official packet to be sent to Pollito, and then he will have to hustle and collect more papers and do more medical exams, but the papers were accepted.  SOO relieved.

On a side note, while at the Embassy, there was a very annoying american there with his young Peruvian wife.  I say annoying because he was the typical demanding American, why am I in line? This is f****** ridiculous etc and waving his passport around.  He was also being very nice to his wife, but I couldn't hear enough to actually say something to him without obviously eavesdropping.  Why do people get married to people who call them names and speak to them like they're stupid?  

Also, in the Embassy I got to hear the worst Spanish accents I think I have heard in a REALLY, REALLY long time.  It's actually kind of embarrassing, because if you work in a foreign country especially in a place where you have to interact or communicate with native speakers, you would think you would put more effort into learning the language.  Their accents were so bad that I couldn't understand what they were saying, and one of the girls said a number, very incorrectly.  For example instead of saying one hundred and fourteen, she said one hundred and ten and 4.  Really?  Maybe I am being too harsh, but that is a basic thing to know and if you are telling Spanish speaking people what to do, you should put more effort into communicating well with them.  

The bottom line is. PAPERS TURNED IN!  YAYAYAYAYA

Photos!!!

Yesterday at the Embassy I was missing photos and a copy of the original document that I brought in on more official looking paper.  So I couldn't turn in the papers.  With my 15 sole paper in hand and a print out of some pictures, I am returning to the Embassy tomorrow because they are only open on Tuesday and Thursday from 9-11am. In the mean time....enjoy pictures from the civil ceremony!!


                                           

Operation Green Card Phase ll : Dealing with the Embassy

Embassy behind the yellow wall...

This past week was spent trying to get everything together to take to the Embassy.  I finally have everything done and filled out, so tomorrow, a Tuesday, I will take my package to the Embassy to hand in.

The Citizen Services window is only open from 9-11am on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I will have to go early.  When I went to go ask questions on Thursday, the woman told me that the payment (a whopping $420) gets paid at the Embassy.  Hopefully this info is correct!  And hopefully I filled everything out correctly.  It had me filling out past employer names and addresses in boxes about the size of your thumb. Everything is a little squishy.

With luck, I have done everything correctly, and the paperwork will be accepted and I won't be missing anything and Pollito will be called to have his interview shortly and they will like him and allow him to come to the US as a permanent resident.

Last one down

Sorry I left you hanging from my last post on the horrors of dealing with Immigration.  Last week was really busy and I didn't have time to post about it.

We got the paper, but it still didn't take 15 minutes like it was supposed to.  I am ever hopeful that one day, one of this processes will actually go according to plan....

On Monday night according to the plan, Pollito called our contact lady in the ministry to see if progress had been made.  He was told to call back in half an hour.  Half a hour later, when he called her back, it was done!!  She said that I could go directly to the window to ask for my migratory movements without having to go and ask upstairs.  Hurray for connections!!  I think.  The guys upstairs said that by Tuesday all of the paperwork would be in order anyway....but the important part is: I was cleared to pick up the paper that I had originally needed.

Unlike the first day we showed up at the ministry, today's line for the little reception window was loooooonnnng.  It took about an hour to make it to the front.  They have two windows serving all sorts of immigration paperwork stuff.  If the information is available online, then it should be a breeze to just print it off, from a machine, like they do with some birth certificates.  I get to the front, and hand in my papers.  The man at the window pecked away at his computer and squinted through his glasses for a good 10 minutes all the while shuffling papers around and peering at me and my documents.  Finally he gives me a little slip of paper with my collection number and Pollito and I breathe a sigh of relief that there were no hiccups at this point.

We bought some high quality snacks at the vending machines and sat down to wait.  They man behind the window had said that it would be like 15-10 minutes, but we had seen people waiting outside the pick-up window for a good hour, so we weren't too optimistic.  Lo and behold, in 20 minutes, the man at the pick-up window called my name along with a bunch of other people's.  We stood in line again.  I showed the man my documents and my little receipt and then he shuffled some papers and came up with a packet.  He had me sign it and then handed me another piece of people that had my migratory movements on it.

You're thinking "Thank goodness!! finally complete!", right?  WRONG.

Being the good Peruvian daughter-in-law that I have learned to be, I checked my information on the paper to make sure it was all correct before stepping away from the window.   The American in me was telling me to hurry up because there were more people in line and the learned Peruvian in me told me that it didn't matter and that I had to check my info because they buffoons could have gotten it wrong.  Pollito came up and scanned the document too, and just as I was turning away he saw it - the person who asked for the document was listed as "Elizabeth Helen Joe".  Apparently, Joe was my new last name.

GHAGHAGHAHAGH Peruvian Ministry of Immigration.  WHY is everything you do so WRONG? Thats not even the name I put on the form asking for the movements.  I put that the person asking for the papers was "Elizabeth Hatayama" and the person whose movments were being requested was "Elizabeth Helen Joe Hatayama".  Nowhere did I put "Elizabeth Helen Joe".  So we talked to the man, and were like, uhhh this is wrong you have to fix it.  And he said, no, you have to fix it, you wrote your name wrong here.  But the name I wrote and the name they put down didn't even match!  It would have been the same it they name of the person requesting the paper was "John Aaron Smith"  And they put "John Aaron"  It doesn't matter that he is requesting the movements for me.

So the man told me to just add my whole name to the line.  Then it would read "Elizabeth Hatayama Helen Joe".  Uhm... Thats not me either.  I asked him if I could make a little carrot between the names and insert the two middle names.  NO.  So he had me fill out an entire new sheet and then go back over to the drop-off window and turn in the paper again.  Then we got back in the pick-up line while they moved papers and stamps around and FINALLY I had the paper.  With all of my name written in the proper order in the proper place.

Thank you, ministry at being so inept, and then blaming the people you serve for your mistakes and then taking forever and day to get it corrected.  But really, thanks for my migratory movements.

We celebrated bye eating pan con chicharron sandwiches at this little hole in the wall and on the way home I marveled at what is by far my most favorite street in Lima because it is lined with old colonial buildings (old and dirty, but still pretty)

Oh holy....place down under

Per my last post, today was the day to return to immigration and collect papers.  Big surprise, we STILL don't have papers in hand.  Here's how it went down...

This morning Pollito dropped me off at the Immigration Ministry.  I had all my papers in order and I lined up and got shuffled between windows and then they tell me they can't find my information and that I need to go to the United office to get a report saying that I was actually on the flight.  I fought with them for a food 10 minutes, because really what I am doing is fixing their mistake.  The day I left Peru, the entire system was down.  What should have happened is that they should have entered the information into the system as soon as it was back up.  I have everything that I need.  I have my exit stamp AND the stamp where I had to pay the over-stay fine.  As far as I'm concerned, they need to do the rest.  Unfortunately, not.

I tried to go to an Internet place and I printed off my e-ticket (which cost an arm and a leg on the world's slowest machine) and showed it to the people at the window.  The man (I swear he is a robot) looked at them, went to ask someone about something, and then came back and told me that I had to do what his boss had said about getting proof that I was on the flight.  Great.  I went outside and looked for a taxi.  It probably took a good 20 mins to get down to the neighbor hood of the airline office and about 10 minutes walking around trying to find it.

Along the way I had to change a large bill and had to try two different places.  Swell.  I found the United/Continental office and sat down to wait.  I had arrived just after these two old ladies who had to have their names changed because their ID and their tickets didn't match and then they had a whole bunch of other questions and concerns.  When I finally got up to the window, the woman told me that United/Continental don't issue proof of being on the flight.  Its against their policies.  So she gave me proof that they don't issue this type of proof.  And I had to find my way back to immigration to meet Pollito.

I saw some cool things along the way such as a Mini World theme park, a medicinal botanical garden and a 3 block tiled mural that represented each department in Peru.  First I thought it was a cool community project, and then I saw the 1 block long dedicated to the late Pope.  Ah well.

When I arrived, close to a half hour later (traffic) I was starving and hot and Pollito told me that he had been talking to a person and then the person had disappeared to look for the documents that say that I left the country and that we just had to wait.  We spoke several times with people (who, by the way pretty much ignored me when they talked to both of us even though these papers were for me.  Pollito says they are just like that and they don't know any better) and the only response that we got was that they were looking and it was the airline's fault that they wouldn't give me the proof of being on the plane..

The man finally came out again and said that they had found all of the other manifests except my flight (what a coincidence)  and that I needed to sign a sworn document that verified that what I was saying was true.  This was just ridiculous.  I have the stamp in my passport.  I also have the entrance stamp from when I came back into the country.  I obviously did not make it through security, then immigration to hang out in the airport for  2 weeks and then somehow get from the departures part of the airport to the arrivals part and get my passport stamped again.  I suppose I could have bribed someone to give me stamps....three of them..but they why is just the entrance shown in my records?  Anyway, luckily we didn't have to get the darn thing notarized and Pollito just copied someone else's sworn statement and I signed it and we turned it in.

The man said it would be ready on Monday.  Right.

Writing out a sworn statement.  So much effort for something at the end, we wrote by hand and swore by ourselves.

During this time Pollito also called his uncle who works in the congress because he is friends with some important person in Immigration.  After we were almost all the way home, his uncle calls back and says he has the connections that we can call this woman and get the paperwork done today.  GAHGHGH.  Too bad we were already an hour away and hot, and annoyed, and tired, and HUNGRY.  We will have to see if this goes through on Monday anyway.  But knowing someone who knows someone almost insures that we will get the document on Monday.

When the document is handed over, I have to translate them and then we can turn them in.  Monday can't come soon enough.

Round ll - FIGHT!

First off...I WILL get pictures up.  We have the CD with everything and I have to sort through them and post them.  Don't stress!!

So, we had a few days of paperwork free bliss surrounding the wedding, but as soon as my parent's left we hopped right back into the fray.

most of the papers for this process...

The first order of business is to get the official marriage certificate certified by the...something department.  RENIEC.  That nice piece of paper doesn't really account for anything, except sentiment.  We first had to go to another branch of the city to put in an order for a signed copy of the certificate.  That took 2 days to process and then with that piece of paper we took it to the RENIEC offices for them to register our marriage in their system and give up a certified certificate.  That process was actually the least difficult of them all.  The only thing I didn't have was a copy of my passport, but there are always copy places next to official buildings, so that was not a problem.  Actually getting registered was free and the nice man gave us our copy of the certificate right away.  We are now, legally, and officially married.  It turns up in the records now.

This process could also have been done for free and just by waiting for the respective departments to do it themselves.  But then we return to the problem of time.  The municipality has like 9 days to take it to RENIEC, and then RENIEC has 15 days to process it and issue the certificate.  It cost a little more to do it ourselves, but it was done faster and we feel more accomplished.  HA!  Beating the system....kinda.

With the certificate finished, the last piece we needed was my record of my migration movements.  Otherwise known as my entries and exits into the country to prove that I have been in Peru long enough to quality for Direct Consular Filing for Pollito to get his green card.

The internet says that the process is free.  Cool.  Pollito wouldn't let me go by myself into the center to the Migration offices, DIGEMIN, so I had to wait until someone could come with me.  Pollito finally took me yesterday.  I went armed with my passport and my migration card from the airport.  Just like the website says.  We arrived without too much difficulty, and then we had to stand in line for papers we could have printed off online.  Opps.  Half way through the line the opened up another window and I raced Pollito to the window.  I won and collected the paper and was told that I had to fill out the paper and pay the fee...wait...pay the fee?? Online it says it is free!!  Pollito asked one of the workers why it says free on the internet and when she went to go look it up she found that her computer was without a mouse.  Excellent.  So I filled out the form and we got in line for the bank.

Its good the bank has a branch at DIGEMIN, otherwise you would have to wander around and try to find one.  They also have a copy machine there where, for a fee,  you can get all your last minute copies made.  The bank line moved quickly because the only operations that the tellers do is to charge people administrative fees.  We were already annoyed that what we thought was going to be a fast trip was turing into a morning filled with waiting in line.  Good thing I had water.  The best was yet to come.

We were sent to little windows where I had to turn in my papers with my payment.  The guard stopped me at the front.  Did I have a copy of my passport?  No.  Thanks little copy room.  We got in line again.  I finally made it up to the window, and the woman goes, do you have a copy of your entry stamp?  No.  Good thing Pollito was there.  I stood at the window trying to ignore people giving me annoyed looks, and he went to get a copy.  The woman looked at my papers again and then back to her computer.  She said "You just have one entry into Peru.." and told her that I have two entries and that I had left in January.   I showed her the stamp.  She said that the system showed that I had entered Peru in March of 2011 and then re-entered in January of 2012.  EH?  No.  She told me to go up to the third floor to the Migration control window and have them sort it out.  UGH.

We went up and stood in line, Pollito fuming at the ineffectiveness of the Peruvian bureaucracy.   While we were waiting in line we saw some poor gringo looking guy being sent back and forth between our line and a big room.  Go! NO!, come back, tell them this...leave your stuff..nooo you might need it take it...go ask them!  come back!  Poor guy.  When we made it to the window I told the woman what had happened and she gave me a form and told me I needed a copy of my passport, the migration card, and my entry and exit stamps.  I filled out paperwork and Pollito ran downstairs for copies again.

We went up to the other window that was pointed out to us by the lady who gave us the form and turned them in.  This woman wrote down my information, literally wrote with a pen and paper in a ledger with lines made by a ruler, and took my papers.  We started asking her questions and she said to ask the guy next door.  We moved to the window next door and asked him when the system would be corrected.  He said I could come back on Friday or call.  When I asked him for the number he said, no, there is no number, you have to come down.  Ok...and I asked him what would happen if it wasn't finished.  And he said that if it wasn't finished then they would correct it right then and there.  Why, if they can do that, could they not just fix it for me now??  Bureaucracy.

What happened is that the day I left Peru in January, the entire migration system was down.  I almost missed my flight, but managed to get the proper stamps in my passport, but I guess this information was never entered into the computer.  Excellent.  Now they have to look for my migration card and enter it into the system.  And I have to return to check and see if they have actually done this and then stand in line again to get my migration record.

Pollito was livid at the whole process and at the building.  The building looks like its going to fall apart.  The little windows are really old fashioned and Pollito says that its a horrible image of Peru that is being given.  Since the office if the headquarters of everything with immigration, foreigners leave with an impression of Peru being inefficient, outdated, and backwards.  It does not help that they still enter records by hand.  Imagine there was a fire, all of those ledgers would be lost.  Never mind the time it takes to actually fill out these ledgers.  It was the same at the police station.  When you file a report there is no computer, the officer on hand just writes out half a page by hand and fills in the blanks with your information.  Talk about old school.

Talk about a whole lot of trouble to get a paper that says I have been in Peru for the proper amount of time.  What we thought was going to be a half hour turned out to be almost 3.  Good bye morning.