Posts Tagged “immigration”

    Permanent Residency

    Thursday, June 15th, 2006

    I got a “Welcome to the United States of America” letter from the immigration people today telling me that my application for permanent residence has been approved. At this point I don’t think it really makes much difference to my everyday life other than the fact that I have to carry an permanent resident ID card with my everywhere I go. I have just over 2 years until I can apply to be a US citizen but I’ll look into that closer to the time – I think it will let me move more freely between the US & UK as currently I need to spend a certain percentage of my time here otherwise I’ll lose my status.

    In the football today the commentators seemed to get all the player’s names correct but they went very quiet when they showed shots of the player’s wives & girlfirends, I don’t think they had a clue who they were. They did say however, that getting booked for timewasting was a waste and they should save the cards for a professional foul.

    I think ESPN have been getting complaints about their coverage, they didn’t show any of the national anthems until it came to the USA game, then they went to a commercial break straight after the US anthem so we didn’t have to sit and listen to the Czech anthem. It seems that some people found this a little offensive and they have started to show the full anthems, added nicely to the build up to today’s game.

    Excitement is building amongst the pundits who keep saying how badly the US did on Monday and then are upbeat saying they can still beat Italy. I just hope they don’t go back to US ‘sports’ stop showing all the games after they get beaten again.

    Tags: , , , , ,
    Posted in personal | 2 Comments »

    Busy Times

    Sunday, May 21st, 2006

    It’s been a while but I’ve been pretty busy during the last few weeks. Charlie popped over for a visit after his business trip to Florida and became the first passenger in my car when I picked it up. I’ve been driving all over the place, I’ve taken it out to LA a few times and we went to Vegas for a weekend where a fine time was had by all. I now have my advance parole, which means that if I leave the country I will be allowed back in and my permanent residency application has been forwarded to California to speed up the process, but they still say it will be about 270-300 days. Still I can do pretty much everything now that I will be able to do once I’m a permanent resident with a green card.

    The search for a job has started and I’m going to a careers fair on Tuesday to see what’s around, hopefully there will be plenty of IT companies wanting to hire mid-July, the day after the World Cup final would be great.

    Tags: , , , , , ,
    Posted in personal, work | 2 Comments »

    Work permit

    Sunday, April 30th, 2006

    I finally got an email from the immigration services telling me that my application for a work permit has been approved. Now comes the fun part of finding jobs to apply for and going to interviews.

    In other news my car is now paid off and I’ve got to transfer it into my name, I’ll soon be driving around despairing at the mentality of other drivers again.

    Tags: ,
    Posted in personal | 1 Comment »

    Biometrics

    Saturday, February 25th, 2006

    Oh dear, this really has been neglected recently hasn’t it? I seem to be writing things in my head when I’m in bed but by the time I wake up I’ve completely forgotten to come to the site and write it all up. Maybe I should leave the laptop running next to the bed so that I can get my thoughts down while they are fresh.

    Today’s big excitement was a visit to the USCIS (immigration) offices in Riverside for them to gather biometric data. It was a pleasant surprise to see hardly anyone waiting there when I arrived and if it hadn’t been for the immigration services screwing up my alien number on one of the forms I’d have had my finger prints done and photo taken in no time. They sorted it reasonably quickly and told me that I don’t have to come back again on Tuesday morning to do the same thing again as I was previously informed on one of their letters.

    Next is the wait for the interview date, which could be anything from a month to, well anywhere really. Average seems to be 3 months from the application date, which was a month ago already! I’ll be legal before you know it.

    Tags: ,
    Posted in personal | No Comments »

    Its been a while

    Thursday, January 26th, 2006

    I didn’t realise quite how long it had been since I posted on here, is anyone still out there checking this? I’d like to say I used the time productively, well I’ve almost completed Grand Theft Auto San Andreas.

    I have actually managed to get my latest set of immigration forms sent off to the USCIS (Immigration Services). If there are no problems with them then I should be a permanent resident in about 4 months. I may get my work permit sooner but I don’t think I’ll be able to get a driver’s license until I’m permanent and the public transport here is almost non existant. There’s certainly no tube service!

    Tags: , ,
    Posted in personal | 2 Comments »

    Driving test

    Friday, August 26th, 2005

    Today’s behind the wheel driving test didn’t go exactly as planned, I didn’t even make it to the behind the wheel part. Apparently there is a new law that you need to have at least 60 days left on your visa to get a permit and I only have 22, I shouldn’t have got my learner’s permit but the woman who served me on the previous visit didn’t know any better. They now say I have until 17 September to get proof that I am legally allowed to be here and take the test otherwise I have to start again and do the written test and pay for it all over again! Nice to see that there are incompetent government employees in every country.

    I did manage to pick up my next batch of forms to fill in to confirm who I am and everything I’ve done in my life (yet again), oh and the list of fees which runs to another $1,000. They are pretty much the same questions that I answered when I was in England, the UK should pick up on this and they could probably double the NHS budget on the money they make – $70 to let them take my fingerprint for a third time?!?

    On a lighter note, just finished watching the last episode of Ricky Gervais’ Extras. Got funnier as the series went on, the last 2 (with Samuel L Jackson & Patrick Stewart) were particularly good.

    Tags: , , ,
    Posted in personal | 1 Comment »

    Social security

    Wednesday, August 10th, 2005

    I’ve finally received my social security number which means I can open a bank account, which means I can prove an address for credit cards, can get a driving license and once a bit more paper work is done can get a job. I’m on George’s list but for at least another 5 years (until naturalisation) he can’t use me as one of his toy soldiers.

    The tux is sorted and I should be picking up my ring this week, I’m actually getting things done before the last week!! Fortunately there’s plenty more for me to sort out in the coming month so there’s still opportunity for the mad rush at the end.

    If anyone requires any electrical goods (or any other goods that you want to bring back or have brought back) if you can give me a couple of weeks notice I’ll see what I can find out here and bring it to Vegas and sell it on out of a car boot in a dodgy car park. Just so it really feels like you’re getting a bargain.

    Tags: , ,
    Posted in personal | 2 Comments »