We got our visas!

The work permit finally arrived yesterday. It was supposed to be here last Thursday or Friday and we were getting worried because we already had our flights to Chicago and London booked.

We contacted the lawyer and got a tracking number. After contacting DHL we found out that the package had Michael's name and zip code but no address, so DHL had not been able to deliver it. After getting that straightened out we made the trip to Chicago today to get our visas.

We got up early and left the house by 4:45am. No luggage to keep up with, just our paperwork, so that was nice. I checked the bag multiple times on Monday to make sure we had all of the information we would need for our visa interview.

Our flight landed in Chicago on time, so we had a couple of hours before our appointments at the British Consulate. We took a cab downtown and went to a foreign currency exchange bank we had located before we left home. It was much cheaper to exchange our money there than at the airport.

The only bad thing about that was that the exchange bank was about 5 blocks from the Consulate. Not too far, really, except that it was 18 degrees outside! Quite a change from the 60 degree weather we were having at home. We had dressed for spring - light jackets, no gloves or scarves. Well, I had some ear covers and light gloves in my pocket, but don't remind Michael. He was a little bitter at the time. I didn't tell him that I keep those in every jacket I have - just in case I get cold.

We trudged through the wind and cold and made it to the Consulate at 10:00am, 45 minutes early, but they still let us in. We went upstairs and had to go through a security checkpoint before proceeding to a small room where we would wait for our number to be called. There were glassed in windows and three stations. It reminded me of tellers at a bank. There was a little hole on the counter where you slid your documents through.

We were number 68. When number 67 was called, we started to get a bit concerned because the interviewer was asking the young man, obviously a student, for all kinds of supporting documents, and the young man was rather flustered. When our number was called we approached the window. The "teller" was very friendly. He asked us a few questions about what we were planning to do in London, where Michael worked, what type of software he worked with. After Michael answered by saying “business process management,” the man laughed and said, “Oh, is that still the ‘in’ thing?” and then he launched into reminiscing about his time at “University” when he had a project that vaguely related to Business Process. By the time he finished his story we had showed him the work permit, marriage license and passports and he told us the visa was approved. It was that easy! The only bad thing was that we had to wait until 2:30 pm to pick up our passports. It was 10:15 – that’s a long time to wait in downtown Chicago with no car, no map, no laptop, and no idea what to do except freeze death if you walk outside.

We walked back down the block to a little corner bakery we had passed on our way to the Consulate. We had some breakfast and then Michael downloaded a mobile Google Maps program to his phone so that we could figure out what was close by. We headed for a mall that was a few blocks away – cold on the way, but then several hours of blissful warmth while we waited. We passed a Starbucks on the way and I made a mental note to leave a little early so that we’d have time for a Cinnamon Dolce on the way back. We found a game store in the mall and bought a deck of cards – they’re cool invisible cards – and played rummy, gin and spades after we got tired of looking around at the stores. We did find a few interesting things in the mall. There was the chocolate lounge, which was a small eatery with chairs and sofas where everything they served was chocolate. There was the olive store. I’m not kidding! It was a whole store for olives and every imaginable type of olive product. Our favorite was the Lego store. There was a life size Lego man sitting on the bench outside the store, and Darth Vader just inside the door. It was really cool.

After lunch, we left the mall and headed for Starbucks. It was halfway between the mall and the Consulate, so we didn’t have to be out in the cold that long. We arrived at the Consulate a few minutes early so we had to wait downstairs. When it was time, we had to wait for the security guard to finish dealing with tshe student who was ahead of us in line that morning. When we left we were given a card and we were told to keep it or we wouldn’t be abele to get back in to get our passports. Well, the student had lost his in the four hours he had been gone. I hope his year of studying in the UK goes more smoothly for him than his Consulate experience.

When we took to elevator back to the 13th floor, I was expecting to go through the security checkpoint again. When the officer just waved us through I thought, “That’s nice, but a little scary.” Unfortunately I often just say what I’m thinking and I looked at Michael and made a comment about it being a good thing that we hadn’t bought a gun while we were out shopping. Michael shot me a look, but it was too late. The security guard heard my comment and got a little upset. He turned the metal detector on and made me walk through it. He even said that a man had recently been denied a visa for making a comment like that. I told him that I was just joking and that I didn’t mean anything by it. I felt really bad, because he was obviously very upset. We did get our passports back and on our way out, I stopped and apologized to the guard. He was very nice, and also apologetic about the situation. I think he just wanted me to realize how serious the situation could have been. Then he also confessed that his wife had done something similar once and embarrassed him terribly. We were all laughing by the time we got on the elevator. Michael thought it was funny, of course he wouldn’t have thought that if we hadn’t been able to get our visas, but since it all worked out we can laugh about it now.

We headed back to the airport and got on standby for the 4:45pm flight, which was the last flight to Kansas City before our flight at 8:40pm. We were cleared and got to take the earlier flight home. It was delayed a bit, but we still made it home several hours earlier than we had planned. It gave us a chance to start packing the suitcases. Hopefully we’ll get everything done early enough tomorrow night that we can get some sleep.