[torradan]

little update..

after a VERY long day at the consulate, I finally have my temporary permit! Now I have to get the work permit, and apparently I may have to deal with the HRDC crap to actually get the work permit.

Stopping at customs tomorrow on the way to Toronto to get the actual permit with my picture on it and stuff, and going to play dumb about asking for the work permit application.

---

If you've ever gone to the Consulate in Buffalo -- pray you never have to.

Its boring. Very boring. No magazines, no newspapers, no books (brought two - couldn't have them on me), no music, no tv, no games (i brought my Nintendo DS with the mod card loaded up to pass the time), phones had to be powered off.

Sterile looking waiting room. Gray floors, eggshell yellowish walls, flourescent lights (thank god they didn't buzz), hard orange plastic chairs you just can't get comfortable in. BIG wall clock so you can see just how long you've been waiting. Tried counting ceiling tiles but kept losing count.

The timeline also sucked eggs:
7am - got to the lobby of HSBC Center early to get at the front of the line.
8am - got in trouble for leaning against the wall. Check documents/passport, take us up to the actual consulate. Turn in documents. Get a number and wait in the uncomfortable waiting area. Wait about 30 minutes and cough up another $200 for the cause. While paying, I notice a post-it on my application that says "no can process -- needs original documents". I just sent them new updated background checks in JANUARY. Lets get our act together here, you have my file number plastered all over the place. I get very nervous and pissed off because of this note, yet they still take my money. Two people other than myself spoke English, so we tried to keep ourselves occupied. So 3 out of about 30 people. Higher ratio than in Scarborough.
11am - called into interview room, got brief news, spoke about the copies of my background checks, and I am to discuss that with the Immigration Officer and was told to come back at 1pm.
11am-1pm - stuck in the lobby of HSBC again. Found a Tim Hortons (yay!) and got a coffee. After I finished the coffee, I realized there are NO public restrooms. Great. 90 minutes of waiting left, and I just had coffee.
12:30pm - my bladder is about to burst. Consider going outside and peeing on a wall. Decide against it, too many people on lunch break.
1pm - Go back up to the consulate. Right now its just me and a Polish guy. So we talked for a while until he was called, and then he left around 1:30pm. So there I am all alone again, nothing to do.
2:20pm - get called for the REAL interview.
2:45pm - dismissed from interview room (which came from a scene in a movie where the inmate is talking to his lawyer, minus the telephone on the wall). Told to wait in the waiting area (alone again) for the papers to be finished.
3:00pm - employees start leaving.
3:15pm - more are leaving, I'm still sitting there.
3:30pm - most are gone now. including the cleaning people.
3:45pm - I finally get called to the window to get the letter I need to take to the border.

So that was my totally boring day!

During the interview, the immigration officer was extremely polite, and answered all of my questions in laymen's terms. Said she is the one dealing with my permanent residency application -- she and her supervisor have approved it, but apparently its reached a slowdown at the office in Ottawa who have the final say.