"You'll have to come back next week, Mr. K:" a little update

[ritaxis]

So apparently what happened to my Frank was this. His visa had been on hold because the foreign police misplaced a document. They finally got around to asking him to bring it in. He brought it in to the office and stood in line for 5 hours after which they arrested him because he was walking around without a valid visa. They kept him eight hours, they started deportation proceedings, but those are on hold for a week.

He went to the embassy, and they were no help. The consulate has not responded to his message. There is a person at the University who may be able to help but they're out till Monday. He's naturally having trouble sleeping, but he only missed two classes (unfortunately one was where he had to give a presentation on the gall bladder).

I wonder how often Charles University professors hear that excuse -- "Sorry I missed class, but the foreign police arrested me for no real reason?"

On another front, despite the fact that my preschool credential is nothing like I thought it was, I may have a job within a week or two in a different age group than the one I thought I was most likely to be able to work in. A lovely one where the people are wonderful.

I'll be fixing that credential, however, because it's dumb for a person with my experience, skills, and knowledge with infants to not have an infant credential (and how was I legally able to get all that experience, anyway? I've always shown everybody what I had!)

Comments

[malibrarian.livejournal.com]

Is this the week for paperwork problems for your family or what? How scary for Frank to be in a foreign country with no-one to help him. I hope that it works out for him.

And gall bladders are just annoying. Ask my former gall bladder, which I just had removed in December.

[annafdd.livejournal.com]

It only dawned on me last year, when I went to my consulate to vote, that the Embassy and the Consulate are actually two different things, and the Consulate is not a small Embassy. The Embassy is a diplomatic mission in another country, while the Consulate is the place that looks after a country's citizens abroad. This is all to say that Frank needs to bug the Consulate until they help him. They won't want to, because that is the way of Consulates all over the world: it is still their job and they are paid, handsomely, for it.

Once a visa is issued Frank has a right to stay in the country. It's not like the visa waiver: when I get into the US with a visa waiver, they can chuck me out whenever they feel like it. But a visa is a solemn promise to allow a foreign citizen to enter and reside into a country, and as such it comes with rights, like a hearing before deportation and yes, assistance from your consulate.

I do hope he won't be deported, since he did not violate the terms of his visa. I suppose he could appeal if he is, but that is easier said than done. :-(

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

I hope Frank can bug the Consulate to get this sorted out for him. He has done nothing wrong and it's just a case of getting the paperwork straight. As annafdd says, that is their job!

(Feels that the Kafka icon is most appropriate for this comment.)