How hard can it be?
In July, I applied for my husband's US residency visa. Normally, this is an exciting thing. We both agree that our family would be better off financially, if we lived somewhere we can both work decent paying jobs, and that would be back in the US. Also, I miss my friends and family, my own culture. My own, if often unpleasant, Chicago weather patterns. My own language.
Let's face it, I just miss home.
So while I'm excited about the idea of relocating to the US, I'm also frustrated. I'm about mid-way through the application process, trying to fill out the affidavit of support for my husband. Because I haven't worked in six years, my parents are joint sponsors and have filled out their own affidavits to support our family after we relocate and my husband fulfills some specific requirements. The affidavit isn't complicated in itself. The form isn't long. But it requires copies of tax returns and proof of past, present and future employment, etc.
My parents have suffered the brunt of this burden, having to supply all of that information. I, on the other hand, have almost nothing to provide except a copy of the tax instructions indicating I haven't had to fill out a tax return, and to fill in my name, address and SS#, my husband's name and address, supply a heaping handful of "none" in the tax area, and having the thing signed and notarized in two places... Not bad, right?
However, while plowing through this seemingly uncomplicated pile of papers, I have managed to write up a list of no fewer than nine questions (one of them a two-parter) that have left me stumped. How can that be? What appears to be a straightforward question, really can have more than one answer. Or the question in question is worded just vaguely enough to be unclear.
Is it just me? Am I the one who is unclear? This is almost as bad as wading through a tax return, and leaves me feeling equally uncertain and stupid.
Here's the worst part. I have a phone number to call, where someone is available to answer questions. That's great. I'm certainly not above asking for help. But, in the general spirit of government facilities, I can only call this number between 2 and 4 pm, four days out of the week.
Okay, fine. So I have a two-hour window of time each day (except Thursdays) to catch someone at his or her desk. But, remember, this is the goverment we're talking about. There is a long a line of people waiting for the same thing. To add insult to injury, it's only one person at one desk, with a single freakin' phone line--
And there is no hold.
That means, if the phone is busy, you get a long message of instructions with different numbers to call for different things (I'm already calling the correct one), and then you get disconnected. There is no waiting line. You don't get put on hold to listen to some godawful muzak until it's your turn. You have to roll the dice over and over, dialling and redialling, taking anew your chances of reaching someone each time.
I've been trying to get through for an hour now, and I'm about to lose it. I only have an hour left, and then I have to start over again tomorrow.
And it's making me feel pretty cranky.
