Just Jenney

All I'm saying is, almost no dual-nationality couples are immune from having to deal with immigration in some regard for a significant period of time. Some immigration processes are faster/easier/better than others -- sometimes it depends on the process, sometimes the country, sometimes both. As for finding anything worse than USCIS, I can assure you that my dealings with Chilean immigration were FAR WORSE than any of our dealings with US immigration. After all the inefficient crap I went through in Chile, USCIS has been a breeze.

For instance, Chilean immigration officials wouldn't provide any written instructions explaining what documentation was required for a certain application, etc. It's not because they didn't HAVE that information in writing -- they just refused to make it available to the public. I know because I asked several times for instructions and was repeatedly told they were for internal use only.

Instead, they'd simply TELL me what was required, I'd jot it down, repeat everything back to make sure I had it all correct, then come back another day just to be told that I'd left something out. So then I'd have to come back ANOTHER day and start all over again, crossing my fingers and hoping that the last immigration had told me the right information. It was like having to deal with the I-800-misinformation line in person for hours on end in a small, cramped building with no chairs or air-conditioning. Now THAT'S hell.

That said, this was before the internet was utilized for such things, so maybe (hopefully!) things have changed for the better in Chile. But I can't help but think of my Chilean immigration experience when we're going through the US immigration process -- they don't even come close.

~ Jenney

fatbrit

He he -- had a chuckle and brought back some memories. I seem to remember you were a EFL teacher like I was at some time, so I have been through very similar experiences in rather horrific bureaucracies. However, I quickly learnt a few things when I 'd done a few the hard way. A kilo of coffee, bottle of scotch and bunch of flowers would work a treat, and also if you're teaching English in a poor country you are probably teaching the rich and powerful (or their kids) as they're the only ones who can afford you, and these people can get things done very quickly if you give them a nod!

I compare USCIS to these countries and it comes out about equal. But in the US I do not have access to the rich and powerful, nor are the drones amenable at an acceptable price. Therefore, USCIS is the worst I have ever met from a practical point of view!

Just Jenney

Sorry, but what you've said here makes no sense to me.

Yes, I taught English at Berlitz in Santiago. But I didn't teach anyone who worked at immigration or had any influence there. Quite the contrary: I'm sure the immigration officials got paid very little and weren't considered among the "rich and powerful" in the least. They were "drones" as you call them.

Either way, it would never occur to me to offer someone a bribe.

~ Jenney

fatbrit

When in Rome, do as the Romans do! They don't see it as a bribe so why should I? It's just their way of doing business.

Just Jenney

I'm not so sure they "don't see it as a bribe." They KNOW it's a bribe, and they KNOW it's wrong -- and illegal.

More importantly, *I* know it's wrong and illegal. Just because it may be SOME people's "way of doing business" doesn't mean it's MY way of doing business, nor should it be.

~ Jenney

fatbrit

Depends how dogmatic you want to be? (Though if you happily taught for Berlitz, I think we've answered that!) Personally, sitting for hours on end in a plethora of government offices being told time after time different things (since they made most of it up as they went along) was not my idea of productivity. If I were an idealist and wished to foster change, it was far better to do it in the classroom in front of an audience of leaders and future leaders rather than in the pits of the bureaucracy where most had already, I'm afraid, been lost.

Cannot understand how you didn't use your students to ease your passage? This is the first lesson you learn when you start as an EFL teacher in unfamiliar places. You presumably weren't teaching the local peasants given Berlitz's tuition rates? Your students (or in some cases their parents) could and were happy to get things done for you very easily.

Angry White Pyjamas

Amazing what a spot of the correct "Grease" on a sticking point can do to get machinery moving again.

fatbrit

Way the world goes round, innit?

Angry White Pyjamas

Always has always will do.