Since I have been in the States whenever anyone has asked me, “When are you going home?” My standard reply has been, “When I get kicked out by immigration!” And, I thought that was such a joke – 11 million illegal aliens – why would they kick out good little law abiding me???
Well as my Facebook status says; “Cat XXXXXX thinks she might need a lawyer ... and wishes she had never joked about being kicked out by immigration ...” It’s not as bad as it sounds – I might be exaggerating a wee bit for melodramatic effect!
What a day!! Let me back peddle just a little to fill in the details. On Friday morning, Janet and Richard the BHHEC Managers, and another volunteer who wanted to go to Canada for a family reunion, and I started our Journey to Canada – via Montana. We stayed at some friends of Janet and Richards who live about 50 miles from the border for the weekend. I think it’s great that I can turn up somewhere as a complete stranger and by the end of the Sabbath feel like family. We celebrated the 4th of July at friends of the friends – a good time was had by all and I will write a blog entry on that at some later date!
So, this morning, the 5th, a bank holiday because the 4th was on a Sunday, we all climbed merrily into the car with the intention of spending the day in Canada and dropping the other volunteer at the bus to in Regina so he could finish his journey to his family reunion while we returned to the US. Where I would get a new entry permit and be allowed to stay legally in the states until Christmas. We stopped at a bird sanctuary on the way where we saw lots of actually very interesting birds. I will write a blog on that at some other time.
Finally we arrive at the border, the US border people waves us through and we pull up to the Canada border patrol. The officer takes our passports, “Are you all from the same place?” he asks. Which leads to a round of explanations about who is who, where we are from, and what we do. He wanders off with our passports presumably to stamp them and bring them back and we wait, and we wait, and we wait some more! Finally he comes back and says he needs to talk to the other volunteer – calls him ‘Mister.’ Not a good sign! After some more waiting and a bunch of talking and some phone calls we are given our passports back and told that the other volunteer “can’t enter Canada today” so we are all sent back to the States side of the border. It turns out that about 10 years ago the other volunteer was arrested for something and while the police decided not to press charges the arrest is still on his record and he could not enter Canada unless he could prove that he had not been convicted. Now, because it was a bank holiday in the US he could not do that – anyone who might have been able to fax him the necessary documents was out of the office and enjoying a holiday as is their patriotic duty.
So we pull up to the US border and the US officer comes out to ask us who we are, why we are there and why we didn’t get into Canada. Another round of answers and explanations results in us all being ushered into the customs reception room and the car being searched. Standard practise as it turns out, not harassing of us. I was feeling quite smug, expecting that everything would go smoothly and that I would get my entry permit extended and that I would then be able to stay till Christmas.
Then the Customs officer comes back to inform me that I am working illegally in the US of A because I am receiving remuneration in the form of room and board for my work. And apparently I am also violating the conditions of my visa because I have not maintained a residence in NZ, (neither the guy at the consulate in Auckland where I got my visa or the border officer at LAX where I first entered the country mentioned this, and I didn’t find it on the website – which I had read from top to bottom). Therefore they (the officer at the Canadian/US border) will not be extending my entry permit. But because we did not manage to actually leave the country they will allow me to remain and not stop me from ‘re-entering’ the States and they will not be doing anything about the illegal work situation, but he expects I will ‘do the right thing’ and must leave the country before the date on my entry permit – which is the 17th of July.
So things to be thankful for;
- 1. Thanks to the other volunteer and his predicament I am still in the states and not stuck in Canada, with all my stuff in the US, wondering what I should do now ... because it was only a day trip I had only taken my handbag. (Thanks O. – sorry you missed your family reunion!)
- 2. I’m not getting in any trouble about working illegally.
- 3. God obviously has His hand over the situation because lots of prayers have been said about me getting to stay longer and so I just have to wait and see what the next portion of His plan is.
Next Steps;
- 1. Pray.
- 2. Tomorrow we are going to ring Wildwood – another health retreat place that has dealt with lots of visa issues and see what they suggest, is there anything they can suggest that will allow me to stay longer?
- 3. Pray some more.
- 4. See the person in the office in Rapid City who is in charge of Visa’s and see if they can help in anyway.
- 5. Pray again.
- 6. Look for other options for the rest of this year and come home before moving on to them.
Options for the rest of the year;
- 1. On Thursday last week I applied to go to AFCOE to do the 4 month evangelism training course. I still love teaching, and I’m good at it. I just want to teach important stuff to people who want to learn it. God and His message to man is the most important thing in the world. So I figure that doing that course would put me in a position to teach the most important thing in the world to people who, since they came to meeting about it, obviously want to learn it. I haven’t been accepted or anything yet, have prayed about it (a lot) and if God wants me to go He will work the miracles to make it possible – now He just has a few more miracles to work, i.e. like getting me back to the states, or making it possible for me to stay. Currently this seems to be an impossible dream but ‘all things are possible with God!’
- 2. I met a lady this weekend who was working as a recruiter for the SDA English Language Institues in Korea. Teaching English in Korea is something I have been thinking about doing for a long time so maybe this is my opportunity to go and do that. The lady is giving me the contact details of the people who do that job now and I will follow that up.
- 3. Come back to the ‘downunder’ part of the world and find a short term teaching position to save money and try again to go to AFCOE next year.
- 4. Something else that God has not yet revealed to me.
- 5. Or, as the people we are staying with suggested there is always the option of finding some USA man and having a quickie wedding so that I can stay – lol. I am NOT even going to THINK about that option!!!!!!
I would appreciate it if you would all pray that God’s plan is worked out in my life!!! Hugs to you all and I expect the next couple of weeks will be an exciting ride, kind of looking forward to seeing what happens next!
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