Hello May 4th. Departure date for Japan T-5 weeks.
Japanese visa? Check.
Moving company? Check.
Flights? Check.
Passport? .... Ah.
Sad, but true. The Canadians have stolen my passport. In an impressive act of organisation, I had submitted my visa application for my job in Ontario this fall at the Canadian Consulate in NYC while there on a work trip. It was the perfect plan; I'd go to Japan, return to the USA briefly on a tourist visa to collect cat & car, then speed off up to Canada with all documents in hand.
Maybe it was the confusion of someone applying for a work permit and not a permission-to-enter-Canada-having-been-banned like everyone else who was there (seriously!). Maybe it was the excitement of seeing a British passport in New York. Perhaps they liked my face, or perhaps they didn't.
Panic rising.
Suppress it. It's going to be fine. I can just contact the Consulate and inquire as to my application status, right?
From the website for the New York Consulate:
"Due to Canadian Privacy legislation, individual cases cannot be discussed over the telephone and must be dealt with by letter, by email or by fax."
Panic RISING.
Well, actually email is better anyway. You get a record of the conversation and I actually hate phone. The website continues:
"Any requests regarding the status of an application, MUST be submitted in writing, either by letter or by fax."
PANIC RISING.
Okay okay, not great, but we can work with this. I'll send them a letter by fax.
"We are only able to reply within 8 to 10 weeks."
...... I can panic now, right?
Japanese visa? Check.
Moving company? Check.
Flights? Check.
Passport? .... Ah.
Sad, but true. The Canadians have stolen my passport. In an impressive act of organisation, I had submitted my visa application for my job in Ontario this fall at the Canadian Consulate in NYC while there on a work trip. It was the perfect plan; I'd go to Japan, return to the USA briefly on a tourist visa to collect cat & car, then speed off up to Canada with all documents in hand.
Maybe it was the confusion of someone applying for a work permit and not a permission-to-enter-Canada-having-been-banned like everyone else who was there (seriously!). Maybe it was the excitement of seeing a British passport in New York. Perhaps they liked my face, or perhaps they didn't.
Panic rising.
Suppress it. It's going to be fine. I can just contact the Consulate and inquire as to my application status, right?
From the website for the New York Consulate:
"Due to Canadian Privacy legislation, individual cases cannot be discussed over the telephone and must be dealt with by letter, by email or by fax."
Panic RISING.
Well, actually email is better anyway. You get a record of the conversation and I actually hate phone. The website continues:
"Any requests regarding the status of an application, MUST be submitted in writing, either by letter or by fax."
PANIC RISING.
Okay okay, not great, but we can work with this. I'll send them a letter by fax.
"We are only able to reply within 8 to 10 weeks."
...... I can panic now, right?