They Like Me!

I am not a fan of the UK Border Agency. Their website isn't clear, it suggests one thing while saying something else, it doesn't give you all the information you need in one place and you can't get any help with anything without paying a company a ton of money, and even then, they're not UKBA agents.

In September of 2010 I tried to head to England for grad school.

That was a fail- they didn't like my lack of visa-even though the site suggested I could get one in the UK. Boy was I wrong. Never mind the fact that school started on the 27th, I flew out on the 21st and got my CAS a week before that. I can get vet a visa in 3 weeks... of course I can... suuure.

So I spent an additional $330 to get a visa so I could go back! Aaaand that took so long I extended the school's 4 week allowance for international students Plus the 2 weeks they allow for extreme cases like mine. I got the visa back 3 days too late to do me any good.

So I had a pretty piece of paper glued to the inside of my passport. It's about as effective as a nerf paperweight in a tornado.

And so now it is 2011 and I am making my second attempt to cross the pond and successfully enter England-land (yes I know it's really England and the addition of land is redundant-that's the point people). My CAS arrived on time in May. For the University of Hull you need transcripts, two letters of recommendation and a copy of your diploma ( I think) to get the CAS (certificate of acceptance for study). I had already turned mine in last year so they just bumped it all up to this year's application. Thankfully!

But I got an email from the UK Visa office in NYC and my visa has been approved and my visa is on its way! WOOOOOOT! I've been very excited since I got the email this afternoon. It's hard to believe!!

Now all I need to do is pack, clean out my room so there's nothing of mine in it and get ready to go.

I will miss my dog but she's going to stay home with Grammy and Aunt Libbie so she should be okay without her mommy. Plus Grammy gives her doggie treats, not Mommy.