Envelope from Buffalo
Saturday, Alan had to work, but we made plans to see X-Men III afterwards. I stopped by our p.o. box along the way to meet him downtown. And there it was: an envelope from Buffalo.
A bit heart-stopping.
No way would I open it without him, but the half-hour walk allowed time for supposition. This is really too early to hear anything, so why now? Too much of a coincidence of the timing with our requests to the State of Louisiana. It probably has something to do with that -- says the rational part of the brain.
But -- what if ... 1) They've looked at our application enough to reject us and decided it doesn't need to go further ... 2) They're working the queue faster because they've started sending applications to other consulates for processing and this is the request for the next step ...
So, I tell myself there are three categories this envelope could belong to: Neutral news, bad news or good news. Chances are it is the first.
Alan and friend wanted to make me wait until after the movie, but I opened the envelope over sweet potato fries (just found a source for this, one of my favorite things) during lunch.
At first I was confused: The contents of the envelope were what I had sent to Louisiana. There were the forms, the letters, the fingerprint cards, the un-cashed money orders -- but no results, nothing saying "no record." They did nothing. But how did this get from Louisiana to Buffalo and back to Seattle?
A more thorough search came up with two over-photocopied letters, one from Louisiana, which was buried, and one from the Canadian Consulate General. The letter from Louisiana was dated November 22, 2005:
We regret to inform you at this time that we are unable to respond to your request for a criminal background check for immigration and/or a work visa purposes. This matter has been referred to our legal advisors for clarification concerning the placement of responsibility according to Louisiana law for provision of this information. This issue should be resolved rapidly [Snort] and hopefully will enable us to respond in the future. Should you require further assistance, please do not hesitate to call ...
Rapidly? The letter was dated six months ago! And remember, this was our second request because they had refused to send it to us directly, but only to the consulate. This time we provided the address in Buffalo and our file number, along with a self-addressed envelope so they wouldn't screw it up. That's how everything got to Buffalo.
The folks in Buffalo opened this, said, "dopey Americans," added a photocopied letter with instructions about how to obtain FBI clearance, and mailed everything back to us.
Of course, we already have our FBI clearances and they're in our file. But I don't think anyone checked.
Other than confirming my feelings about Louisiana (my time there was mostly spent planning my escape), this episode did suggest an interesting piece of information: Buffalo doesn't seem to care about state clearances. That's been an ongoing debate in the Canadian immigration yahoo groups and most of us decide to play it safe and get them anyway. But maybe logic has prevailed and only the FBI clearance is needed, as it does cover all 50 states anyway.
The movie was good, by the way. I recommend it.
A bit heart-stopping.
No way would I open it without him, but the half-hour walk allowed time for supposition. This is really too early to hear anything, so why now? Too much of a coincidence of the timing with our requests to the State of Louisiana. It probably has something to do with that -- says the rational part of the brain.
But -- what if ... 1) They've looked at our application enough to reject us and decided it doesn't need to go further ... 2) They're working the queue faster because they've started sending applications to other consulates for processing and this is the request for the next step ...
So, I tell myself there are three categories this envelope could belong to: Neutral news, bad news or good news. Chances are it is the first.
Alan and friend wanted to make me wait until after the movie, but I opened the envelope over sweet potato fries (just found a source for this, one of my favorite things) during lunch.
At first I was confused: The contents of the envelope were what I had sent to Louisiana. There were the forms, the letters, the fingerprint cards, the un-cashed money orders -- but no results, nothing saying "no record." They did nothing. But how did this get from Louisiana to Buffalo and back to Seattle?
A more thorough search came up with two over-photocopied letters, one from Louisiana, which was buried, and one from the Canadian Consulate General. The letter from Louisiana was dated November 22, 2005:
We regret to inform you at this time that we are unable to respond to your request for a criminal background check for immigration and/or a work visa purposes. This matter has been referred to our legal advisors for clarification concerning the placement of responsibility according to Louisiana law for provision of this information. This issue should be resolved rapidly [Snort] and hopefully will enable us to respond in the future. Should you require further assistance, please do not hesitate to call ...
Rapidly? The letter was dated six months ago! And remember, this was our second request because they had refused to send it to us directly, but only to the consulate. This time we provided the address in Buffalo and our file number, along with a self-addressed envelope so they wouldn't screw it up. That's how everything got to Buffalo.
The folks in Buffalo opened this, said, "dopey Americans," added a photocopied letter with instructions about how to obtain FBI clearance, and mailed everything back to us.
Of course, we already have our FBI clearances and they're in our file. But I don't think anyone checked.
Other than confirming my feelings about Louisiana (my time there was mostly spent planning my escape), this episode did suggest an interesting piece of information: Buffalo doesn't seem to care about state clearances. That's been an ongoing debate in the Canadian immigration yahoo groups and most of us decide to play it safe and get them anyway. But maybe logic has prevailed and only the FBI clearance is needed, as it does cover all 50 states anyway.
The movie was good, by the way. I recommend it.
posted by Daniel wbc at 4:18 PM
3 Comments:
Yeah it sure looks like it. When we applied we included the estate polices, knowing that they didn't needed them anymore, just to be in the safe side. I am sure you'll be hearing from them with the Initial A. soon!
bye
I've had the same question... since I would need clearance from 12 states; six if it's only those in which I lived six months or more. According to our lawyer's office, we aren't to bother with the state clearances until told that they actually want them. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!!!
BTW, I would have ripped the envelope open the minute I saw it! ;-)
I'm surprised Louisiana was able to do anything with the contents considering the mess the whole state appears to be in . . . . I'm sure if the prez makes another trip down there everything will clear right up . . . . Yeah, right!!
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