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| Friday, September 21, 2007 |
| Open the doors, dammit |
It's been a while, I know. The usual defences: busy, unwell, generally lacking in motivation, etc. Rather than descend into a smothering mudslide of depressing whining, I shall instead tell you about the Current State of Affairs with the Planned Move.
The house has been painted, the gates have been installed, the mortgage has been changed to a fixed interest-only loan with offset facility, the real estate agent has been contacted to manage the house while we are away. We have been offering furniture and household items to everyone who crosses our path - the old white vinyl lounge suite has a new home, along with the coffee table that was selected specifically for being the right height to put your feet on whilst sitting on the white vinyl lounge suite. However, we still have not booked 'plane tickets. Why? Well, aside from getting HSMP clearance, our next stage is to apply for entry clearance - this is the actual visa stamp in your passport that means you will be allowed to remain in the country for a couple of years. This application must be made no more than three months before your proposed arrival date in-country. We had thought to do this application ourselves, thereby saving the $500 it would cost to get an agent to help us with it. However, after spending some hours trying to work out WHICH forms had to be filled in, we gave up. Three different websites gave us three different sets of information. The form for spouses & partners said, 'This is for spouses & partners wanting to join their settled partner in the UK. In non-settlement cases, please read the relevant information in this booklet.' That was the only relevant information on the page. When we went to the page for people applying for a visa under the HSMP, the FAQ said 'Can I bring my spouse or partner? Yes. Click here for more information' Clicking there took you to the question that said 'How long can I stay in the country?'. Given that the cost of applying for a visa was $1000 to begin with, we decided not to run the risk of having to reapply because we used the wrong form, or entered the wrong information (the form for "permit-free employment" - which another site told us covered HSMP applicants, as HSMP applicants don't need to have a job already secured and a work permit - had a section asking for details of your work permit & the address of your employer in the UK.). It was Just Too Hard. Anyway. The agent cheerfully accepted our money, and sent us a batch of forms to get filled in. One of them is a letter confirming that we have accomodation in the UK. It must be filled in by the people we are staying with. So that you may have your own personal WTFHIT?!! moment, I shall copy & paste the letter as we have received it.
[date] To the British High Commission, to whom it may concern, This letter is to confirm that I invite [your name(s)] to stay with me indefinitely on arrival in the United Kingdom. My address is: [please insert address] [Your name(s)] is/are my [friend/son/daughter/housemate] and will come to stay with me in my [2 / 3/ 4 (insert as appropriate)] bedroom house in his/her/their own room. Other people residing at this address include myself and [please list all other housemates/family members also residing there highlighting that ample accommodation exists for all household members]. I am delighted by [your name(s)]’s recent decision to move to the UK as a High Skilled Migrant and I have formally invited [your name (s)] to stay with us in our house on his/her arrival in the UK and remain here indefinitely. Please find enclosed our [tenancy/mortgage] agreement as proof of the abovementioned property rental/ownership. If you have any questions about this accommodation please feel free to contact me on [please provide contact number]. Regards Signature Full name |
posted by Ata @ 10:26 am  |
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| Thursday, September 06, 2007 |
| Dollars only, please |
Ata has been happily working away on her new assignment. Her first task was entering all the crop surveys that had been returned. Crop surveys are sent out to determine what kind of quantity of what types of grain are likely to be delivered to which silo. Now, while the weather has improved slightly this year, most farming areas are still drought-affected to some degree. Not all growers take kindly to filling in crop surveys. Some come back with anything from a few words to an essay detailing why they don't want to fill in the survey. Ata's favourite so far is the guy who wrote in red texta "No Rain - No Grain" across a blank survey form. The most inexplicable response has been the guy who wrote "yes" beside all the types of grain he has sown (instead of filling out the number of hectares as the survey requested), with a note at the top that read: "If you tell me what the results are I'll tell you what I'd sown."
Having gotten all caught up with the backlog of crop surveys, Ata has moved on to entering changes to underwriting preferences and reviewing stale cheques - that is, cheques that have not been presented at a bank.
Now, one would imagine that growers would be keen to reap the fruits of their labour by depositing their cheques. Sure, a $30 cheque for a warehouse transfer refund might slip under the radar. But some outstanding cheques are in the thousands, and go back to last year. Ata and JN (Ata's supervisory person... well, one of them) discussed this. JN said it is not uncommon for her to get calls from growers explaining that they've been going through their files & found a cheque they haven't cashed. When asked for the date of the cheque, they say, "Oh... three years ago..."
Now, Ata herself is terrible with remembering to cash cheques. If she doesn't go to the bank immediately after receiving the cheque, Mr Ata usually offers to take it. He doesn't forget. But even Ata would take care to remember to cash $6000 or so.
JN said her favourite call was from a woman who was trying to tie up her husband's estate following his death. The widow explained that she had gone through all his papers, and discovered a number of uncashed cheques, some of which went back quite a way... in fact, five of them were particularly old - they were still made out for pounds! |
| posted by Ata @ 6:40 pm |
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