Waiting is the Hardest Part
Wherein the embassy is contacted, and little
results, but the meds appear to be working.
It's been 4 weeks and 2 days since the Australian
Embassy has received my form 456 request for a Sponsored Long-Term Business
Visa. Since they have confirmed receipt of my documentation, I have not heard
from them. I tried calling two weeks ago, and was told - politely - to fuck off
until 4 weeks had passed.
Which they
have.
Not that I got any more love from
the embassy today. Now I learn that the number I've been given is the visa
division's call center. No one there can actually answer any questions. They
can handle my issues if I have an emergency (I don't) or if I have plane
reservations (which I have refrained from making, lacking a visa, but this now
seems a reasonable way to scam the system), but otherwise, they can't do
anything until the embassy contacts me. Which they have not done. However, I
do get an email address - dimia-washington@dfat.gov.au - to which I promptly
send the following email:
My name is Mark
Pesce, I submitted a Form 456 Sponsored Long-Term Business Visa request at the
beginning of September; I received notification of receipt a week later, and was
informed that average visa processing time is 4 weeks. This time period has
elapsed, and I am wondering if I can get any information reguarding when the
visa will be granted. My receipt is 45382. You may contact me via email or by
phone at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Thank you in
advance for your attention to this
matter.
Sincerely,
Mark
Pesce
Anyway, about 30 minutes later, I
get a response:
THIS IS AN AUTOMATED
RESPONSE
Thank you for contacting
the Department of Immigration and
Multicultural
and Indigenous Affairs
(DIMIA).
Please note that our
website contains general information on visas
and
migration to Australia along with
forms and instructions for lodging
an
application in all visa subclasses.
If the answer to your query
is
contained on our website, you will
NOT receive a response from
this
mailbox.
Additionally,
please bear in mind that we are unable to provide advice
on
which visa category you should apply
under. This is a matter for you
to
determine. The relevant information
sheets, application forms, booklets
and
websites contain all of the
information you require to self assess
whether
or not you are likely to be
eligible for a particular type of visa. If
your
query is not addressed on our
website
(http://www.austemb.org)
or the
department website
(http://www.immi.gov.au),
we will endeavour to respond
within 24
hours.
Mark Pesce
<mark@playfulwor To: DIMIA-Washington@DFATL
ld.com>
cc:
Subject: Visa status inquiry
02/10/2003 02:53
PM
My name is Mark
Pesce, I submitted a Form 456 Sponsored Long-Term
Business
Visa request at the beginning
of September; I received notification
of
receipt a week later, and was
informed that average visa processing time
is
4 weeks. This time period has
elapsed, and I am wondering if I can get
any
information reguarding when the
visa will be granted. My receipt is
45382.
You may contact me via email at
mark@playfulworld.com,
or by phone
at
XXX-ZZZ-YYYY.
Thank
you in advance for your attention to this
matter.
Sincerely,
Mark
Pesce
Wow. The cockles of my heart
are truly warmed by this amazing display of automated bureaucracy. Now at
least I know that a computer at the Embassy has read my request for information.
That's great.
On the good side of things
my attack of Swimmer's Ear seems to be on the mend. While my ear canal seems to
be nearly swollen shut, I'm no longer in any real pain - which is a good thing.
The doctor had me bump my ear-drops from 2x daily to 4x daily for a 24 hour
period - which is expiring as I write this. I don't know if the drops
themselves could be causing the swelling - they contain steroids, which may be a
problem - but if the swelling continues through tomorrow, I'll give the doctor a
call and ask him whether we shouldn't be doing something about
it.
And tonight, if I'm lucky, I'll get
laid. Whee! If that happens, well, I'll put it down.
Posted: Thu - October 2, 2003 at 03:57 PM