So…I’m sorry that it has been so long since I have posted, but a lot has been going on. I’ll try to be better about posting more regularly. In any case, for this post you only get the short version with a more elaborate, more interesting version to follow…soon…hopefully…
Mariah is here! More on this later…
To start with, I got all of my final paperwork sorted out, so I am officially living, working, banking, and so forth here in Ireland. (For those of you who missed my added comment: my "Green Card" is not green, nor is it a card... It's a sheet of letterhead, partially a letter, with the bottom third laminated over all of the important information.) It was all pretty smooth, I must say, though some things take longer than they should. Things at work are also getting fully settled and I am really enjoying the work environment there. The work at the moment is a bit tedious, but the people are just wonderful.
Mariah arrived in real life on a plane at the airport in…Ireland! If you didn’t know, now you know. If you did know…you are bored right now…
I missed something though… A few weeks back I started looking for apartments for us – nothing terribly aggressive – mostly I just wanted to get the feel of what was available (significantly lower my expectations – more on this later) and learn about the areas where we might want to live and, more importantly, not live. The Friday before Mariah arrived I went to look at a flat in a very popular neighborhood called Ranelagh. Flats tend to be apartments refitted into old row-houses. I expected something much too small, but it was in a good location, so I wanted to take a look. I planned on just looking… Instead, I really liked it. It was very small, but comfortable for two people, clean, and the remodel was fairly new. I worked out the details with the landlord on Saturday and then moved in on Sunday. Done and done! More on the place later (I have the camera now, so pictures as well), but by some miracle I had managed to get a place for us to live sorted before Mariah even arrived (fairly surprising considering at one point I wasn’t expecting to seem my Green Card until that very same Friday).
Again, she here with me! Yay! The short version is: life is better. We got her paperwork taken care of right away (very smooth), so she is a legal resident as well, and then we commenced spending all of my hard earned money fitting out the new place. We had some big plans for doing exciting things over the weekend and then just ended up relaxing and soaking up each other’s company, which was inevitably the better alternative.
Now I am back to work and Mariah is in the process of looking for the perfect firm. No big rush on that, but it shouldn’t take too long for her to find something. The trick will be finding something she is excited about, which shouldn’t be a stretch either.
That pretty much sums it up. Again, I apologize and hope to make posting a much more frequent event. In the mean time, hopefully this will satiate reading desires for a bit.
Until next time…blah blah…blah…
Yippie!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
NEWS FLASH!
Just a quick note: I received my actual green card in the mail on Friday, so fortunately they didn’t decide to send it to the US… Now I will just have to go sit in Immigration for my residency stamp and ID card, and then go sit in Social Welfare to get my PPS number (like a Social Security number).
I also was able to put in an application for a bank account, which should be active on Monday, so I can start receiving money, spending money, etc. through a local account. The Irish have this thing about proof of address. It’s hard to get anything without proof of address. It baffles me how you could go into a place and say, “Hi, I would like to give you money for service,” to which they respond, “we only take money from people who receive utility bills (the most common proof of residence).” I was able to use a letter from my work to get my bank account only because my employer happens to have accounts with the bank I am applying to, but otherwise proof of employment is not enough. I know the premise behind this, specifically for banks (they have had a lot of problems in the past with shady international bank dealings), but geez! I’m sure it’s only really bad because I’m a “foreigner”, but it’s still crap… In any case, it’s all working out, so I can’t complain too much…only if it’s funny…to me…at least…
It feels good to start getting things more solidified, though. Now I get to start apartment hunting, which is likely to be the least fun and most disappointing part of my immigration process, but we will leave that for another post.
I also was able to put in an application for a bank account, which should be active on Monday, so I can start receiving money, spending money, etc. through a local account. The Irish have this thing about proof of address. It’s hard to get anything without proof of address. It baffles me how you could go into a place and say, “Hi, I would like to give you money for service,” to which they respond, “we only take money from people who receive utility bills (the most common proof of residence).” I was able to use a letter from my work to get my bank account only because my employer happens to have accounts with the bank I am applying to, but otherwise proof of employment is not enough. I know the premise behind this, specifically for banks (they have had a lot of problems in the past with shady international bank dealings), but geez! I’m sure it’s only really bad because I’m a “foreigner”, but it’s still crap… In any case, it’s all working out, so I can’t complain too much…only if it’s funny…to me…at least…
It feels good to start getting things more solidified, though. Now I get to start apartment hunting, which is likely to be the least fun and most disappointing part of my immigration process, but we will leave that for another post.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
NEWS FLASH!
This time it’s for real…well…mostly!
Yesterday they received a copy of my Green Card at work (they send a copy to the employer and the original to the employee…me), which means I get to stay in the country!
Woohoo! Woohoo! Woohoo!
I feel like that excited Japanese guy on Heroes (great show)!
I didn’t receive the original yesterday (hence the mostly), but it should come today. In any case, I am officially employed and can start making things more permenant!
Time to go to work…
Yesterday they received a copy of my Green Card at work (they send a copy to the employer and the original to the employee…me), which means I get to stay in the country!
Woohoo! Woohoo! Woohoo!
I feel like that excited Japanese guy on Heroes (great show)!
I didn’t receive the original yesterday (hence the mostly), but it should come today. In any case, I am officially employed and can start making things more permenant!
Time to go to work…
Monday, March 19, 2007
NEWS FLASH!
No…no Green Card yet, but they are still plodding along.
The real news is that Mariah has bought her plane ticket and will be leaving Portland the morning of April 3rd and arriving in Ireland the morning of April 4th (the 8 hour time difference makes for 24 hour travel). Hopefully I will have my Green Card before she leaves (they have been moving slower than expected in processing), but all that really matters is that she will be here.
I should be fully working by then, but conveniently she arrives just before Easter weekend, which is typically a four day holiday weekend in Ireland (Easter Monday is a bank holiday – aka a day off for everyone – and then my work closes up for Good Friday the Friday before, though it is not a bank holiday). I am taking off the day Mariah arrives and the day after as well, so we will have a good six day vacation together before I have to get back into the grind and she has to sit in line at the immigration office and then find herself a job.
It will have been seventy-seven days, seventeen hours, and thirty-some-odd minutes of being without her and I am and will be more than ready for that time to be over.
The real news is that Mariah has bought her plane ticket and will be leaving Portland the morning of April 3rd and arriving in Ireland the morning of April 4th (the 8 hour time difference makes for 24 hour travel). Hopefully I will have my Green Card before she leaves (they have been moving slower than expected in processing), but all that really matters is that she will be here.
I should be fully working by then, but conveniently she arrives just before Easter weekend, which is typically a four day holiday weekend in Ireland (Easter Monday is a bank holiday – aka a day off for everyone – and then my work closes up for Good Friday the Friday before, though it is not a bank holiday). I am taking off the day Mariah arrives and the day after as well, so we will have a good six day vacation together before I have to get back into the grind and she has to sit in line at the immigration office and then find herself a job.
It will have been seventy-seven days, seventeen hours, and thirty-some-odd minutes of being without her and I am and will be more than ready for that time to be over.
An Irishman, an Australian, and an American Walk Into A Bar…er Pub…
I sat down the other day and realized that there is something incredibly cool about being surrounded at a table in a pub with people from all around the world.
Every time I go out to a pub, or have dinner at someone’s house, or even ride the train, I am surrounded by people from all over – Irish of course, but also Polish, Australians, South Africans, Portuguese, British, New Zealanders, Welsh, French, Scotts, Argentineans – the list goes on. I am regularly meeting and making friends with people from different countries and having conversations comparing cultures – how the Portuguese are always late for informal meetings, how Ireland has a whole social culture built around Pubs, how the French and Portuguese greet with a kiss on each cheek (pseudo kisses really), or how you spell the word “curb” (spelled “kerb”) in Ireland.
And then I think, this probably isn’t all that special a situation for someone who lives in Europe. This is just how it is. Ireland is particularly full of people from all over at the moment, but in any European city you can find folks from all around the world. But because I am American and very few of us even have a passport let alone go hopping around Europe (in our defense, traveling to Europe isn’t exactly a weekend trip), it is something I haven’t really ever experienced.
I am making friends from around the world; hopefully friends that I will know for a long time. People that I can visit when I am hopping around Europe, passport in hand.
This alone makes this whole experience worthwhile.
Every time I go out to a pub, or have dinner at someone’s house, or even ride the train, I am surrounded by people from all over – Irish of course, but also Polish, Australians, South Africans, Portuguese, British, New Zealanders, Welsh, French, Scotts, Argentineans – the list goes on. I am regularly meeting and making friends with people from different countries and having conversations comparing cultures – how the Portuguese are always late for informal meetings, how Ireland has a whole social culture built around Pubs, how the French and Portuguese greet with a kiss on each cheek (pseudo kisses really), or how you spell the word “curb” (spelled “kerb”) in Ireland.
And then I think, this probably isn’t all that special a situation for someone who lives in Europe. This is just how it is. Ireland is particularly full of people from all over at the moment, but in any European city you can find folks from all around the world. But because I am American and very few of us even have a passport let alone go hopping around Europe (in our defense, traveling to Europe isn’t exactly a weekend trip), it is something I haven’t really ever experienced.
I am making friends from around the world; hopefully friends that I will know for a long time. People that I can visit when I am hopping around Europe, passport in hand.
This alone makes this whole experience worthwhile.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Trains Of Sardines
They fill the trains with fish here!
No, not really…Yeah…they do…
There are no trains full of fish…nod yes…NO!…yes…
(Don’t worry if you don’t get this…)
My first few trips on the LUAS were quite enjoyable and I have always loved the concept of the commuter train, as it is much more efficient a system than the bus, having its own movement system, so you aren’t just sitting in traffic in someone else’s vehicle instead of your own. Recently I have had more opportunities to be on the train in the throng of commuter rush hour and, I would have to say, it is slightly less pleasant. Still much, much, much better than a bus (which I will reinforce in a later post) but…I AM NO SARDINE!
Being tightly packed into a train is something that everyone who rides a commuter train during rush hour probably has experienced (I have heard that London is worse than Dublin, and I would guess that New York is the similar), but for me these things are new and interesting (in a tonguing-the-new-cut-on-the-inside-of-your-cheek sort of way). The train during this time is, by no means, a place for someone with a tendency toward claustrophobia. Or, for that matter, any kind of aversion to rubbing up against strangers…
My stop on the train line is the fourth or so stop heading into City Center. The seats (what few there are in comparison to the number of commuters) are completely full by the time I board. There is a good amount of standing space and quite a few poles and bars to get a grip on. The drivers never seem particularly skillful about easing into a start or stop, so the handholds are very necessary. I don’t mind standing. By the next stop after mine, the train is typically full to the brim. Somehow, though, at every consecutive stop after, a few people decide there is room to squeeze in one more. Every once in a while someone will squeeze there way out at a stop and, in the wake of that one person’s passing, four people will slide into the gap that was left.
Pressed against each other, no eye contact is made. Everyone stares out the window (if they can see it) or at the ceiling, or closes their eyes. Hopefully they aren’t talking to friends if they are close to you because likely their breath reeks ode to morning coffee and there’s no way to escape it. 75% of the riders are pod people (they have iPods, or some other form of MP3 playing device). I am one of these. There are loads of people reading newspapers as well. Less when the trains are really packed, but there are always people handing out free newspapers at the train stops and many people have developed the skill to read, holding their paper in one hand, while riding on a packed train. I am not one of these.
There is a definite strategy to how a person must position him or herself when getting on the train as well. If I am going to the end of the line at City Center, I can pack deeper into the car, away from the doors, between the seats, where there is a lot more breathing room. If I need to get off before the end of the line, like I usually do, I must position myself strategically so that I can squeeze my way to the door after the train stops, but before the door closes again. If I get myself too far from the doors, I won’t make it, or I have to start pushing my way out before the train stops, which makes for unstable footing and nothing to hold on to when it does. If I choose a place too close to the door, I constantly am dealing with people coming in and out, and the tightest packing of people occurs right at the door. My personal favorite place is straight across from the door in the standing area where you can lean against a bar or the wall. It is plenty close to get out when it’s time, you are against something, so you can’t be pushed around, and leaning against something makes the standing ride a great deal more pleasant.
So, despite the fact that I like train systems, it won’t break my heart if (when the time comes) I can find a place for us to live that is more in the heart of things and definitely within walking distance of work. That way, the train can be ridden and enjoyed when going shopping at the mall and other such activities that don’t occur at rush hour.
No, not really…Yeah…they do…
There are no trains full of fish…nod yes…NO!…yes…
(Don’t worry if you don’t get this…)
My first few trips on the LUAS were quite enjoyable and I have always loved the concept of the commuter train, as it is much more efficient a system than the bus, having its own movement system, so you aren’t just sitting in traffic in someone else’s vehicle instead of your own. Recently I have had more opportunities to be on the train in the throng of commuter rush hour and, I would have to say, it is slightly less pleasant. Still much, much, much better than a bus (which I will reinforce in a later post) but…I AM NO SARDINE!
Being tightly packed into a train is something that everyone who rides a commuter train during rush hour probably has experienced (I have heard that London is worse than Dublin, and I would guess that New York is the similar), but for me these things are new and interesting (in a tonguing-the-new-cut-on-the-inside-of-your-cheek sort of way). The train during this time is, by no means, a place for someone with a tendency toward claustrophobia. Or, for that matter, any kind of aversion to rubbing up against strangers…
My stop on the train line is the fourth or so stop heading into City Center. The seats (what few there are in comparison to the number of commuters) are completely full by the time I board. There is a good amount of standing space and quite a few poles and bars to get a grip on. The drivers never seem particularly skillful about easing into a start or stop, so the handholds are very necessary. I don’t mind standing. By the next stop after mine, the train is typically full to the brim. Somehow, though, at every consecutive stop after, a few people decide there is room to squeeze in one more. Every once in a while someone will squeeze there way out at a stop and, in the wake of that one person’s passing, four people will slide into the gap that was left.
Pressed against each other, no eye contact is made. Everyone stares out the window (if they can see it) or at the ceiling, or closes their eyes. Hopefully they aren’t talking to friends if they are close to you because likely their breath reeks ode to morning coffee and there’s no way to escape it. 75% of the riders are pod people (they have iPods, or some other form of MP3 playing device). I am one of these. There are loads of people reading newspapers as well. Less when the trains are really packed, but there are always people handing out free newspapers at the train stops and many people have developed the skill to read, holding their paper in one hand, while riding on a packed train. I am not one of these.
There is a definite strategy to how a person must position him or herself when getting on the train as well. If I am going to the end of the line at City Center, I can pack deeper into the car, away from the doors, between the seats, where there is a lot more breathing room. If I need to get off before the end of the line, like I usually do, I must position myself strategically so that I can squeeze my way to the door after the train stops, but before the door closes again. If I get myself too far from the doors, I won’t make it, or I have to start pushing my way out before the train stops, which makes for unstable footing and nothing to hold on to when it does. If I choose a place too close to the door, I constantly am dealing with people coming in and out, and the tightest packing of people occurs right at the door. My personal favorite place is straight across from the door in the standing area where you can lean against a bar or the wall. It is plenty close to get out when it’s time, you are against something, so you can’t be pushed around, and leaning against something makes the standing ride a great deal more pleasant.
So, despite the fact that I like train systems, it won’t break my heart if (when the time comes) I can find a place for us to live that is more in the heart of things and definitely within walking distance of work. That way, the train can be ridden and enjoyed when going shopping at the mall and other such activities that don’t occur at rush hour.
NEWS FLASH!
Well, it’s been four weeks since I turned in my Green Card application (yes, you heard me right…I just posted last week about turning in my application and now it’s been four weeks since I turned it in...You do the math…) and…it will be two or three more before I get it (assuming they find no problems with the application). I did confirm that they have it in their system and, once they get to it, I should have it in a few days.
Six weeks of sitting in a pile and two days of actual attention…
Makes a tear come to yer eye, don’t it…
One improvement that the DETE have made in regard to giving people a sense of how long things will take is that they are updating (and when I say updating, I mean sometimes, if they get around to it, maybe current, but…maybe not…) the employment permit page of their website with the date turned in for applications they are currently processing, so I can kind of get a sense of how things are going and see how they are progressing (although sometimes they leave the same date up all week...like last week…).
I am looking forward to getting this small (or large – I don’t really know), green (assuming it is actually a green card) card in my hot little hand (figure of speech here – my hands are not really little)…not only because it is a major component for me officially getting to stay in the country, but also because I really want to MOVE ON WITH MY LIFE!
At the moment a good chunk of things are just on hold. I can’t really commit to anything major before I know for sure that everything is going to work and, even if I wanted to, no one would let me anyway. Until I get my Green Card, I can’t get my PPS number (Irish social security number) or ID card. Without a PPS number and a letter from my company saying I am employed (which I can’t get until I can officially be employed) I can’t get a bank account. Without the same letter from my company and the ability to write a check, I can’t start shopping for a place to live. The chicken and egg scenario has been getting repeated more than I’d care to say.
In any case, fortunately, things are moving along and with any luck, in a few more weeks I can move on to worrying about something new…
Six weeks of sitting in a pile and two days of actual attention…
Makes a tear come to yer eye, don’t it…
One improvement that the DETE have made in regard to giving people a sense of how long things will take is that they are updating (and when I say updating, I mean sometimes, if they get around to it, maybe current, but…maybe not…) the employment permit page of their website with the date turned in for applications they are currently processing, so I can kind of get a sense of how things are going and see how they are progressing (although sometimes they leave the same date up all week...like last week…).
I am looking forward to getting this small (or large – I don’t really know), green (assuming it is actually a green card) card in my hot little hand (figure of speech here – my hands are not really little)…not only because it is a major component for me officially getting to stay in the country, but also because I really want to MOVE ON WITH MY LIFE!
At the moment a good chunk of things are just on hold. I can’t really commit to anything major before I know for sure that everything is going to work and, even if I wanted to, no one would let me anyway. Until I get my Green Card, I can’t get my PPS number (Irish social security number) or ID card. Without a PPS number and a letter from my company saying I am employed (which I can’t get until I can officially be employed) I can’t get a bank account. Without the same letter from my company and the ability to write a check, I can’t start shopping for a place to live. The chicken and egg scenario has been getting repeated more than I’d care to say.
In any case, fortunately, things are moving along and with any luck, in a few more weeks I can move on to worrying about something new…
Friday, February 23, 2007
Is A Green Card Really Green?
The next week of my life was primarily spent stressing out over the finite details of the newly established “Green Card” employment permit scheme.
I forgot to mention this in one of my earlier posts (Another Dervish Of Interviews), but on the previous Wednesday the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment had finally released (just a week before they would go into effect) the details of their new work visa schemes (something that I had been worried about since I found out they were changing it), specifically whether I would still find architect on the list of “in demand” professions that would qualify for the easier version of their employment permits, or whether I would be booking a flight back home with a sore groin and broken heart (the revisions to Ireland’s standard work permit scheme have made it more of a tedious and difficult process, to the point where it would likely not be an option for me if the Green Card wasn’t going to work out).
To my delight, architect was still on the list and my initial look through the application didn’t suggest much had changed in that process. Basically all that was required was a letter of offer from an employer (the employer has to be registered in Ireland), which must outline the specifics of their offer in a prescribed way (IE including information on wage, term of employment, etc.). Included with the letter would be the filled out application with sections for both employer and employee, two passport-style pictures, copies of a few pertinent documents (specifically the perspective employees passport), “certified proof of qualifications” for the prospective employee, and a big fat check of €1,000.
The money amount was a fairly significant change from the $150 dollars I was going to have to pay with their previous scheme, but it wasn’t something I was going to let hold me back. Another change for the good and bad was that the paperwork would be processed through the DETE directly, where it would have been processed through my local consulate (in San Francisco) before. This meant that I wouldn’t have to go all the way back to the States to wait on the paperwork to process through the consulate, but it also meant that it would take 2-3 times as long to process…SIX to EIGHT WEEKS! They also changed how spouses of the permit holder are dealt with, largely for the better (this I will get into later).
Unfortunately, despite this major effort to revise and strengthen Ireland’s employment permit policies and a seemingly well put together description of the application process, there were still quite a few holes that left me with questions (here’s where there worrying part started). The application itself, as I started the process of filling it out, had a lot of little holes and problems. Things that, had they actually gotten someone to look at it before posting it, might have been elevated. Some examples of this are: questions with three possible answers and only two answer options, and sections that were not required for a Green Card having no obvious way to mark them as not applicable.
The largest question was in the requirement of “certified proof of qualifications.” That was it. A statement I found to be incredibly vague and no other descriptions were provided to narrow down what form this “proof” needed to take and which “qualifications” it applied to. Was this primarily aimed at doctors and some IT professionals that would be required to have higher level certifications? For a lower level architect, like myself, would proof of degree suffice, or did they want complete proof of all qualifications outlined in the job description? What would constitute “certified proof” of “strong design skills?”
These were the questions rolling through my mind as I tried to decipher this seemly harmless statement… I’m sure I could come up with just about anything to instill myself with worry, but in relation to making sure this application went through smoothly and as quickly as possibly, I really wanted to have all the answers.
Now, you are probably asking yourself, “Why are you stressing over a few small questions? Just ask somebody…” And it would seem that simple, wouldn’t it. Except for the fact that, with this surge of new change, the “call center” for the employment permits office was so inundated with calls that never were my calls answered. No automated system existed for a message to be left (though it’s likely that wouldn’t have yielded any response). My experience with questions left via email yielded similar results (otherwise known as NONE!). Even when I went down to the DETE offices to speak to someone in person, there was no way to interface with some who was working in this department and no way to set up an appointment. The best I managed to get was bouncing questions off of the guy at the desk, who, though he answered my questions in an informed fashion, wasn’t exactly the authoritative source for information that I would be able to place my confidence in.
“All the answers,” it seems, was not meant to be...
In the end I was left with the desk guy’s answers and my own common sense to finish the application. Reasonable sources in most cases, but again, not the solid foundation I wanted when mistakes could potentially lead to months of extra processing time…months that I wouldn’t really have.
In all fairness, I am confident that the package of information I turned in met to all of their prescribed requirements, so hopefully it will just roll (slowly...very slowly) on through processing.
During that week I met with Henry J. Lyons’ human resources person, Martina, twice. In the first meeting, which occurred on Tuesday, we went over the details of their offer, which held a few nice surprises (including time-and-a-half pay for overtime, 22 days of starting vacation time, a 10% discount on a private health insurance plan of my choice, and a fairly casual work environment), and I explained the application process and outlined exactly what I needed from the company in regards to documentation. The second meeting occurred the next day where I signed the final offer letter, making the job offer official, and collected all other needed documentation. Another wonderful surprise that came out of the second meeting was that Henry J. Lyons would be willing to pay the application fee for me. I also got to finally thank my soon-to-be boss personally for the offer. A weird side effect of having a recruiter is that you never, aside from the interview itself, have any personal interaction with the companies you are meeting. So, though I had technically already accepted their offer through my recruiter, I had never actually gotten to talk to anyone.
On Thursday, February 1st, the first day allowed in the new specifications, I turned in my Green Card application. This puts receiving my Green Card out to mid to late March. They actually told me not to bother calling to even check on whether everything had been received correctly for four weeks…
So, I am on the edge of my seat for the next six to eight weeks…
While on the edge of my seat, at least for the rest of the week and into the weekend, I decided to watch the first season of the TV show 24, which I had been holding onto for quite a while. This wasn’t exactly the best show for setting myself comfortably at ease (it’s really an intense show, almost too intense, but very well put together), but it was fun while it lasted.
I forgot to mention this in one of my earlier posts (Another Dervish Of Interviews), but on the previous Wednesday the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment had finally released (just a week before they would go into effect) the details of their new work visa schemes (something that I had been worried about since I found out they were changing it), specifically whether I would still find architect on the list of “in demand” professions that would qualify for the easier version of their employment permits, or whether I would be booking a flight back home with a sore groin and broken heart (the revisions to Ireland’s standard work permit scheme have made it more of a tedious and difficult process, to the point where it would likely not be an option for me if the Green Card wasn’t going to work out).
To my delight, architect was still on the list and my initial look through the application didn’t suggest much had changed in that process. Basically all that was required was a letter of offer from an employer (the employer has to be registered in Ireland), which must outline the specifics of their offer in a prescribed way (IE including information on wage, term of employment, etc.). Included with the letter would be the filled out application with sections for both employer and employee, two passport-style pictures, copies of a few pertinent documents (specifically the perspective employees passport), “certified proof of qualifications” for the prospective employee, and a big fat check of €1,000.
The money amount was a fairly significant change from the $150 dollars I was going to have to pay with their previous scheme, but it wasn’t something I was going to let hold me back. Another change for the good and bad was that the paperwork would be processed through the DETE directly, where it would have been processed through my local consulate (in San Francisco) before. This meant that I wouldn’t have to go all the way back to the States to wait on the paperwork to process through the consulate, but it also meant that it would take 2-3 times as long to process…SIX to EIGHT WEEKS! They also changed how spouses of the permit holder are dealt with, largely for the better (this I will get into later).
Unfortunately, despite this major effort to revise and strengthen Ireland’s employment permit policies and a seemingly well put together description of the application process, there were still quite a few holes that left me with questions (here’s where there worrying part started). The application itself, as I started the process of filling it out, had a lot of little holes and problems. Things that, had they actually gotten someone to look at it before posting it, might have been elevated. Some examples of this are: questions with three possible answers and only two answer options, and sections that were not required for a Green Card having no obvious way to mark them as not applicable.
The largest question was in the requirement of “certified proof of qualifications.” That was it. A statement I found to be incredibly vague and no other descriptions were provided to narrow down what form this “proof” needed to take and which “qualifications” it applied to. Was this primarily aimed at doctors and some IT professionals that would be required to have higher level certifications? For a lower level architect, like myself, would proof of degree suffice, or did they want complete proof of all qualifications outlined in the job description? What would constitute “certified proof” of “strong design skills?”
These were the questions rolling through my mind as I tried to decipher this seemly harmless statement… I’m sure I could come up with just about anything to instill myself with worry, but in relation to making sure this application went through smoothly and as quickly as possibly, I really wanted to have all the answers.
Now, you are probably asking yourself, “Why are you stressing over a few small questions? Just ask somebody…” And it would seem that simple, wouldn’t it. Except for the fact that, with this surge of new change, the “call center” for the employment permits office was so inundated with calls that never were my calls answered. No automated system existed for a message to be left (though it’s likely that wouldn’t have yielded any response). My experience with questions left via email yielded similar results (otherwise known as NONE!). Even when I went down to the DETE offices to speak to someone in person, there was no way to interface with some who was working in this department and no way to set up an appointment. The best I managed to get was bouncing questions off of the guy at the desk, who, though he answered my questions in an informed fashion, wasn’t exactly the authoritative source for information that I would be able to place my confidence in.
“All the answers,” it seems, was not meant to be...
In the end I was left with the desk guy’s answers and my own common sense to finish the application. Reasonable sources in most cases, but again, not the solid foundation I wanted when mistakes could potentially lead to months of extra processing time…months that I wouldn’t really have.
In all fairness, I am confident that the package of information I turned in met to all of their prescribed requirements, so hopefully it will just roll (slowly...very slowly) on through processing.
During that week I met with Henry J. Lyons’ human resources person, Martina, twice. In the first meeting, which occurred on Tuesday, we went over the details of their offer, which held a few nice surprises (including time-and-a-half pay for overtime, 22 days of starting vacation time, a 10% discount on a private health insurance plan of my choice, and a fairly casual work environment), and I explained the application process and outlined exactly what I needed from the company in regards to documentation. The second meeting occurred the next day where I signed the final offer letter, making the job offer official, and collected all other needed documentation. Another wonderful surprise that came out of the second meeting was that Henry J. Lyons would be willing to pay the application fee for me. I also got to finally thank my soon-to-be boss personally for the offer. A weird side effect of having a recruiter is that you never, aside from the interview itself, have any personal interaction with the companies you are meeting. So, though I had technically already accepted their offer through my recruiter, I had never actually gotten to talk to anyone.
On Thursday, February 1st, the first day allowed in the new specifications, I turned in my Green Card application. This puts receiving my Green Card out to mid to late March. They actually told me not to bother calling to even check on whether everything had been received correctly for four weeks…
So, I am on the edge of my seat for the next six to eight weeks…
While on the edge of my seat, at least for the rest of the week and into the weekend, I decided to watch the first season of the TV show 24, which I had been holding onto for quite a while. This wasn’t exactly the best show for setting myself comfortably at ease (it’s really an intense show, almost too intense, but very well put together), but it was fun while it lasted.
Mini Media
For those of you out there who were interested in how the whole Mac Mini media center thing was going to work out over here, I can report that it seems to be working out pretty well, but it wasn’t without its hiccups.
In the States, the most common video connections for peripherals like VCRs and DVD players are through the standard cable connector or an RCA video plug. The cable antenna doesn’t work at all for computers, and the RCA connector yields fairly marginal output results. Within the last 5-7 years S-Video has become much more popular as a higher quality video connection. More recently, component video (separated Red, Green, and Blue channel cables) and HDMI (for high definition TVs) have come around as better options, but S-Video has been incorporated into a lot of computer graphics cards and adapters. Consequently S-Video was the means I was using to do this at home.
In Europe, however, S-Video is the redheaded stepchild of video connectors. In its place a connector called SCART has taken its place as the most popular fairly quality video connector. SCART supports both of the RCA and S-Video types of connection along with RCA type audio all bundled together in one very large, completely unrelated connector cable.
Fortunately, after a good deal of research, I figured out that I could get a SCART adapter that would support both S-Video and RCA video connectors along with the RCA audio (which is how I typically output the sound from my computer).
The result is not perfect, but very watchable on the small TV that I have in my room. We will have to wait and see how things go with whatever kind of TV we end up buying when we get our own place (though many apartments in Ireland come furnished, a TV is not usually part of the deal).
In the States, the most common video connections for peripherals like VCRs and DVD players are through the standard cable connector or an RCA video plug. The cable antenna doesn’t work at all for computers, and the RCA connector yields fairly marginal output results. Within the last 5-7 years S-Video has become much more popular as a higher quality video connection. More recently, component video (separated Red, Green, and Blue channel cables) and HDMI (for high definition TVs) have come around as better options, but S-Video has been incorporated into a lot of computer graphics cards and adapters. Consequently S-Video was the means I was using to do this at home.
In Europe, however, S-Video is the redheaded stepchild of video connectors. In its place a connector called SCART has taken its place as the most popular fairly quality video connector. SCART supports both of the RCA and S-Video types of connection along with RCA type audio all bundled together in one very large, completely unrelated connector cable.
Fortunately, after a good deal of research, I figured out that I could get a SCART adapter that would support both S-Video and RCA video connectors along with the RCA audio (which is how I typically output the sound from my computer).
The result is not perfect, but very watchable on the small TV that I have in my room. We will have to wait and see how things go with whatever kind of TV we end up buying when we get our own place (though many apartments in Ireland come furnished, a TV is not usually part of the deal).
Weekend Respite
The rest of the weekend (this is still only my second weekend in Dublin I am writing about, by the way) yielded little more than sleeping, eating, movie watching on my laptop, a little writing, and Internet time, with one notable exception:
On Saturday my landlady, Phyl (short for Phyllis, but she doesn’t like being called Phyllis for some reason), invited me to have dinner with her and some family that would be coming by that evening. This ended up being a 16th birthday party for her granddaughter and turned into a very nice time. Phyl has three daughters and a son. Two of her daughters were there, Laura and Karen, Karen’s husband and two children (one the birthday girl), Phyl’s sister, myself, and Phyl. Karen is a wonderful cook and put together a very nice chicken curry dish. Cake and presents came after, of course, and some great craic (I spelled this wrong before – it’s a Gailic word, but it sounds just like crack).
It wasn’t a big event, but it was great for taking a little of the edge off the loneliness of being here by myself. It would have been a lot harder for me if I had been in a hotel or hostel by myself for these first few weeks.
On Saturday my landlady, Phyl (short for Phyllis, but she doesn’t like being called Phyllis for some reason), invited me to have dinner with her and some family that would be coming by that evening. This ended up being a 16th birthday party for her granddaughter and turned into a very nice time. Phyl has three daughters and a son. Two of her daughters were there, Laura and Karen, Karen’s husband and two children (one the birthday girl), Phyl’s sister, myself, and Phyl. Karen is a wonderful cook and put together a very nice chicken curry dish. Cake and presents came after, of course, and some great craic (I spelled this wrong before – it’s a Gailic word, but it sounds just like crack).
It wasn’t a big event, but it was great for taking a little of the edge off the loneliness of being here by myself. It would have been a lot harder for me if I had been in a hotel or hostel by myself for these first few weeks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
