Deportation part 2

Well. As if this whole immigration thing couldn't get any worse, the saga now continues. After my second rejection, I complained to Helen O'Reilly, the international officer at GMIT. She promised to call and figure something out. I talked to her yesterday and she told me she had spoken to a man there who was willing to bend a little for us, but we needed to go in before we expired just to show our faces. I woke up at 6:30 am to walk down to registration with three other American students from UW-Platteville. After getting a little turned around, we arrived only to see that 50 other people were in front of us in line. So, we grabbed a ticket and waited for a few hours.

When it was my turn, I explained to the man what Helen had told me regarding her conversation with the immigration guy. Well, long story short, I was turned down a third time! The officer basically told me he thought I was lying and refused to look at any of my documents. Well, he did look at one piece- the document with all of my health insurance information. He immediately handed it back and told me that they didn't take copies. Calmly, I tried to tell him that the black and white card WAS the original, sent to me by the insurance company. He looked at me like I was stupid and repeated that they wouldn't accept a copy. Greeeeat.

So for the big question: Could I still go to Venice? For once, I couldn't get a straightforward answer from him. He told me he couldn't tell me if I could or couldn't, it was up to me to risk leaving the country and trying to get back in. But when I refused to get up, he leaned in a little and told me that even though he wasn't sure, he wouldn't chance it. Sweet. So anyway. I, your daughter, sister, friend, co-worker, and student, will be an illegal resident of Ireland tomorrow at midnight. What are the repercussions of being an illegal alien? Well, I could be arrested or sent home immediately. Feeling really good about that one. I would also like to note that if I am sent home, I cannot graduate in December.

Though I highly doubt I'll be sent home, I also never thought I'd ever be an illegal resident anywhere. I never thought I'd have to cancel Venice. Of course, I'm angry, frustrated, sad, and at my wit's end. I have written emails to my health insurance company, the immigration office, the US Embassy here in Dublin, and ISP back at Western. Oy. To make me even more angry, I got word today that three of the American guys got through immigration today, two of them are Western guys who have the same insurance (and B&W insurance card) that I do. I know all of this will work itself out, but I am really unhappy right now. In light of recent events, I felt that I sort of needed to run away from here and have a nice weekend outside of my own head. Oh well. I'll keep you posted! In the meantime, I will have to be extra-careful not to break any laws!