Honey, I'm home!
Posted by: pwsharp <pwsharp@...>
As indicated in my earlier post, our sojourn in Dubuque, IA, ended
suddenly in October after nearly 22 months in the Midwest. For those I'm
connected to on FB I have shared a little there, but due to the present
day quietness of CB I think I overlooked announcing our movements here -
until now!
After 9 months (or more) of managerial/HR negotiations, in early June
2015 I finally received confirmation of approval for my employment
status at IBM to be converted from Contractor to Permanent Employee.
Woohoo! Further processing by IBM's own Immigration department
culminated in visa paperwork being finalised in mid August. With that,
Glenda & I booked a visa interview appointment at the US Embassy in
Ottawa, ON, Canada. Initially the earliest available appointment was in
Nov, but through online rescheduling we were able to secure an
appointment for the morning of 11th Nov - 9/11.
So, we finally got to take our Canada/Great Lakes/Niagara vacation,
incorporating Visa interview in Ottawa. We did see all five Great Lakes
along the way, including seeing some real northern lights, aurora
borealis, the night we stayed at a B&B in Blind Creek, ON, on the north
shore of Lake Huron; we saw Treasure Is (one of only a few
island-in-a-lake-in-an-island-in-a-lake) on Manitoulin Is on our way to
the Manitoulin Ferry which crosses Lake Huron from South Baymouth to
Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula; we greatly enjoyed a few days in
Ottawa including the chance to see one of the final showings of another
'Northen Lights' for the summer, a light show spectacular depicting
Canada's brief modern history projected onto the Parliament buildings to
accompanying music/commentary; Niagara Falls, of course, was amazing; we
also got to dine with Steve Rolfe in London, ON, and Sherry Crann in Bad
Axe, MI, on our journey home.
HOWEVER, the afternoon of 9/11, just hours after our visa appointment,
my IBM mgr called to say there were issues & could I continue as a
contractor or reinstate my previous visa! Needless to say this was
impossible in the short term (old visa was cancelled, and the newly
issued visa required IBM to be my employer, not the contract agency
CDI). Had we known 24 hrs earlier we could have cancelled our
appointment at the US Embassy & continued with the status quo at least
until our original visa expiry in Dec '15 while we considered our
options. But advice from immigration savvy lawyers was that we were now
"out of status" in immigration terms & we should exit the country ASAP.
Failure to do so, once it came to the attention of USCIS that I had
ceased work, would result a finding that we overstayed our visas & we
may never be allowed back in the US again for ANY purpose. I remained in
communication with IBM (allbeit rather one way 'discussions') while they
supposedly tried to sort out the mess that they had created for me. But
we had hard deadlines to consider - 30 days from our re-entering the
country (9/16) I needed to be working. Given that we had a lease to
terminate & all that we had acquired in nearly 2 yrs also had to be
disposed of including car & furniture & appliances & stuff, we had to
know before end of Sep whether IBM would be starting me as a full-time
employee. Unfortunately their silence was very loud - only one comment
at one point that "we're working on it" (really, on WHAT?) was as much
as we had to go on.
Well, we sold up everything by 10/17 & flew back to Australia on 22nd
October, initially to Ballarat. I was able to secure a contract - again
at IBM! - working at a bank in Sydney commencing 11/11. So, we're
currently staying with friends in Wollongong, about 80km/50miles south
of Sydney, and we're still looking for suitable rental accommodation.
Wollongong happens to be where we went to school together, got married &
had our 3 kids there, & we have family & many friends there. It's about
20 years since we moved south to Ballarat for work, so we've sort of
come home, although 2 of our children still in Ballarat, & our middle
daughter is some 6-7 hrs south & about 1/2 way between Wollongong &
Ballarat along the coastal route. The hassle of moving is offset by the
idea that it's a homecoming of sorts, and my elderly parents (87 & 88)
are very appreciative of the renewed proximity of a second of their 4
sons. It's also great to be close once again to some of the best surf
beaches in this part of the world - & Wollongong beaches are never as
crowded as in Sydney - never at all really 🙂
Peter Sharp
Wollongong, NSW, Australia