Re: Honey, I'm home!
Posted by: dpknowlton <dpknowlton@...>
From: pwsharp@gmail.com
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
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