Update on Fingerprints

So I finally received a return phone call from the RCMP.  It took 8 emails and 4 phone messages before I received this phone call. 

This RCMP officer told me that although they had received his information April 5th, they did not assign it to anyone until June 18th.  From the date of June 18th it will take in EXCESS of 140 days to process!!! So I guess that RCMP officer that I spoke with over 3 weeks ago did lie to me then. I am such a fool, I didn't ask his name. He had told me that we should be recieving the fingerprints in 1 week's time. So this "limbo time" is at least four months long - I daren't think of how much longer it may actually take. The most annoying thing is that if he were here in person, he could have done his fingerprints electronically and it would have taken them 24 hours to process. 

I explained our situation again and asked politely if there was anyway of speeding it up a bit for him, since the majority of people requesting fingerprint clearances are living in Canada.  Unfortunately, she was not one of these people who is able to think outside the box and have a bit of  a heart.  I have emailed my MP to see if they can assist at all in speeding this up, but I don't have very high hopes for this.

Once we receive these fingerprints, the next departmental application has a noted waiting time of 6-12 months, although in a phone conversation with them, they assured me that it would probably be a 6 month waiting time. Once they have completed their processing, it then all goes back to the Guatemala Immigration department - at that office I am completely in the dark as to how long it would take them to finalyze his Spousal Application. His medicals expire in September, so we are now going to have to redo these again! So bloody annoying.

Obviously this saga is taking much longer than we had originally anticipated.  The inefficiency of each Department that we come up against and rely on for processing has forced my hand. So, I have arranged for an official "leave of absence" of one year starting on Dec. 1st, 2010 so that we can all be together as a family while we wait for Douglas' Canadian Permanent Resident card.  

Red Tape Frustration

When I bump into friends and acquaintances who ask if Douglas is back yet they're surprised to hear that he is still awaiting his Canadian Residency papers in El Salvador. It's now been about 15 months since Douglas left for El Salvador and we re-submitted his Immigration papers for Spousal Sponsorship.  Every step in this  process has been like pulling teeth from a lion.  Douglas got a major run-around when trying to obtain a fingerprint screen/criminal check in El Salvador (you would think he was the first person to ever request this!), but Canada is no better.

The Immigration office that we have to deal with is the one located in Guatemala City.  On numerous occasions I have emailed them, faxed them, and sent letters via snail mail to check on the progress of the application.  I have never got a response from them. We have only ever heard from Guat Immigration office ONCE in the past 15 months.  The only reason I even know that they sent a letter to him in El Salvador was because, periodically,  I have our Member of Parliament get in touch with the Guat office to check on the status of things.  In February, they apparently mailed a letter to him (which he never received) asking him for a page full of various documents etc in order to proceed.  Some of these things were police clearances. 

I had to obtain a local police check for him - five officers, many visits/ phone calls to the station and many weeks later - finally obtained the piece of paper to say that he was "all clear".  What was the big problem? Well, it seems that it was against protocol to search the database and release a form saying "No criminal record" unless the person (Douglas) was actually physically in front of them.  I explained over and over that I didn't even need to see the form, I just needed them to do the check and mail it to the Immigration dept in Guatemala.  I submitted all sorts of documents from Immigration Canada showing proof that he had left the country as part of this whole saga, provided four different forms of ID copies NOTARIZED by the Canadian Embassy in San Salvador, his fingerprint form notarized by a Salvavadoran police station - I was still coming up against a brick wall. So, short of cutting his fingertips off and having them mailed back to Canada, I had done everything I could.  I think in the end, they got tired of me harrassing them - finally the day came that I was able to cross this off my "to do" list - they released the police check. YAY!!

Next step was the RCMP check for all of Canada. Acccording to the website, processing times are "in excess of 140 days".  I sent our original fingerprint form from El Salvador via registered mail over 3 months ago, so got in touch with them via phone message and email to make sure they have the file and are working on it.  After numerous emails, I finally received a response that went like this: "No, we can't locate his file, but it doesn't mean we don't have it."  Ya, I know, sort of unbelievable for a government organization - but wait, no maybe it is believable.  I kept persisting, explaining that with each month that passes, it is another month that we are not together as a family.  I have received three emails in total from them, all of the same template, all saying the same thing.  I have left numerous voicemail messages as well.  Finally received a call three weeks ago from an RCMP officer who confirmed that they had the file and I should receive the documents in about a week.  Then two days ago, I recieved another response from them via email (from an email I sent weeks ago) saying the same thing - "no, can't find it, doesn't mean we don't have it though."  So, which is it?  As I have not received the documents, again, I have started emailing and leaving voicemail messages demanding that they just clear this up and confirm once and for all if they have the documents.  I would hate to think that we have just wasted three months on this and have to start over again, but I would rather not waste ANOTHER three months waiting to find out.  So, with regards to Douglas' Immigration status - he is "approved in principal" and we are in a holding pattern tied up in red tape. For how long is the big question.

"Orange Alert" in El Salvador

Before she left Canada, Trinity had asked Douglas if she should bring her "Wellies" (Wellington Boots) with her to El Salvador.  He had told her not to, as her feet would get too hot inside the boots.  Too bad we listened! The poor kid has seen an exorbitant amount of rain & storms since landing there.  Tropical storm "Agatha" was first and then the remnants of "Alex".  The country experienced flooding, mudslides, some deaths and an "Orange Alert" was called by the government.

The casa was built very quickly - & me thinks building codes are not the same down there! Unfortunately, every time it rains heavily, it leaks into her room.  So, Douglas is sweeping the water out every day - hopefully, when the rains ease off, it will be repaired. 

The little village they are living in  - Playa El Tunco - experienced quite a bit of damage.  Erica's restaurant was left "lopsided" due to the high winds and the "sitting area" behind  the cafe, Dale Dale, apparently was swept away in the storm into the ocean. Apparently, the other day the water was almost up to their knees in some parts of town. So, there is rebuilding all around them right now that impedes Douglas from actually opening the Salon.  Otherwise, the salon (Onyx Hair Studio) is furnished and ready to go!

Douglas & Trinity sent some pics to me through the iPhone of the water levels. In the first picture of my cutie petutie, you can see how there is very little water (note her Iguana clinging to her purse) - then in the next picture I have doodled an "X" to indicate the exact place that she was standing only a few days before (in the first pic) with the low water level.  Wow! What a difference!