06-11-2003, 05:52 PM
Getting my green card and moving to New York was a walk in the park compared to the tangles of red tape that have to be navigated trying to do anything in Europe.
I will be moving back to Europe soon (16 very good years in the US but now I am ready for a change of pace) and getting anything done is like walking in molases.
It would be easier to get a boatload of Taliban soldiers green cards than it is for me to get my beloved pet dog back accross the pond. I guess that DEFRA is not aware that the last case of canine rabies occured when the president had wooden teeth.
How about the brick wall that is the DVLA in Swansea. I surrendered my UK licence to get one in NY (took five minutes) and it appears that I must appear in person with twelve relatives and perform some kind of nativity scene just to get a duplicate of my old licence.
Maybe I will take my car with me. I can get it shipped over for about $1,500. Not bad. Does anybody have any idea how much it will cost to repair after it is propelled into a concrete block at 30 mph to prove it is crash worthy? Or how much a dream team of lawyers might charge for the elusive "single vehicle exemption"?
My dealings with the authorities in the US has largely been pain free. I have found the staff friendly and helpful (which is amazing when you see what they have to deal with day in and day out).
I wish I could say the same about their counterparts in the UK. The standard response I am getting is "we can not talk to you until you return, then you must stand on line for days and we will give you these forty three forms to fill out, they are all the same form with the questions in different order, then you will give us your passport along with any other vital documents that we will bear no responsibility for when we inevitably lose them, make you wait two hundred and eight business days and then tell you that we could have done something, but it's too late now".
Maybe I will stay in New York a little longer.
I will be moving back to Europe soon (16 very good years in the US but now I am ready for a change of pace) and getting anything done is like walking in molases.
It would be easier to get a boatload of Taliban soldiers green cards than it is for me to get my beloved pet dog back accross the pond. I guess that DEFRA is not aware that the last case of canine rabies occured when the president had wooden teeth.
How about the brick wall that is the DVLA in Swansea. I surrendered my UK licence to get one in NY (took five minutes) and it appears that I must appear in person with twelve relatives and perform some kind of nativity scene just to get a duplicate of my old licence.
Maybe I will take my car with me. I can get it shipped over for about $1,500. Not bad. Does anybody have any idea how much it will cost to repair after it is propelled into a concrete block at 30 mph to prove it is crash worthy? Or how much a dream team of lawyers might charge for the elusive "single vehicle exemption"?
My dealings with the authorities in the US has largely been pain free. I have found the staff friendly and helpful (which is amazing when you see what they have to deal with day in and day out).
I wish I could say the same about their counterparts in the UK. The standard response I am getting is "we can not talk to you until you return, then you must stand on line for days and we will give you these forty three forms to fill out, they are all the same form with the questions in different order, then you will give us your passport along with any other vital documents that we will bear no responsibility for when we inevitably lose them, make you wait two hundred and eight business days and then tell you that we could have done something, but it's too late now".
Maybe I will stay in New York a little longer.