New Monday Feature

Mondays seem like a good day to do a Move Update post since I'll be doing the bulk of my work for the move on the weekends. Committing to a Monday post will push me to do something move-related each weekend, however small, so I'll have blog material. Thus, welcome to the second "move update", which will appear every Monday from now on.

I also have some ideas for other regular weekly posts that you'll start seeing soon.




UK Visa Application

On Sunday, I signed into the UK Border Agency application form that we started two weeks ago and continued on with Steve’s application. The site is new and the form is in beta mode, so I shouldn’t be too picky, but there are definitely some bugs to be worked out, particularly with the wording.

Bureaucrats are not renowned for their clarity of communication, we know this. But I just couldn’t figure out whether I am to fill in all my information under the “sponsor” section. I’d just filled out the spouse information which says I’m a UK citizen and accompanying him, etc., so I think that should cover it. The sponsor page has a drop-down menu at the bottom to select what the relationship is between the applicant and the sponsor. It lists all kinds of relatives but no spouse. SO, it seems to indicate that this page is not necessary, but I’m not sure. The sponsor page asks for all sorts of financial information but the spouse page doesn’t. Hmmm. I’ll have to add that to the list of things to look up. It can be confusing.

I find myself reading the same UK immigration pages over and over hoping it's going to become slightly more clear as I'm slowly memorizing the process. For instance, when we submit the online application, do we also send it by mail with all our originals and photocopies OR will we be bringing those with us to our immigration appointment (which is for biometric recording)? They don't seem to have a thorough FAQ, nor an information number. I shall be joining some UK immigration forums and asking some questions.

Physical Move

I did go through a shelf of magazines and weekly local papers that I was hanging onto as references and put them into a stack to be thrown out in the recycling bin. Things like the local liquor store monthly magazine and the Georgia Straight's annual "Best of" restaurant edition. Cleared half a shelf, but it's something.

The other thing we've been doing for months, regarding the physical move, is NOT buying anything new that won't move with us. We also don't stock up on things when they're on sale anymore, like toothpaste or cans of soup.