I'm Legal!

So far so good with my classes this week. I’m really enjoying each and every one and can’t wait to get into discussions. But since I have Wednesdays off from class, I decided to spend today tackling my immigration status.

As an American citizen, I don’t need a visa to remain in the country for the year, but I do need to register with immigration within a month of arrival and provide documentation to show that I am officially registered as a university student, have paid my tuition and fees, have opened an Irish bank account and have sufficient funds to provide for myself, and have private health insurance.

So I started at the Bank, arriving at 9:50am – only to find out that although the bank opens at 10am on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, for some reason on Wednesdays bankers get to start at 10:30am. So I perused the fliers in the tourist office across the street and planned all kinds of places to visit in the coming year (namely, everywhere!).

The bank teller was quite helpful in updating my current address and providing documentation for immigration services, and then I was off to register. After walking only 5 blocks in the wrong direction, I rerouted and made it to the Garda by 11:05am, arriving exactly ten people before the daily cut off.

Luckily, I’d been prepared for the experience. After waiting for half an hour in line, I was given the number 241 and informed that I was 104th in line and I could take a seat until my number was called. I settled in with my book and just 90 minutes later, it was my turn to submit my documents. I handed them all to the agent, who subsequently asked for each and every document in front of him (to which I responded, “It’s in the pile – the one that says ‘tuition payment’ on it,” or “It’s in the pile – the one that says ‘bank statement’ on it,” and so forth. Then just 10 minutes and 150 euros later, I was told that I could return to my seat and wait for my name to be called.

That part was actually kind of cool, because throughout the time I was there, there were names and nationalities called, and rarely the same ones. There were a couple of groups of Americans, but other than that (since European Economic Area citizens don’t need to register), there were people from all corners of South America, Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Oceania – just everywhere!

I got my card about half an hour later, only to find out that rather than being granted a year’s clearance, I’d been issued clearance from exactly 28-09-2011 to 28-09-2011. Just a typo, but it took another half an hour to get a new card (now valid until 28-09-2012), and the agent just wrote over the dates in my passport, so it looks a little sketchy.

All in all, it was a long but fairly painless 3 hour process, and I’m now legal to live, work (part-time) and study in Ireland for the next year! Feeling more and more like I live here every day!