Trip to Embassy Lessons Learned

Ok, one more lesson down on my way to becoming a Visa Consultant. (Discounts for services available for friends 45 and older.)

If I can get an Italian Notarization, no Apostille is required.

If I must get a non-Italian notarization, it must be based on my current geography. So, I have to get a Polish notarization and the i must get the Apostille from the appropriate Polish entity...

8 hours of my life without a tangible result, but I came away with a lesson which I can turn into Euros - guiding others who don’t have time make the mistakes themselves.

Aposti-wha?

Up this morning at the crack to catch a bus to Warsaw for an appointment at the US Embassy.... I need to get some documents notarized for my immigration attorney in Milan.

The preference is that they be notarized by an Italian notary, but the Italian Embassy/consulate only performs services for Italian citizens (as is to be expected I guess) and they actually didn’t even deign it worth their time to respond to my queries..... so I must have my documents notarized by a US notary AND THEN get an Apostille (which to the best I can understand is a notarization of the notarization — and needed in this case only because the notary is not Italian ).... thinking about it now, standing in the sunshine at the bus station, I wonder if a Polish notary (in Hooterville!!!!!) could have done the same for me... hmmmmmmm.... digressing, digressing.....

No clue if I can accomplish both tasks in a single visit.... I might be making ANOTHER early morning trek across Poland!

More about apostille: http://www.internationalapostille.com/what-is-an-apostille/

B-Day -8

Parliament fiddles on, gnashing teeth at the fate of the parties, while the last vestiges of the once great Empire is inches away from the gunpowder. And on both sides rhetoric suggests both the GB voters and the EU are fed up with the posturing, delays, and Parliament's inability to get anything substantive done.

As I write MPs are drafting a letter to send to the EU requesting an extension, though they are currently debating if it should be a short extension or a long extension. Indications are that May will not agree to request a long extension.

The timeline is as such -- Parliament sends the letter to May (today?), who approves and tweaks and sends the request to the EU (today?). Then the EU will meet (March 22, Thursday) to discuss and vote on the request -- which must be approved by 100% of members. How often does THAT happen?

Regarding my burning question, I've found information online that GB expects Visas will be required for Europeans who want to work in GB after Brexit, following "the same visa rules as other migrants". Diplomacy being tit for tat, I can assume that the EU will follow with a reciprocal regulation in short order. Which theoretically puts me on a level playing field with GB teachers of English - potentially opening the door to Visa opportunities.

Will the timing of these Visa requirements work for me in the short term?

Will the GB voters ever understand the destruction they have wrought?

Will the EU throw a pie in GB's face?

Tune in again next time to find out!

B-Day -14

Currently in the quantum universe of Brexit, there are three options:

• Theresa May's Deal, in which she has gained legally binding promises from the EU that GB will not be trapped forever in the "Irish backstop" -- remember that is the point of contention where they are herding cats to decide how to allow Republic of Ireland goods to flow freely into the EU, while ensuring GB (Northern Ireland) goods are inspected and taxed, without a hard border check between the Irelands, which apparently has Sinn Fein [remember them?] Riverdancing with joy at the logical end as they see it of a reunified Ireland

• No Deal - which was handily defeated by Parliament "in all circumstances" on March 13, and therefore I guess it's really no longer an option.... which is good because I have no clue how to explain it other than to say the divorce proceedings would favor the EU, and GB would end up sleeping on the sofa in his mother's basement and driving a Gremlin....

• Requesting an Extension from the EU - which could last up to 2 (more!) years and is being described as a calamity by hardline Brexit MPs. BBC politcal analysts suggest an extension could open doors such as starting negotiations from scratch; a new Brexit referendum (during which they assume the educated urban population might actually show up to the polls); a vote of no-confidence to May, which at this point holds about as much threat as a slap with a wet noodle, and really, who knows if GB will even have access to noodles in April; and a total abandonment of Brexit without consultation of the people. The entire business of the PM and Parliament has been consumed by Brexit for 2 years already -- can the country afford another two years where all they do is debate this dream held by people who just want things to go back to the way they never really were?

I call it quantum, because it seems Parliament as a group has suspended all understanding of reality and believe answers to closed end questions can be simultaneously YES and NO, OPEN and CLOSED, 1 and 0, depending upon who you are giving the answer to. But as explained by EU President Tusk , if you buy a cake and eat it, it's no longer there on the plate. So someone needs to come to an understanding of reality in this universe, get off the pot, and make some decisions for the good of the country.

And so, where does this put me? Who knows.

Schools I've spoken with are watching the situation and are actively considering options to begin providing Visas to Americans / Canadians / Australians / etc. And if Parliament votes next week to accept May's deal, these Visa machinations may need to jump into motion quickly to provide teachers for next fall.

However, a request for extension (assuming the EU grants it) will probably have the effect of relaxing European tensions to the point of the status quo of the last 20 years, believing the specter of Brexit will just fade away and disappear if they ignore it.

Life in an ashram in India is starting to look like a viable option!

B-Day -25

The EU Withdrawal Bill states that at 23:00 GMT, Friday March 29, 2019, Great Britain will leave the European Union.

This referendum was part of the conservative hysteria and Clorox wave flooding whiter parts of the globe in 2016, and as with the election of Trump, the voters in the GB fly-overs really didn't think things through to the end.

According to reports, things could get dire, quick.

Here is a link to John Oliver’s informative take.

Here is an article suggesting farmers are at risk of suicide, owing in part of Brexit.

UK politics are at a fever pitch, with Tony Blair screaming "Don't do it!", while Theresa May is doubling down to do the business as the people have instructed -- even if it means following the instructions of your GPS as she drives you over the white cliffs of Dover.

Why do I care about this, you might ask.

Because in the current state of animosity between the EU and GB, exactly like a 1970s divorce shown on Lifetime TV, it is probable that as of March 30, 2019, GB citizens who want to work in the Eurozone will be on the same footing as Americans, Canadians, Australians, Kiwis, etc. Meaning in general, they will need to get a visa to work there.

In specific, the business sector teaching English to non-English speakers -- which in Europe has long met the consumer demand for "Mother Tongue" speakers with Brits (or in small numbers with other native speakers who marry Europeans or have a verifiable heritage enabling them to obtain dual citizenship) sans Visa -- will need to address how they will continue to provide these services, who will they bring to provide said services.

And I can only think that... sumbody gon' be gettin' visas.

More to come….

Find more Brexit intel here and here.