Hello, I’m trying to reach Mr Craig McCreeeeeeeeeeeth…
I got a call from the Immigration department at Heathrow. They’ve detained Corinne. Well, I half expected as much. When she was here last year a similar thing happened, due to the fact she didn’t purchase a return ticket.
She didn’t this time either.
The lady at the other end of the phone seemed nice, and asked some simple questions regarding who she was to me, where she’ll be staying and how she’ll be supporting herself. I answered everything as truthfully as I could… including the fact that she had applied for a work visa but I wasn’t sure if she’d recieved it yet (there was talk about going to a British consulate in Chicago where she filed the papers, but I didn’t hear anything about it before she left).
I told her to call back if she had any more questions or concerns.
She never did. So, in my mind… everything went fine.
Then all hell went loose and decided to pay us a visit
I rushed off to Edinburgh Airport on the fastest bus I could and managed to get to UK arrivals as her connecting flight was on approach.
I stood in anticipation as I had heard nothing. I saw other couples meeting and embracing and as the clock struck 12.40pm the flight was
completely empty, and all the bags had been picked up. Fuck.
A quick google got me the HM Immigration Switchboard. (02087456800) I phoned this line 12 times, but unfortunately every time I pressed an option I was disconnected.
Another google and I found a direct number. I called it and actually got a human, but despite all the information I gave her she had no idea
if they had her or not. My information was forwarded to an Immigration Officer who would call me back ‘as soon as possible’.
Half an hour later, at 1.25, I still hadn’t received a call. Another flight from Heathrow had arrived. Still nothing. I called back, and got the
same monotomous response.
I got something to eat, something to drink. Then I checked my emails an hour later… as another Heathrow flight was incoming.
I setup a Google Voice number for easy dialing in the US and I had received this little voicemail:
I called it and got weird tones and a voice I could barely hear. The person on the other side seemed to have no idea who Corinne was, so
I hung up.
So, where do we go from here?
Well, I guess it starts with some action. I’m going to complain to the HM Immigration department for their poor service and misconduct
of my girlfriend’s reasons… as I was nothing but truthful.
Then I’m going to try to speed up my trip to the States. Mid June sounds alright…
But seriously, I’m in awe as how badly HM Immigration has performed.
It’s been 5 hours since I’ve called. I still haven’t heard it directly from
them. Idiots.