I am a Legal Alien

One of the interesting things about being an American studying in Ireland is that you are not required to get any visa ahead of time. But what you do have to do, within one month of arrival, is check in with the police. When you come through customs at the airport, they can only give you the tourist visa, which allows you to stay for three months and not work. But if you check in with the police with your student info, you get a six month stay plus the ability to work part time. I'm not sure what happens if you don't check in with the police within a month, but suffice it to say that at Orientation they make it sound scary.

Going through customs at the airport was when I got my first taste of the laid back Irish style. The general experience is the same as everywhere else. Overtired unshowered passengers make their way through long lines of velvet ropes, struggling with their carry-ons and their immigration index cards. Folks borrowing pens from each other because they forgot to fill them out on the plane. You know the drill.

But upon arrival in Ireland they shouted for students to step over to a separate line. Great, express line! Straight to the front row! Yeah, fat chance. They check everyone else through immigration, and only once they're all through do they then send one cranky guy over to check all the students through. So that added about an hour and a half of wait time. To be fair, I was warned that that would be the case when I talked to the student from my school who came over last semester.

When we finally get checked through, we have to show the immigration guy our passports, a letter of acceptance from the school, and the immigration card. I was also told to have a bank statement just in case, as sometimes they ask for proof that you have access to enough money to get through the semester. But my guy doesn’t ask for the bank statement. He does, however, ask for proof of health insurance.

Now, I will be the first to admit I am a procrastinator. It's not something I like about myself, and it's something I work on to try and get better at; and I'm way better than I used to be. But one thing I am not, and I know it's a weird combination, it a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants person. I will do the research, find out what the story is ahead of time, and be organized about it. And I had at least triple-checked (probably even more, considering the number of sources I had) what I needed to bring with me, and especially what I would need to have access to at immigration. Not once had someone mentioned proof of health insurance.

Of course, my mind starts racing. Now, I do have health insurance through my school, so if worse comes to worse, I'm sure I can somehow contact someone there and have some sort of proof sent over. But, how long will that take? It was about 8:30 am at that point, which means 2:30 am back home. And whom would I call? I would need someone stateside who would appreciate the urgency of the matter. And then what? Do they make me wait here until proof arrives? Anyway, you can see the issues.

So I explain to the immigration guy that I simply do not have any proof with me. I explain to him that I have insurance coverage through my school, and they do not issue a separate insurance card. I show him my student ID (which I realize proves nothing), and tell him that it's really all I've got at the moment. This guy, who was not up to the billing of the oh-so-friendly Irish, refuses my ID, lets out a sigh, then begins typing on his computer. So of course my mind starts racing again. Do I sweet talk this guy? Try to make friends? Or just act like a respectful courteous visitor? Since he's typing away looking crankily through his half-rimmed glasses, I choose the latter.

After a few minutes he stops typing, tells me to look in the camera, takes my picture and sends me off.

"I'm all set?" I ask.

"Yes. Next!" He shouts.

I have split second urge to ask about the insurance, but keeping my wits about me, I bundle up all my crap and got out of there pronto!

...

Ok, I'll continue with the police check-in next time. Sorry for all the "to be continued" but I'm hoping to continue to have entries more days than not. Plus I'm due in class in 20 minutes. Ok, ok, really 30-35 on Irish time.