The gods are smiling down on us :)

Autumnchik · January 30, 2007

I am honestly in a bit of shock right now, because I really had thought that the consulate would require fingerprints. Also (and I can't believe this), we had the wrong birth certificate form. When my fiance requested his BC, he got what he thought was the long form (it was a full length size, not the wallet card he had). In our stress to make sure everything else was set, including the fingerprint debacle, we neglected to notice that his BC didn't have his parents names on it

When we began giving the paperwork to the very nice lady, she looked at the BC and said that it was the wrong form. I must have looked so panicked because she was quick to reassure me that we could fix this and gave us the address for the Vital Statistics registry, which was about 7 blocks away. Anyway, she collected our forms and had us wait. When the (also very nice) gentleman interviewed us, all he asked was about my fiance's charge, if I was aware of it and if I still wanted to marry him. He also asked about the denial of entry that happened in November. That's it! No questions about how we met, no having to show proof of our relationship, nothing. He told us that it was good that we were honest about the criminal record and denial of entry. I even asked him if he wanted to see any of our proof of relationship, but he said no, that he would only need to see it if we were lying to him and he asked us if we were lying

Then, we were given a letter that basically said they could not process our visa due to the missing BC. The lady said that if we could get a BC to her, we could either bring it before 12:30 or at 2:00 pm. She said that if we were not able to get one today, to come back at 2:00 and she would give us instructions for having it mailed in.

So, we ran to the Dept. of Vital Statistics. Despite there being a sign posted that said all the certificates would be mailed, the (again super nice) lady working there printed us a copy right then. We must have looked so pitiful So Ron ran back to the consulate while I hobbled back, having got a blister from my stylish new running shoes that apparently need to be broken in. I waited for him for a bit and he finally came out, grinning from ear to ear. They gave him the visa right then!!!!! It was about 12:45 when he got it. I couldn't believe that we didn't even have to go back at 2!!!!

I will post some tips later on; I want to go get his plane ticket now!!!

Thanks everyone for your kind words and good vibes!!!!!! Vancouver rocks!