Bureaucracy...

...if studying for the final fate-defining ASCP certification exam wasn't stressful enough, you can always count on our love for bureaucracy to make sure those catecholamines stay pumping. Lately, I've been stressed, not so much from studying, but because of my frustrations with paperwork and how sluggish some administrations are.

As many of you long time readers may know, for the past year, I have been in the process of getting Hanako's K1 visa requirements and forms completed. The K1 visa is required so that we can finally live together and marry after having been separated for more than 2 years. My forms from my initial application are currently being looked over by the Vermont Service Center. In fact, they've been looking them over for more than 6 months. While they look over the forms they perform a number of other different things such as background checks and if further forms are required then they will notify you. The average processing time for this form (I129F) at their facility is 5.6 months, so already our application is taking longer than average. It is frustrating to check on their website everyday only to see that our status is still stuck in the ever unchanging stasis of "Initial Review". I had incorrectly assumed that our application would be completed close to the average time and thus had already bought a plane ticket to go to Japan in December. Our plan was to then come back together on the same flight in mid January while using the K1 visa for her to enter into the US. Then our lives would be grand and you could stamp "happily ever after" at the end of our passports. Returning back together to the US at the same time is important because at the immigration window they are going to be very aggressive (speaking in brusk English) in asking her why she's coming to the US, who she's staying with, where she's staying and so forth. Previously, they were so rude that they brought her to tears. I won't let that happen again if there's anything I can do about it.

It looks like since I can't control how fast the USCIS processes our application, I'm going to have to return to the US in mid January alone and leave her in Japan until they get up to speed. When the application is finally complete, I'll have to fly back to Japan to meet her and then we can come back together as it should be. On top of it all, I get to pay thousands of dollars that I don't have for the pleasure of processing these forms. However, the responsibility is ultimately mine. I was naive to think that an organization of this size would be able to stick to their projected completion times that they publish. A part of me wishes that we could go back to the immigration efficiency once seen at places like Ellis Island.

In an unrelated but similar example of why I can't understand some aspects of bureaucracy is actually one of the requirements of the Pearson Vue testing center. Today, I was glad to receive a letter in the mail from the ASCP saying that I am now eligible to register a date on which I will take the PA certification exam. But, one of the strange things is that the testing center requires that when you go to the exam you must bring with you two IDs, both of which must contain your signature. Most people will use their driver's license for the first, but some people will have a hard time coming up with the second. How many people out there actually have two forms of ID with signatures on them? It makes me wonder if the testing center has had problems in the past with people faking driver's licenses so now they require two forms of identification. Perhaps one state derived ID is insufficient after all. I am fortunate in that I have a passport, but most Americans actually don't have passports. I'm curious as to what other forms of ID have signatures on them.

I had originally planned on taking the ASCP PA Certification Exam here in Pittsburgh before I returned home, but since my passport is back in California I have decided that it would be safer to wait until I got back. I can't risk mailing my passport to here because even if in the remotest chance that it got lost my life would be turned upside down. I certainly wouldn't be able to make it to Japan in time to meet Hanako and her family after all this time and anticipation. "It would be a disappointment" is a very big understatement. Taking the exam in Fresno, CA is no problem for me. It's just that there is a feeling of helplessness in not being able to follow through with the plans that you've already made. So many things are out of our control and we can't decide for ourselves when and where and how to plan for the future. I'm the type of person who avoids problems down the road by planning ahead of time. If there's something that can be done now, then I complete it and get it done. Unfortunately, it seems that no matter how well one plans, life has other plans for you.

That is perhaps the moral lesson of this all. You can't plan for the unexpected. Stay as flexible as possible and don't stress over the wrenches. Stressing never solved any problem. Stepping back I can see how silly this all is, now. I need to stop being so serious.