today i became a permanent resident of hong kong.
it has been a rather rushed affair, but really, i have been eligible for permanent residency for three years, but three years ago, i was doing my twice daily nicu trek and not overly concerned about changing my status from hong kong resident to permanent resident.
there was no MASSIVE reason to change my status, although pr’s have shorter customs and immigration lineups and a few more benefits that appeal to me, taxation wise, and educationally, my kids were not effected. and so i let it slide. but then this summer i made a list of things that needed to be done and decided that becoming a PR was a fairly easy one that would look good if i crossed it off the list and so i started the paperwork, or to be strictly accurate (which anal retentive people must), instructed magnificent to get going on it.
august 22 i got a letter – hooray! i had been invited to be a permanent resident of hong kong. and once the kids turn 11, they will have pr status as well. i hauled tookus down to the directly named "immigration tower" in wanchai, and after a brief and confusing interview which included me returning home once to collect everyone’s passports, we got our stamps changed, and yay, we were almost home and i threw the stuff in a safe drawer and immersed myself in organising the ladies retreat.
tomorrow, friday, i am headed to china to do a volunteer trip in orphanages where children have been abandoned. it is very unlikely these children will ever be adopted. i think i am going to be doing a lot of bottle feeding, changing nappies, and i don’t know what else.
i did know that i would be needing a china visa. and i suddenly remembered that i needed a passport with a hong kong entry stamp on it. my current passport did not have that stamp, i had a sort of "in transition" stamp on it.
anal retentive people are not good at doing things at the last minute. (or this one anyway). i put a rush on my china visa (which involves submitting my hkid card and my passport), and spent hours on the telephone with immigration people, asking if i could get my pr card without my hkid card and passport. they said of course not. they did suggest i come in thursday, (the day i hoped to get my passport back) at 8.30am, stand in line and be one of the 200 walk ins they accept each day.
so i left the house at 7.45 this morning, arrived at immigration at 8am and the lineup was massive already. MASSIVE. my ticket number was 145. thank goodness i had brought a book to read in the lineup (skinny dip by carl hiassen).
i explained my plight (i got to a counter at 9am) and they told me the same thing, come back the minute you have your passport.
then i got a call…my passport was in! come get it! okay, sounds good…then i should run right back to immigration tower, right?
i couldn’t do that….it was family day for jaspers class and i came in, there were only about 6 parents there, and told the class a little about being jasper’s mummy. his little chest puffed out with pride and he lustily sang a class song for me.
then i had to run home and be present for carys’ speech therapy session.
and THEN, at 3.30pm i arrived at immigration. forms to fill, long waits, and then a picture (terrible, even the lady said, "you are pretty but very tired!" and then, bang, i got my temporary permanent resident card.
i love hong kong very much and i am proud to be a permanent resident of this "special administrative region." yes it has it’s faults, but so do i. hong kong and i are a good match. so after years of living together, today, under rather shotgun conditions, we got our wedding license. magnificent will be so proud.
