Hi all, happy Friday!!
This week has been packed with excitement and I am assuming that this is going to be the new norm for the semester. Hopefully I will be able to find more down time to check in with all of you though! SO as I mentioned in my first post, I messed up my student visa. Before I came, I found out that you had to get a student visa to study at the university. Ok, I understood that for sure. There is a new thing in the airport for customs that is called an egate. Basically, you scan your passport and get let into the country instead of having to talk to someone. It is only for certain countries, with the United States being one of them. We were told countless times to NOT go through these gates because if you were to do so then you do not get a visa stamp in your passport. I fully knew this and was prepared to talk to a person, prove that I was a student, and get my stamp.
Fast forward to my flight here. My flight from Boston lands in London where I have a layover. I get off the plane. I follow the crowd to what seems like another security check. I find it weird that I am going through security again, but I don't think much of it. Someone working at the airport asks if I am from America, and sends me to a line. I go through this line where I scan my passport and my face is illuminated in very bright lights on a camera. I notice that I was honestly looking great for it being 2am (America time) and having been on a plane for 6 hours. I get through the gate and go through the insane security line. I realize that I had just gone through an egate. Shoot.
In my head I decided that it was okay to go through the egate in London, because when I got to Edinburgh I would go through customs again and get the stamp I needed for my passport. But boy was I wrong. When I got to Edinburgh, I wound up finding another girl, Allie, from my program so we left the airport together. We were walking along and walked right outside! I was like ummm Allie where is customs?? She informed me that we had already done that in London and that there was no more customs to go through. That was when I realized that I had really messed up. The people picking us up from the airport informed me that it was going to be okay and it would get worked out. But I was obviously still stressed because I didn't have any clue what was going to happen!
That night, we met Jeanna, our program leader. I informed her of the situation and she seemed to think that I would have to leave the country and come back THAT WEEK. I was like oh no that is going to be one expensive flight on that short of notice. But alas. I was trying to figure out flights because I could not attend the university if I didn't get that stamp.
Fast forward another few days, and we go to an immigration check. Myself and one of my flatmates, Anna, went and were next to each other getting checked by 2 different women. My woman opens my passport and before she could tell me I messed up I was like oh honey I already know. And then Anna was laughing at me because we have already discussed this matter everyday for the past few days and it is this whole joke now. But the ladies were like oh my goodness she's being so mean (because they didn't realize we knew each other), but it was so funny. Honestly it is still funny. Like leave it to me to mess up something that was so explicit in instructions to NOT do. Anyways, this lady said that I had 30 days to leave the country and come back. Score!! Also, Anna and I gave them a good laugh which we felt happy about because their job is probably so boring and I bet people overreact and freak out about this kind of problem. Gotta just laugh it off so that you don't get too stressed :)
Moral of the story. Don't let your tired brain take over at the airport. Read more about customs and how it works BEFORE your flight to another country. And if your visa gets messed up, at least you have a flight to Brussels next weekend to "fix the problem". Or just to eat Belgium waffles. Haven't quite decided yet. And of course through all the trials and tribulations that is my life these days... remember to always #stayclassyscotland
This week has been packed with excitement and I am assuming that this is going to be the new norm for the semester. Hopefully I will be able to find more down time to check in with all of you though! SO as I mentioned in my first post, I messed up my student visa. Before I came, I found out that you had to get a student visa to study at the university. Ok, I understood that for sure. There is a new thing in the airport for customs that is called an egate. Basically, you scan your passport and get let into the country instead of having to talk to someone. It is only for certain countries, with the United States being one of them. We were told countless times to NOT go through these gates because if you were to do so then you do not get a visa stamp in your passport. I fully knew this and was prepared to talk to a person, prove that I was a student, and get my stamp.
Fast forward to my flight here. My flight from Boston lands in London where I have a layover. I get off the plane. I follow the crowd to what seems like another security check. I find it weird that I am going through security again, but I don't think much of it. Someone working at the airport asks if I am from America, and sends me to a line. I go through this line where I scan my passport and my face is illuminated in very bright lights on a camera. I notice that I was honestly looking great for it being 2am (America time) and having been on a plane for 6 hours. I get through the gate and go through the insane security line. I realize that I had just gone through an egate. Shoot.
In my head I decided that it was okay to go through the egate in London, because when I got to Edinburgh I would go through customs again and get the stamp I needed for my passport. But boy was I wrong. When I got to Edinburgh, I wound up finding another girl, Allie, from my program so we left the airport together. We were walking along and walked right outside! I was like ummm Allie where is customs?? She informed me that we had already done that in London and that there was no more customs to go through. That was when I realized that I had really messed up. The people picking us up from the airport informed me that it was going to be okay and it would get worked out. But I was obviously still stressed because I didn't have any clue what was going to happen!
That night, we met Jeanna, our program leader. I informed her of the situation and she seemed to think that I would have to leave the country and come back THAT WEEK. I was like oh no that is going to be one expensive flight on that short of notice. But alas. I was trying to figure out flights because I could not attend the university if I didn't get that stamp.
Fast forward another few days, and we go to an immigration check. Myself and one of my flatmates, Anna, went and were next to each other getting checked by 2 different women. My woman opens my passport and before she could tell me I messed up I was like oh honey I already know. And then Anna was laughing at me because we have already discussed this matter everyday for the past few days and it is this whole joke now. But the ladies were like oh my goodness she's being so mean (because they didn't realize we knew each other), but it was so funny. Honestly it is still funny. Like leave it to me to mess up something that was so explicit in instructions to NOT do. Anyways, this lady said that I had 30 days to leave the country and come back. Score!! Also, Anna and I gave them a good laugh which we felt happy about because their job is probably so boring and I bet people overreact and freak out about this kind of problem. Gotta just laugh it off so that you don't get too stressed :)
Moral of the story. Don't let your tired brain take over at the airport. Read more about customs and how it works BEFORE your flight to another country. And if your visa gets messed up, at least you have a flight to Brussels next weekend to "fix the problem". Or just to eat Belgium waffles. Haven't quite decided yet. And of course through all the trials and tribulations that is my life these days... remember to always #stayclassyscotland
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