I didn’t get to the immigration office on Tuesday. Our friend wasn’t available until this morning. We got there around 9:10, a little late for my taste. She parked the car while I held stood in line. There was a big lineup in front of the immigration office as you can see below.
The good news is that most people are there to get permission for minors to travel alone. The bad news is that about 40% of that line is for immigration. Usually, we get there much earlier, so we’re at the front of the line. Not today. But it doesn’t make a lot of difference because THEY CHANGED THE PROCESS. Yep, as of May 22, immigration split applicants into two categories. The first, with the highest priority, are the BRAND NEW IMMIGRANT APPLICANTS. There’s a sign now that reads:
“Se comencia al publico que a partir del dia 22.05.07 esta seccion otorgara solamente 10 numeros diarios para el inicio de tramites de residencias. retirar numero en mesa de entrada”
Instead of everyone racing for the paper pull numbers just before you get into the section, the newbies get to go to the front desk and ask for a special number. They’re on blue cardboard, from 1 to 10. When the officers sit down, these are supposed to be called first. From what I saw, it looked like only one of the officers was calling them first but they still get some kind of priority. The interesting thing was they were going quickly. It looked like they would sit there for 5 minutes, discuss stuff and then they’d get up and go. Since I’n not a newbie any more, I didn’t pay a lot of attention. I wanted to get in and get out as quick as possible.
My friend was still parking the car when the line started to move so I headed for the paperpull myself. Got number 5. Figured I would be seen in the first 30 minutes so I was happy. After a few minutes, I pulled a 2nd number, #8. I got into the habit of doing that in busy places here, just in case I have to go to the bathroom or I fall asleep waiting for them to call my number. In the past, I’ve been told when I missed my call, I had to get a new number. So now I take precautions by getting two numbers, at least 15 minutes apart.
There were 3 clerks (officers) today. The same ones I’ve seen there before.
Pardon the poor quality. Crappy camera today. Hope to replace these later in the week.
They were moving quickly. When #4 was called, and my friend was standing at the front, near the pole waiting to jump into the next empty chair, I turned to a young lady beside me and asked what number she had. She had #17. I smiled, gave her my 2nd ticket and said, no, you have #8. Then I went to stand at the pole with my friend.
After a few minutes, it was our turn. We sat down. She told them my name. They took off (as usual). She came back with a little piece of paper which I wanted to scan, but they took it from me. In exchange, they gave me these two documents.
The smaller one, (the first one) I am to present at the cedula processing office. They will exchange my temporary for a permanent. To do that, I need to call a 900 number (obviously from my own phone), and ask for an appointment. If I cant get a normal appointment in the next 2 weeks, I’ll call a different number, for urgent appointments. You can also make appointments by going to a RedPago, but I prefer home service. I will go to the Geant mall. I like that place better. http://urufish.wordpress.com/2007/04/24/a-nice-morning-in-the-immigration-office/
