Not All Peaches and Cream

                 So living in another country isn't always as romantic an experience as people may imagine. Maybe some day months from now when things are settled with the Irish Government then maybe it will be all its cracked up to be!! I have a small soap box and some words of warning for anyone who maybe considering living in a foreign country.

                 In one of my previous posts I mentioned a small to do list of three things I needed to have done in order to be fully settled and a functional member of the community not in danger of being kicked out of the country by immigration. One- get a PPS number (Irish version of a SSN) Two- Get a bank account and Three- check in with the Garda (Irish police) to speak with their immigration officer and register with them as legally able to work.

                  So last week I started the process with item Two- Get a bank account. This way I could still get paid, even though getting paid without a PPS number you get taxed heavily and only reimbursed once you have a PPS number. I took a half day at work, walked from the hospital to the bank (20min walk). Once I got there I was told I needed proof of my address, well at this point I'd only been in the country for 4 days and all the bills are in the names of my house mates, not mine. Even if they were in my name I wouldn't have had a bill at that point. So I called my employment agency and spoke with my agent who said she had emailed me a signed letter with my name and address at the top, stating that I had just moved and would need the banks assistance in getting settle. But in order to get a copy of the letter I had to walk myself back to the hospital to get access to a computer with a printer. After the 20min walk back I was able to print the letter. Thankfully my manager at the hospital didn't want me to have to walk back again so I was able to get a ride from a coworker. We went to the bank....but hey, guess what?! The letter wasn't good enough. It needed to be an original letter with an original signature from my agent and have my employee number on it. The bank employee called my agent and discussed this with her. So now I was waiting for a letter in the mail to be able to open a bank account.

                   In the mean time I wanted to get my PPS number. So my coworker took me there next just to see if I could get that taken care of. We find the office for the PPS number easy enough! I go to the receptionist explain that I need to apply for my PPS number. Unfortunately they only take applications by appointment and only have one appointment a day, lucky me the next available appointment was a week away! Woooo sign me up!?!? Oh and I needed proof of address again. However they did provide a form for my house mate to sign and then just needed one of the utility bills with his name on it as well. Talk about hoops!! The infernal hoops!

                    And that wasn't anything compared to what I had to deal with today. Today was the day of my appointment for my PPS number so I took the day off in order to also get my bank account in order since I'd received the original letter from my agency. If you think bankers hours are choice in the U.S. they are even better in Ireland, not sure what time the bank opens(not early) but they close at 4pm and aren't open weekends period. Since I work until 5pm any time I need to do anything with the bank I'll either have to go on my lunch or take a half day off. So anyway, I took the day off....walked down to the bank. Waited in line, surprisingly not for long. I provided them with my passport and the letter from my employment agency who is a customer of the bank and therefore should enable me to get an account. The gal then tried calling "the author" of the letter but only got voice mail since I believe he's on holiday at this time. So guess what, no bank account for me. Nope, because she was unable to validate the letter with its author!! WTH?! I told her in nice words that I thought this was ridiculous, that I'd been there 3x trying to get a bank account and that I can't get paid until I get one. Her first response was shockingly enough that it wasn't ridiculous and that they had to follow the law and blah blah blah!!

                     After failing at getting a bank account I walked myself to the PPS office. This went smoothly except for the fact that I was there an hour early because I finished my business at the bank much quicker than expected. I had no where else to be so I just sat an waited for my appointment. Finally 15min past time for my appointment I was called forward. I filled out a couple forms, turned in the forms they gave me before for my proof of address and also showed my passport. Thankfully the guy was very nice and helpful. Even said he will try to call the PPS office to push it through faster for me. However if that didn't work (which he even said don't hold your breath) then I'll have my PPS number in two weeks time.

                       So basically until I get my PPS number I won't have a bank account and won't have a pay check. Which means living off my savings and credit card. If I use either of those options then I'll be paying conversion fees since all my current funds are in the US dollar and not the Euro. Good thing I already have good money habits. You can't apply for a pps number until you have a residence in the country and you can't have a bank account until you have a pps number. But you can have a job and have expenses just like everyone else!! 

                        The third thing on my list was to meet with the Immigration officer at the Garda office and register with Immigration so I won't get deported. I'd gone to the Garda office last week, but the officer was out. They did have her number so I called and left a message. I still hadn't heard any word from her so I called again today and managed to set up a meeting for next week since she is only in the office one day a week.

                          I guess everything will pan out in the end. Now that I've had my time on the soap box I feel much better. And now for anyone out there thinking you want to work and live in another country, be warned politics are politics and government sucks no matter where you are!!