Day 128 - Back to Immigration

8

Back to Immigration

My welcome back from Tarija was a visit to Immigration.

My immigration lawyer is only a few blocks from my house.  He said to be there early, which I thought was 7:00, but they weren’t there at 7:00, so I went looking for food.  I am glad I did, because I had no idea what this morning would hold.

Dr. Z. and his wife arrived at 8:00.  I thought they would accompany me, but this time I was on my own.  I was put in a taxi and driven to SEGIP headquarters on the north side of town.  SEGIP stands for Seguridad General de Identidad Personal (General Security of Personal Identity).

I go to the second floor.  There are no signs about what to do.  There are about 20 people seated near the door looking at me strangely.  The desk at the door is not occupied, but is shortly.  He tells me to take a seat.  

A few minutes later he is fussing at all of us seated there.  We are supposed to be in a line, though there are four rows.  One person moves, and everyone else moves, zigzagging their way to the front. It seems to work, except there are people who break in line, or go to his desk insisting to be waited upon.  A young blonde girl does this and gives a dirty look to everyone seated and waiting.  He makes her sit, which makes her angry.

I get to his desk and he is polite and helpful.  He stamps papers, unstaples a few, and staples them back.  Finally, he hands me some papers and says I have to wait to get my picture taken on the other side of the room.  He says I can come back at 11:00 because they won’t get to me before then.  It is 8:50. The room is not so crowded, so I decide to take my chance.

I could have gone to the zoo!  It was close.  There are three clerks taking care of the pictures.  After an hour, I start timing them.  It takes about 20 minutes per person.  As usual, people try to break in line.  That same blonde girl comes in, after being gone for an hour, and demands to be taken care of next.  The man she made the demand to calmly told her to sit down, be quiet, wait her turn, or she would have to start all over tomorrow.

Around 11:00 the people I was sitting with at the start were being waited on.  I was feeling like I would get out before lunch.  Surprise visit from a family from Japan.  They invaded all three desks and just kept insisting they did not speak Spanish.  The three clerks stopped what they were doing and waited on them.  That took almost 45 minutes.

It was 12:15 when my name was called.  I am asked a few questions, not the least if I am related to Harry Potter.  I am fingerprinted and my picture is taken.  My 20 minutes with the clerk passed and I was finished.  I was given a card that said to return on Monday the 31^st.

As I was leaving, I noticed that the little blonde girl had still not been waited on and now there were very few people left.  She scowled at me, as if I had broken in line.  Oh well, we won’t be going out for dinner, I assume.

After all that, I went back a week later, on October 31.  This time I was supposed to pick up my identity card.  I was prepared with food and something to read.  Yet this time, I was there just 15 minutes.  Go figure!