I'm writing THIS post from my SECOND flight today, yes ladies and gentleman, I was denied entry to England and have been sent home on a nonstop flight to San Francisco. Here's the deal...
As I approached the immigration counter and handed them my passport, they asked me what I was to be doing here. Naturally, and without thinking too much about it, I told the man, “I'm here to be an 'au pair' for a family, just for a few months. Under domestic employment.” Apparently, I should have thought more, because the proper answer would have been, “I am visiting, that's all.” However, after 15-20 minutes of questioning as to who I would be with, what is their profession, where am I staying, what is my profession, what am I studying, etc. etc. I was told to sit and wait for further review. Well...I waited for 45 (no lies, I checked my watch!) minutes on the bench as I watched everyone else go through immigration. Thankfully, I made a friend, Greg (who was also told to wait for review). That brings my number of friends in the UK up to two, Barack (who sat next to me on the plane and was ALSO told to wait for review) and Greg. As I sit, I watch Barack taken back by his interviewer and figure he's gone off. Then, I am finally taken away by my interviewer to retrieve my bags...which went through an hour ago. Sooo...my bags are no where to be found and this guy who's with me is clearly a trainee as he was young and followed around by an older worker, of who the young man kept asking, “Is this alright? Anything else?” I bring my baggage ticket to the counter and they help me find my bags, pheeww huge relief! We take my bags aside and do a full search...unpacking everything, repacking everything, no joke. So 10 minutes of bag missing, 15 minutes of bag searching, and back to the counter where I was questioned initially. As I walk back, I find Greg waiting! I was sad he was still there, but happy to see a familiar face. We hit it right off (he's old, don't worry Mom and Danny) and joked about our situation, keeping eachother's spirits up. I was taken away again, this time to fingerprinting and photos. The rookie took my fingerprints and the best pictures of my entire life (ha...ha...) and then sent me off to a new waiting area, the holding room. There, I had to sign some papers saying I knew what was going on (which they were very good at informing me of, thank goodness) and saying that it was okay they hold my luggage, which they did. I was able to take my book and some pen and paper and was left to entertain myself for an hour while I waited to be interrogated. Who did I meet in holding, but Barack! Poor guy was not happy with his situation. He was held because he did not have proof of a return ticket. He was very vocal about having to wait through all of this, which was frustrating for me, cuz it wasn't THAT bad and we were being treated with utmost respect and kindness. But if he wanted to complain, I wasn't going to stop him. While I'm waiting, Greg came in too! Greg is much cooler than Barack, and we joked and chatted and kept eachother engaged through the whole process. If it weren't for him, I'd likely have been a puddle of immature nerves, but he saw me as calm and collected and therefore, that's what I was. Finally, rookie comes back with his mentor shadow and takes me into a room, just like in the police movies! in which I was interrogated. I felt very cool, I must admit. He asked me more questions like, “do you speak english, do you understand what is going on, will you answer my questions,” blah blah blah. The mentor shadow just sorta grinned and asked me about the book I was reading. So they tell me to wait again...I wait. At this point, I have been in holding for 3 hours, no exaggerating, and have swapped life stories with Greg. He has a fascinating, almost tragic, life story, and I was flattered to have had it shared with me. But we've been through a lot together! After waiting another hour, rookie comes in to tell me, tah dah, I have been denied entry to the country. I did not qualify under their au pair program (which I knew) nor did I qualify for domestic employment, since I had not been employed for a year. He said I could come back when I wanted, but I had to get the proper paper work etc. 10 minutes later, it was Greg's turn (Barack had already been told he could enter the country). Looks like Greg and I would be going home within 3 hours. We both called home and informed our parents, and continued to inquire about eachother's lives. After another hour of waiting, (I landed at 7am and my newly scheduled flight was at 2:15, a lovely 7 hours of interrogation and holding total) I was escorted with my luggage all the way to the gate, accompanied while I was sat waiting to get on, then walked to the door of the plane. At this point, I still didn't have my passport, the flight attendants had to hold onto it for me. After being in flight for 3 hours, I was finally given my passport, now I feel human again. Although the experience could have been better, I'm glad I learned something new and this is one cool story. Cheerio!
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