Yet Another Travel Horror - Part 3

I'm writing this post with the hope that this would be the last time of any travel horror, and I won't have to write part 4. Also, I need to finish writing the horror stories soon because I've tons of fun stories from this Philly trip waiting in queue to be written down. So, this post is mainly about how I got into trouble with just a little mistake, and how that made me go through some taxing experiences just to realize better that most government systems don't work in a conformed manner. I think it's important that I write these down so that people get to know about the real situation, and be prepared to tackle such unusual situations in advance.

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This is how it started - I had to apply for a foreign visa to travel, and since I had terrible experiences in the past with getting back my visa at the 11th hour, I was trying to be extra cautious this time and decided to apply at the earliest possible time. Usually the visa applications take decent amount of time to gather all the information and documents, making sure everything is alright, making appointment with the biometric centre in Chicago by finding the best match between their schedule and my schedule, paying for the return shipping using their crappy user interface that doesn't work for most of the browsers (I'm talking about a specific one here, not generalizing), and finally sending out the documents within 2 weeks of biometric appointment. Otherwise the whole application becomes invalid. So, I managed to do everything fine and sent out the documents on the next business day after my biometric appointment while I totally forgot that I had to travel for a conference within States after 2 weeks. Though there is chance to get back the visa within two weeks, it's usually better to keep that minimum time in hand since it's not guaranteed. At first I started to freak out about the whole thing, but then after Googling little bit, I thought about the possible options to handle this situation, which are -

1. Use the USPS Package Intercept service to get back my package, which would cost me some extra money but at least that will save me from the whole mess. According to USPS, the system is supposed to be applicable for any addresses other than those for Commercial Mailing Receiving Agency or PO Box, and as long as the package is eligible for the service, it will be redirected, though not guaranteed. 
2. Get State ID issued. According to DMV Website, it requires three types of documents to do that - a. Proof of date of birth (passport, birth certificate, high school transcript etc.), b. Social Security Card, c. Proof of Residency (water/electricity bills, lease, mortgage etc.)
3. If nothing works then withdraw my visa application and apply again later.
4. Travel by bus, which will take about 17-20 hours but will eventually get me there.

Before I get into details I should mention that none of the methods from 1-3 worked, the whole thing worked out totally by luck and probably by the consideration of some generous heart. So, luckily I didn't have to go for no. 4. I'll explain the further details below.

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My first approach was to get State ID issued as I read on another post that someone who had a similar issue applied for State ID, and it wasn't mentioned that we must need passport for that. But just to be sure I called two DMV offices at least four times. Usually the people at DMV offices are extremely rude (I feel extremely bad to say that but that's the fact), and I was never as nervous to talk to someone, even during my job interview! Then the information I received was completely inconsistent. So, I appeared at the DMV with my high school transcripts and I was let in, but when I went to desk they told me I'll need my passport or work authorization permit. Then I went again with the work authorization notice I received, and I was told I'll need form A, not C. So, the story continued, and I decided not to go through those crappy human interaction again. But here's what you need to know -

All the information provided on DMV Website only apply to US citizens. To apply for State ID you'll need to take the following documents (if you're a student with F1 visa) -

1. Passport (original birth certificate or high school transcript would not be accepted)
2. Updated I-20 which is valid for at least 6 months
3. Most recent I-94
4. Social Security Card (SSN)
5. 2 documents to prove state residency 

So, I would suggest getting yourself a State ID as soon as possible, which will help avoid carrying passport everywhere. Especially for international students it's a LOT of work to get a new passport issued in case it's lost, so state ID is always a better option to handle such situation. (Well, only if I had thought about it 1.5 years ago!!! )

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As soon as I figured approach 1 isn't going to work, I decided to use USPS package intercept service because my package was still eligible, and I thought that way I can have my passport back, apply for State ID, and then send back my documents again to the consulate. But guess what, the online system denied to take my address, or actually any address in Illinois. I went to the post office, called the main office of USPS, and filed a case after waiting in line for 40 minutes. But eventually everything failed and nobody could help me to redirect my package. It eventually reached NY, and after 2 more business days USPS contacted me with the delivery information. But that was not why I contacted them! They were supposed to at least resolve the issue why their online system didn't work, and what could help to prevent such situation. Frustrating user experience.

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Since those two methods didn't work, I had only one option left - to withdraw my visa application. So, I contacted the consulate using their online email form with 500 character limit. I must say they're usually very quick and efficient in getting back to people. However, there was no continuing thread of message, and each time a different person would respond, which often resulted into inconsistency. I was quite positive that I'll be able to withdraw my application, and get back my documents on time. But on Thursday morning I received the email (after my case was being escalated because of urgency) that, I have to sign a withdraw form that says that my package will not leave until at least 48 hours. To me it didn't make any sense because I'll lost everything in that way - I won't receive my documents by my travel date, and I've to go through the same pain of visa application again. So, I informed them that I decided to carry on with my visa application and would not withdraw it, while I appreciate their time and support. 

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I checked bus tickets in the morning while mentally preparing myself for 20 hours long journey. At the same time I was panicking to get my poster in shape on time to get it printed by Friday. After working for 4 more hours straight, I finalized my poster and rushed to the printing centre to submit it by noon. On my way back from there I received an email from the consulate that my visa was approved and stamped on my passport, and will be sent to me either by this (Thursday) afternoon or Friday afternoon. I can't explain how big relief that was, and it still feels like a total miracle to me that I survived this travel horror. I promised myself that I'll be more careful from now on and do every possible thing to avoid such mishaps. And whoever decided to urgently issue my visa and immediately send my documents back, may God bless that human being!

The Transition-2

Photo taken by me during fall at UIUC

It's never easy to take those big steps in your life, like deciding to change country while you are already in a comfortable place. It wasn't easy for me either to finally take the decision to leave Japan cause after living for five years there, I knew I had a second home in a foreign country, I knew there were people whom I could call my family and there were my friends, seniors, juniors and many more well wishers. And then there was this big decision to make - whether to choose a better academic path for future career though there can be a lot of uncertainties, or to continue living at a place surrounded by people's love with prospective career opportunities?

So, I chose the first route for my life. Leaving my school, favorite campus, friends, scholarship, work, I decided to move to USA. I have joined Graduate School of Library and Information Science at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from mid-August of 2014. In that sense this post was due a long time ago, but it took me some time (actually a semester!) to settle down in this new place, find out some extra time from school and work and finally sit down and think what I have got and what I have not.

At first I will write about some of the difficulties any usual student in Japan might face during this transition.

• In Japan, semesters usually start from April and all the procedures to start at an institution has to be done by March. And the entrance exams take place in August of the previous year. Though some universities like Tokyo University, University of Tsukuba have started Fall semester in October for foreign students at a small scale, but this is not the standard case in Japanese educational system. Now, in my case, I was not sure whether I am going to join any university in USA till June, until my Graduate Assistantship was fixed. So I had to face a huge problem to cancel my admission and scholarship. Though my professors were by my side, but these systems are very rigid in Japan and once someone is in the system, it is very difficult to come out of it without huge pay off. Again, if I decided to stay in Japan then that would not be a problem, I could just follow the rules. But to them I was an exception, and Japanese administrative system are not good with handling exceptions. So I faced a lot of stress and troubles just to get out of the institution and cancel my scholarship.

• Because of the time gap between the starting time of sessions of two countries, someone has to lose 4-5 months doing nothing (or may be doing fun!). In my case, I attended class for the first semester there and submitted my paper at conference and got accepted there, so worked positive for me though I had to go through those administrative complexities later. 

• Now fixing housing from Japan was another difficult task to do. It's already difficult to do that while you live in the country, contact the landlords and find a trustworthy leasing agent. I had good luck and found a very good place from Wampler Apartments. I would recommend them to anyone who is searching for housing in Urbana-Champaign area.

• Once you get your housing fixed, you have to start the electricity, gas and water service at your place. In Japan I found it comparatively easy, just call them and they will do everything for you. But USA is too big and different states have different rules. When I called them for starting service from Japan they asked me for my Social Security Number, then send notarized copy of ID card etc. Any of which I did know how to get done in Japan, also in that short amount of time. So the summary is, I was in trouble. Glad that the person at Wampler Apartment was very understanding and helped me out with this matter by saying that I can take my time and he understands that these are difficult for international students to handle. 

• Closing all the contracts/ services in Japan took a lot of time, effort and money. To close my phone contract with Softbank I had to pay thousands of extra money.

• Packing and sending all the important stuff from Japan - I am still afraid to think about. Buying all those big cardboard packages from post office, packing and sending them cost me huge amount of time, effort and money again. 

• Finally I booked my bus ticket to go to campus from Chicago and booked hotel room for the night cause the landlord's office will close by the time I will reach and I needed a place to stay for the night.

I am usually little reluctant to take help from others as long as I can handle them by myself. So doing all these things by myself was pretty difficult and I was extremely stressed by the time I was done and could not believe I was actually leaving Japan and feel the pain of tearing the bond. But yes, finally I got here and started a completely new life at a new school with new people and of course, with new struggles. It is not all bad but like I said, there is no perfect place to live on earth. So I am always trying to find the best way to enjoy my life no matter where I am.

And here is something I created as a guide for new international students who are here or will be joining UIUC. I created this libguide as my final project for LIS501 course but I hope to expand it in future as my personal project so that I can help future students be well informed before they land in this city and start their new life.
Guide for International Graduate Students at UIUC

I will keep posting about my experience at UIUC, stay tuned! :)