Notes from England - I really can't believe it.

Those of you that follow the blog are already fully aware of the fiance visa saga. If you're not aware, just check my previous posts.

The long and short of it is I have to leave the UK and re-enter in order for my fiance visa to become active...a step which must be taken in order to legally get married in the UK. After a failed attempt to handle this problem via a ferry trip to Dublin, I took a second trip to Dublin via a flight from Manchester, having been told by the immigration authorities that this would suffice.

Guess what? It didn't work. There was not passport control at the airport upon returning to Manchester. We called an immigration officer while still at the airport, and they refused to come out of their little office and help us. Why? Well apparently Ireland is part of the 'common travel area', and as such, England has no immigration control for them. Never mind the fact that Dublin is outside the UK. Never mind that Ireland (with all due respect to my fellow Irishmen) has quite a sortied history with England. Never mind the fact that upon entering Ireland they kept me in line for over a half hour in immigration control making sure that everyone was on the 'up and up'...England wasn't about to offer the same sort of scrutiny.

So yesterday, Helen and I spent the greater part of the morning and a good portion of the afternoon on the phone with various people...from the Home Office to the Immigration Advisory Service in Liverpool...and got absolutely nowhere. We actually ended up full-circle with the Home Office (top of the food chain, really) telling us to contact Manchester Airport...as they should be the ones to take care of it.

Well you can imagine our joy. So the long and short of it is...I'm leaving the UK yet again. I'm going to Oslo. "But Jer...why Oslo?" I hear you shouting. Well...essentially, it was the only flight I could find between now and the wedding for a 'reasonable' price (that's under £100 one-way) that would allow me enough time between when I land in Oslo and take off to Liverpool again that I'd be able to make my flight. Good lord...this is ridiculous.

Your thoughts?