more people [need to] go with Visa

I got my paperwork filed to have my company's travel dept. book our flights and the agent said she needed to get a round trip otherwise I would be denied entry. My initial reaction was quite arrogant and I scoffed to my group admin, "Just tell her to book a one way, I've been to Taiwan on a passport before..." or something equally obnoxious. In the next 15 minutes it would quickly unravel that for reasons involving me getting an ARC in Taiwan, I do need to enter on a resident visa and without a return ticket, I, in fact, may be denied entry. Luckily my travel agent knows a lot more about travel than I do.

Something was lost in translation during my emails with our group in Taiwan that handles documentation and our "IA" group that was supposed to get me a visa either doesn't exist, or doesn't care. I was advised by my HR contact in Taiwan to go see my local HR rep to get help from them in securing all the documents.

I don't want to say anything that will get traced back to me and get me fired. let's just say, if I walked into HR and they said, "I can assist you with that..." I would have quickly been on my way to solving my own problem. So...an hour of aggravation later, I was off to solve my own problem. I think I am the first one from my division moving to Taiwan so maybe I need to cut them some slack.

Taiwan doesn't have a "consulate", assumedly because of the whole Taiwan/China thing much like the US maintains a fake embassy in Taipei, but there is a TECO office in NYC which serves the same purpose. I called several times with no answer and left a message. Frustrated at the end of the day (TECO closes @ 4:30), I emailed everyone (Taiwan HR/US HR/travel agent) and said, "I'm just going down to the consulate tomorrow with or without an appointment!" At 5:05, Mark from the consulate called and even apologized for the tardiness of the call. He had all the information right away, turns out I have all the documents necessary for my visa, and he said to just come down in the morning, no appointment necessary.

The TECO is a block away from Grand Central Station so I took the train down. There are no gargoyles or iron gates like the embassies in the Bourne Identity; it's just an office building. You enter the lobby and check in the with guard who gives you an ID sticker. Head up to the 4th floor and right outside the elevator door is a clerk who asks what you need and assigns you to a window. I approached window 97 and told the female clerk that I need a "resident visa". Even the Taiwanese seem shocked every time I say that I am seeking residencey in Taiwan. What am I in for? Should it be setting off alarm bells when I meet Taiwanese living in the U.S.? Sometimes I want to ask them, "What's so bad about Taiwan that you need to live here?" I'm not sure that I can convey that with a sense of humor and I'm sure when I'm in Taiwan, locals will be thinking, "What's so bad about the U.S. that you came here?!?!"

A guy instantly jumps up and says, "Are you Michael?" It was Mark. He said, "I will have you work with the most beautiful clerk in the office!" I wonder if I'm in a KTV? We went through my documents and I paid $131 cash for the visa. She instructed me to come back Tuesday after noon and present my receipt to get my passport and visa. Awesome. Very efficient, I was out of there in 5 minutes.

There was some confusion involving needing a legalized/apostille marriage certificate before I come but that is needed only before Shirley comes in July so we have some time to work on that. We'll need the time...stay tuned for the marriage certificate fiasco.

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