Friday, May 23

"DOH!" and then "WHEW!"

So, I got a call from the human resources boss the other day informing me that my visa had lapsed as of this March. I played dumb. At their request I paid them a visit the following day with all my documentation. She said that I needed to take a trip down to Oaxaca City to sort this out. Upon informing her that I had $4,500 pesos, and that it will cost $2000 for the renewal and over $1,000 for the penalty, she said that I could wait until the next pay day. WHEW!

About not being able to work until it's valid again, not a word was said. I figure that if I were to have inquired, then they would have been obligated to say that, well, yeah, you can't work. Surely they realize that I shouldn't be working, but by the same token, they'd rather not leave 45 students stranded for however long it takes the ever so charming Oaxacan immigration office to process the paperwork.

Though obviously I'm being ironic, the human resources ladies were under the impression that the immigration office is indeed a pleasure for us to deal with - evident by the fact that they thought I incurred no fee when I changed my employer and domicile. Pishaw! That was another $2,000 pesos! I just about choked on my tongue when they reasoned that my visa wasn't renewed at the time I changed employers because I didn't have to pay.

Tuesday, May 6

oooohhhhh shit.

So, I, uh, sort of thought that when I paid immigration and waited 3 weeks for them to update the sponsor on my work visa that by so doing would also give me another year. Nope. From the looks of things, I've been a wetneck since uh, let's see.. yup, March 22nd (a "wetneck" is a mashup between "wetback" and "redneck"). It's a hell of a thing to work for a government institution when the government itself prohibits me from working.

So what's the plan, Stan?

Well, I know for sure that they're not going to let me continue working when I point this oversight out to them. After all, they didn't let me work while my visa was still current although listed another sponsor. That said, I'm left with two options: A) Don't friggin' tell 'em. This, to me at least, seems like the obvious solution. Ah, but what'll happen when I try to leave the country? Worse still, what will happen when I try to reenter? The alternative is then B), tell 'em.

Call it paranoia, but I'm worried about what sort of shit sandwich is in store for me. Did you read my earlier post about the new teacher and how they seriously prolonged the visa and hiring process? This was, we think, in part due to the fact that this campus hadn't really wanted another English teacher - he was intended for the other campus who stupidly rejected him after those who accepted him quit. Will the school use my plight as an opportunity to rid themselves of an extra teacher? Something else that worries me is that the human resources boss called 2 months ago, when my visa expired, and asked the English department head if they are supposed to send us a letter to remind us that we need to renew our visa. The English department head said yes, and that they've always done this - so why did they ask? Did they not want to incriminate themselves? Are they faining ignorance as to avoid orphaning 3 classes while I get it fixed? Does the university face paying a fine? Will they pass that savings right on to me?
  
Supposing that I'm a paranoid schizophrenic and none of the above comes true, I still have to tighten the belt quite a bit. This could be anywhere from one to four weeks without work. Luckily, mangoes grow wild here.