How difficult can you make it?

It took us a couple of months to organise all the paperwork needed for the visas. Now that I'm in need of a work permit, I've needed to acquire all the paperwork again.

Doctor's certificate, marriage certificate, children’s birth certificates, chest x-ray, police searches from Finland and England, and so forth, and so forth.

I do love England, dearly, but there are some things that just keep surprising me. Why, oh why, do people make things so difficult?

To get the Finnish police search done you need to send a fax to the authorities saying you need the search done. This time Heikki just sent them an e-mail and said I needed one of them done again. He asked for the search to be sent to my parents' house (so Milja and Dan could bring it here). The letter arrived the following day, and a couple of days later Milja and Dan brought it here.

Now, the story with the UK police search is altogether different. The last time we got the search done, it took us several visits to the police station and a visit to the solicitors. In due time (after a couple of weeks) we got a letter stating we had applied for the search, and it would be processed within 40 working days (!)

Now I need it again. I was told I could get it at the Consulate. I went to the consulate, where I was given a form, which I should send off to the UK together with a utility bill (such as electricity bill) proving I live here in Hout Bay.

Hmm.

I went back home, took out a photocopy of the previous police search and phoned the police in the UK. There was a nice girl on the phone. I told her what my situation was and asked if she could send me a new search based on the details they had on me as I'd just applied a couple of months ago. She asked for my address and said she'd send me a letter. I was delighted. When I asked how I would pay for this search, she said the details would be on the form she's send me, the form I would need to fill out and then send her back together with the utility bill. Damn.

It takes 10 days for the post to get to the UK. I then need to wait for 1-2 weeks for them to open the letter, and 10 days to get the confirmation I've asked for this process, 40 working days for them to process this, and 10 days for the search then to arrive on post. How about if I just don't go to work?

After reading the form again, the one I got from the consulate, I noticed the police wanted a utility bill with my age on it. Now, what kind of a utility bill has the person's age written on it? As we're renting short term, all the bills go to the rental agents, so we don't even get any utility bills. Only the Finnish bank statements have my name and the current address on it, so that has to do. But what about the age? I phoned the UK police again. They said I should go to a lawyer's and get them to certify a photocopy of my passport. How bl**dy difficult can you make it?

I have two wishes: either the police search could be made a bit quicker OR the officials here believe my search comes out clean, as (after seeing the previous one done prior to our moving here) they gave me a visa to come and live here!