Today. Civil servants vs the public. Permanent residencies vs expiry dates. It goes like this... I have been living, working and paying my (hefty) social insurances and taxes and parking/speeding fines like any authority fearing self-employed, pension plannng girl in Austria might do... and I got my UNLIMITED residency permit with the right to work 10 years ago but then we were informed that we (foreigners) also had to get ID cards inJuly 2009. No sweat I think. On the ID card though, is an expiry date. 3rd August 2014. How does this work? Maybe because it is a card and not in your passport. Nah! Never mind. You got it girl, all by yourself. You didnt have to go marrying any unsuspecting person. You didnt have to tell stories. Even the authorities in the various countries lived and worked in will vouch for your clean record. Its all yours, no-one can take it away. Roll on August 2014 and the desire to go to the bush again, I think I better do something about my UNLIMITED (permanent) residency permit which is expiring like real soon. So off I go getting my photos taken, and bank statements and...and...and... Lo and behold, armed with every single document they could possibly ask me for (like BC of my dad and mom), I get a document which has a multiple choice section for reason for permit and I put a tick in the box next to: settlement due to family reasons (I got married in the meantime), thinking that if it has to do with family (nice social and Catholic virtues) it wont get an expiry date...hmmm... I wait for my number. I am about to expire...rumbling rhinos...my number comes up! I get the head to toe (cos my shirt is glitzier than hers) by a chick I could be grandmother to and she is friendly enough...I am grateful! As any other foreigner having had dealings with the immigration authorities in Austria this is a pleasant change from the old BeamptInnen who have become as dreary and sullen as the offices they work in - and dont get me wrong - I have tried every strategy to get them to smile but there is a catch - the nicer you are the more surly they become...it is part of the job! So back to my falseeyelashed-blue-glitz-nailed sweet thing. I ask after the permanency and unlimitedness of the whole thing seeing as I am now married and I get informed, matter of factly (like she got electrotherapised in order to remember some dets) that the EU changed its immigration rules in 01012014 and there are only standard 5 year permits - even for families with children!! I see I say. But I dont. So i have another question then (chikka rolls eyes and gets poked by the very thick mascara-ed eyelashes, my eyes start watering too) why do I get a choice of reasons for permit? I get looked at like I am completely friggin stupid and taking the questions just a little tooo fa-ar! I can feel my neck changing color. Have respect young lady....my stare is broken by the wheely of her wheels on linoleum flooring, she stamps a couple of the docs, clicks those blue time to shine acrylic nails on the keyboard and I pray she makes no typos on my documents and think to myself her expiry date is going to come a lot sooner than mine. Brain death usually occurs after 10 years in these positions which means shell be about 28! OMG! She tells me to come back to her on the 5th of August. She is now my contact person. I am flattered and briefly indulge myself with the thought of approaching the MA34 (the particular government dept) re some skills training. I remember soon enough though, that I would need to do EU tenders if I want to train government depts and I instantly opt for my private managerial skills coaching and training! I will see her on the 5th of August 2014 and I guess again in August 2019. Then her time will be up! How unlimited and permanent is that? And with 41 wars going on around us in the world my thinking is 5 years is one big beautiful BLESSING and I am priviledged to be able to spend it in Austria and the South African bush! Have a great evening everyone!
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 15:55:12 +0000
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