http://www.stephensweb.org/index.htmlEmigration News!enRichard Stephens© 2007 Richard Stephens2008-02-10T00:25:42-06:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:32:08 -0600Richard StephensBlog2008-02-10T00:25:42-06:00http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/2eb12466d7ae9ea2561160f8ff8e9f48-13.html#unique-entry-id-13http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/2eb12466d7ae9ea2561160f8ff8e9f48-13.html#unique-entry-id-13
Many thanks to those of you who sent their best wishes, cards, flowers etc. and apologies to those whom I did not inform in advance! I look forward to catching up with you all by letter, phone or email while I am still off work recuperating over the next few weeks.]]>Richard StephensBlog2007-11-19T19:17:34-06:00http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/025579854134b8f21915ee02efc4f704-12.html#unique-entry-id-12http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/025579854134b8f21915ee02efc4f704-12.html#unique-entry-id-12Guaranty Bank is about to spin out of its holding company, Temple Inland, and I will be working for the Governance team on all the areas of regulation with which the newly-public company will have to comply. In effect, it will be very similar to the Company Secretarial role I had at GSK. And it will be particularly interesting working in a company at the time of its initial stock exchange listing.

Crack open the bubbly!]]>Richard StephensBlog2007-10-15T23:24:00-05:00http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/fe6fd4897f6cf90511c82a4d0a55022a-11.html#unique-entry-id-11http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/fe6fd4897f6cf90511c82a4d0a55022a-11.html#unique-entry-id-11atrial fibrillation that was diagnosed five years ago in the UK. He followed the diagnostic chain of evidence and quickly diagnosed what the medical profession in the UK had missed all this time, namely a thyrotrophic pituitary adenoma. The MRI shows that it is a little over one cubic inch in size but is not yet pressing on anything important yet, like my brain (if any). Of course, having not yet secured a permanent job here I have no health insurance so we are currenty weighing up the options, including the possibility of returning to the UK to have the surgery to remove it.]]>Richard StephensBlog2007-08-14T22:17:22-05:00http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/ad19e4dc3104863a212a4635f9e4451e-10.html#unique-entry-id-10http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/ad19e4dc3104863a212a4635f9e4451e-10.html#unique-entry-id-10Richard StephensBlog2007-08-03T23:59:59-05:00http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/ddc36c0e61f6b49977ca3c8f89d02207-9.html#unique-entry-id-9http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/ddc36c0e61f6b49977ca3c8f89d02207-9.html#unique-entry-id-9the photos!). Melissa found the calf roping a bit too much but whatever you think of the animal welfare aspects, you have to take your (ten gallon) hat off to guys who can chase a calf from horseback, rope it and bind its feet in under 12 seconds.

This is definitely a must for any of you from the UK who come to visit us.]]>Richard StephensBlog2007-07-30T01:14:00-05:00http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/469572e921339b35db96bad0bd2a5136-7.html#unique-entry-id-7http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/469572e921339b35db96bad0bd2a5136-7.html#unique-entry-id-7work for a U.S. employer. Now I just need to re-acquaint myself with the meaning of the word in italics.]]>Richard StephensBlog2007-07-25T23:09:59-05:00http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/4a4c76f5a9f7fdda395fdbeb440eddbf-8.html#unique-entry-id-8http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/4a4c76f5a9f7fdda395fdbeb440eddbf-8.html#unique-entry-id-8Travis at House of Blues in Dallas. Fabulous songs and a superb sense of humour. Great stuff!]]>Richard StephensBlog2007-06-10T20:50:11-05:00http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/1c14549a3e0addb35334d2119e9ce138-6.html#unique-entry-id-6http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/1c14549a3e0addb35334d2119e9ce138-6.html#unique-entry-id-6
Update:

In the days since this momentous breakthrough she has decided that forwards crawling is so passé and now only crawls backwards. :-)

I'll try to capture some of this bizarre locomotion on video and post it in the next few days (by which I really mean weeks).]]>Richard StephensBlog2007-05-22T17:05:05-05:00http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/d457438748c799c3f20af21670adf523-5.html#unique-entry-id-5http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/d457438748c799c3f20af21670adf523-5.html#unique-entry-id-5
When these searches arrived, they showed no registered infringements! Guessing that the surveyor had fabricated an erroneous objection, we calculated the approximate volumes added when the kitchen extension and loft extension were carried out in 2002 before we bought the house. I should point out that I used the floorplan drawn up by the estate agents for marketing purposes rather than anything as technical as a surveyor's plan or a tape measure. These calculations showed that the extensions were compliant. When we submitted these findings to the buyers the surveyor, a so-called professional, withdrew his objections!!

So we finally exchanged contracts today and expect to complete on 1st June. It only took 4 months! If only the UK were as litigious as the US... ;-)

Ooh, what a Grumpy Old Man rant that was!]]>Richard StephensBlog2007-05-06T23:10:55-05:00http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/5df24810bcfc008678d9da687d5eaa1f-4.html#unique-entry-id-4http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/5df24810bcfc008678d9da687d5eaa1f-4.html#unique-entry-id-4
Today they were relegated to the ridiculously-named League One, which is really the third level of English football (soccer). In theory they are no longer one of the best 44 teams in England.

:-(]]>Richard StephensPersonal2007-05-05T23:55:51-05:00http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/0b24d89530c89521615c565e9e05b709-2.html#unique-entry-id-2http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/0b24d89530c89521615c565e9e05b709-2.html#unique-entry-id-2hold the tip of her little finger against her mouth might have been a figment of my imagination.]]>Richard StephensBlog2007-05-02T17:49:37-05:00http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/69d4ff2e9b046f534fcfd2f92ef18775-3.html#unique-entry-id-3http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/69d4ff2e9b046f534fcfd2f92ef18775-3.html#unique-entry-id-3Richard StephensPersonal2007-04-20T01:48:36-05:00http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/b40eeb5fb8b6b5a656e5eb40c46dfa4e-1.html#unique-entry-id-1http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/b40eeb5fb8b6b5a656e5eb40c46dfa4e-1.html#unique-entry-id-1
Melissa told me that the weather here was beautiful all the time - I wasn't expecting this! I suppose I should have done my own research... ;-)]]>Richard StephensPersonal2007-04-01T01:00:20-05:00http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/d6d22cb57fb5d74bc2c3bb84d9032225-0.html#unique-entry-id-0http://www.stephensweb.org/page2/files/d6d22cb57fb5d74bc2c3bb84d9032225-0.html#unique-entry-id-0
We submitted the initial forms and as my application progressed, I started applying for jobs in the US. I got to the stage of having a phone interview for a job working for the state government of Florida (ultimately for Jeb Bush!) in Tallahassee when we started to have second thoughts, at least on the timing of the move. We then let the visa application lie dormant for nearly two years and re-activated it in August 2006. I had my medical in December 2006, where the US government insist on you being pumped full of childhood vaccines. If any of you think my behaviour was unusual at New Year I blame it on the MMR. We then attended the interview at the US Embassy in London in January 2007, expecting to get a grilling from the embassy officials á la Depardieu/MacDowell in Green Card. As it was, we got a perfunctory interview and were sent on our merry way with my chest X-Ray (to show absence of TB on arrival) and the promise of the visa by courier within 2-3 days. Hooray, we thought.

The visa duly arrived in a little A5 size packet and we bade fond farewell to family in the UK and packed our bags (well, a bit more than bags actually) and flew to Dallas/Fort Worth on 17 March. The Customs and Border Control official looked at my visa and asked for the accompanying packet of documentation. "What packet?", we asked. And so our nightmare began.

After being held for four hours by Immigration at DFW (with Mia, aged 5 months) it became clear that the US Embassy should also have given me a packet containing my original documents together with any background checks the Embassy had undertaken. This was supposed to be presented to Immigration on arrival to allow them to carry out the same checks the Embassy have done - madness! The Embassy had neither given us that packet nor notified us either verbally or in writing that such a packet was required. A retrospective review of the guidance on the US Embassy website reveals that the only clue is that immigrants are advised to present documents (plural) on arrival in the US!

We have now retained an immigration attorney here in the US who has advised us that the Embassy does not retain copies of visa applicants' applications (huh?!) and that I have to return to the UK to be re-interviewed by the US Embassy. Needless to say in the meantime I cannot work and we are burning through more of our Emigration Cashpile than anticipated! With the second interview likely to be scheduled for late May/early June at least there is light at the end of the tunnel.]]>