A pox on bureaucracy!

My passport woes continue.

So here's the latest: As I'm sure you've deduced, I still don't have a bloody passport.  I gave the fiendishly unhelpful Canadian High Commission a call on Tuesday and they were characteristically unaccommodating.

Basically I was told that I shouldn't expect a replacement passport for at least another two weeks, and that I shouldn't bother them before then.  And when I stressed that I'm running the risk of being here illegally, they didn't seem to care.  I asked if they could send me an email to prove that I have lodged an application at which time they transferred me to an unmanned line and I had to leave a message with my request.  They never responded or replied. 

Sigh.

Immigration New Zealand, however, has been fantastic.  When I called them to see what my options are, the agent on the line appologized for my situation (I guess she felt bad that such a thing would happen in her country), and went out of her way to find out what could be done for me. 

Well, I have to apply for a visitors' visa, which, one would assume, is a simple process -- not so, it appears. If I had a passport, I could simply hop on a flight to Australia and return here a few days later and immediately be issued a three-month visitors' visa on arrival.  However, if you're applying for one while in the country, it's a monumental pain in the tush. 

I have a 19-page form to fill out and had to undergo a full medical including vision test, cholesterol test, HIV test and chest X-ray at the cost of a whopping $425.  Oh, and I need to submit not one, not two but five passport-sized photos, which, on top of the two sets I had to take for the actual passport (the first batch failed), I've had to have four sessions of passport photos taken.  Hell. Then there's the actual cost of the visa which will be another hundred and fifty I believe.

I underwent the medical on Wednesday, and they have to send all the samples to Dunedin (a city three hours from here), and they may not have the results of said medical before next Wednesday, which is the last day I can get the application in before I'm officially here illegally.  I'm so screwed.

Long story short: I'm broke and getting robbed sucks.

:(