Back in Siena: Oliver will not be getting a pet passport

After coming back to Siena from Cortona, one of the main priorities of the week was to figure out how to get Oliver a pet passport, which would facilitate travel back to the U.S. We were able to find out where the office of the Azienda Sanitaria Locale per Veterinaria was in Siena, and luckily there was a very nice vet who spoke English that I was able to talk to. He told us to come in on Thursday morning with all of Oliver's paperwork.

Thursday we took a 12 Euro taxi ride out to the ASL only to find out that Ollie could not get a pet passport because he was born in the U.S. and they only give pet passports to dogs born here in the E.U. or to dogs which are owned by people who are residents of the E.U. Luckily the vets looked over all of the paperwork (his E.U. entry form, rabies certificate, microchip information) and said this was all acceptable and that they would sign an export certificate for us. The catch is that this needs to be done within 48 hours of our departure! We were originally planning on completing this at the ASL office in Verona but they could not confirm that the office in Verona would not require more-such as a trip to the vet! So, we have decided that we will have these forms completed here in Siena instead of Verona.

Thursday night I also had one last dinner with Anna and Cristina at a restaurant near the Duomo!

The Good and the Bad

On Sunday, we drove down to Siena. We knew that we had a busy week ahead of us, especially that we needed to find an apartment! Monday morning we got up bright and early to return the car we rented and then to go to our appointment at one of the rental agencies, Tecnocasa, to look at some apartments. We had been in touch with a few agencies since April and Tecnocasa had been the most helpful (or so we thought). We knew it would be difficult to find an apartment that allowed a dog but the lady at Tecnocasa, Carla, told us it would not be a real problem. Foolishly, we trusted her. We got to Tecnocasa only to find out she had done NOTHING. All she could offer us was an apartment about 3 miles from the center. This was an impossible option without a car seeing that Reed will likely be working long past the last bus! Thank god Reed was confident and positive about the whole situation!! We proceeded to go to a few more agencies along with calling some numbers we found. In the end, one of the agencies that I had been in contact with found us a great apartment! We went to see it on Tuesday and LOVE IT!!! This apartment is so much nicer than our apartment in C'ville- it is huge, has a new kitchen with appliances, a washer and dryer, is fully furnished, only 100 meters from il Campo (2-5 minute walk) and has a grotto! Part of teh grotto is a wine cellar and the other is this really loooong tunnel that was used as an escape route! The only drawback is that we can’t move in until October 1. The same agency found us a temporary apartment to stay in for 2 weeks (we are going back to Lucca to watch Lena from the 23rd-30th of September).

The Bad. We went to the Questura on Tuesday morning very early. There are a lot of people and it is mass chaos-no lines here. We had absolutely no idea what they were saying- very frustrating. We waited in line and they gave us a form to fill out and come back the next day. Wednesday we again went very early and waited in the cold for 2 hours. Frustrated, we went to the main desk and the told us to go speak with another person. Turns out, our visa is wrong!!!! The consulate screwed us and gave us a non renewable visa so technically we are only allowed to be here for 82 days. We had requested a visa through March 31, 2008 and he gave us a visa valid for that time-too bad only 82 days in that period despite the fact that we provided all the requirements (housing, financial, health insurance etc for a 7 month period). Also, our visa is a “C” visa and should be “D” visa. Too bad we had no idea what a “C” visa was! We’ve been in contact with our school (part of the reason this happened was the term we signed up for was cut short because of Christmas), as well as the Italian embassy in Washington, D.C. Everyone, except our consulate, agrees that this is a big mistake. In fact, the Qurestura only needs a fax from the consulate indicating our visa should be a “D’ instead of a “C”. If he were to do this, everything could be fixed. As of now, he refuses! He wont even speak to us on the phone! As of right now, our last resort is to get the questura to call him next week!

7.7.07- Our Lucky Day!

Not only is "777" our address, but it is the day Our Visas Arrived!!!!

After nearly five weeks of waiting and hours and hours of preparation, our visas finally arrived today! We also applied for our codice fiscale numbers, Italian tax identification numbers, last week and those arrived as well. Looks like we are all set to go!

WE GOT OUR VISAS!!!!!!

We finally got confirmation from the Philadelphia Consulate that we got our visas!

The reason we have not received them yet is because they cannot be processed until July 2nd. They will be mailed to us on July 5th. I incorrectly thought that our visas would start on August 29th, the day we arrive, but apparently our official visa (i.e. student visa) does not actually start until October 1, the first day of classes. From August 29th through September 30th, we will be on the unofficial "tourist visa," which allows anyone to enter the country for up to 90 days. Because our official visa does not start until October 1, it cannot be processed until July 2 which is within the 90 day time frame. The vice consulate in Norfolk spoke directly with the Philadelphia consulate who assured us that "we are good to go" and once the second of July comes, our visas will be official.

Wish I had known that before today. Still, it is quite a relief knowing that we will be legal when we arrive. All the work has definitely paid off!

Aspettando nostri visti.........

Waiting for our visas........

We've been waiting for our visas for what seems like forever! We applied for a student visa through the Philadelphia consulate. The consulates loosely give a time frame of 4 to 20 days turnaround, presumably business days. Most of the consulates only work three days a week for a portion of the day- does that mean there are only three business days in a week? For a student visa you need to apply in person for the visa. Instead of driving to Philadelphia we went to the Honorary Vice Consulate in Norfolk, VA, which provides services for residents of Virginia. Our appointment was on June 4, and by June 5th at 10 am our applications had arrived in Philadelphia. Where or where are our visas?!?!?!

On another note, Oliver got his 15 digit ISO European standard microchip today. Once we get the paperwork back from the USDA in Richmond, VA, Ollie will be all set to get his Pet Passport upon arrival in Italy!

Only 66 days until we leave!!!!!