Saturday, June 1, 2013

Smile? Don't you dare.



What a week - mad with work, 18 year old tantrums (and that's just from the girlfriend), cars dying and all sorts of things not working - and then things like this get thrown in to the mix.
The boys obviously have dual nationality but when they travel (with me or to the UK) they always travel on their British passports. They shouldn't - Italian law sees them as Italian and not as having dual nationality - when they leave Italian territory they should, by law, leave on an Italian document. They have never been stopped but every time we send off for a new British Passport the Consulate always makes a point of reminding us that if they get stopped there is nothing the consulate can do. Anyway, with the Canada trip coming up I am going armed to the hilt with documents - the Canadian authorities were super cool last year (most of them wanted a chat - get that??) but we fly into Detroit and will then  be crossing into and out of Canada a few times - and last year the Detroit side where a bit 'twitchy' - for example, they didn't like that we, a married couple, had travelled to the States separately, a week apart and into different airports. This year we will be gong as a family - with 3 different surnames - his, mine (in Italy women don't take their husband's surname) and the boys' - we will be taking their Italian passports, their British passports, their British birth certificates and I'll also throw in a copy of the divorce papers just to show they are supposed/allowed to be with me (paranoid some may say). Bit Leo's British passport had expired - when I first came Italy I had to get my new passport from the Consulate in Florence, then they closed the office and we had to apply to Rome, then they closed the office and now we have to apply to the Passport office in France - which they are going to close (pattern??) - it is a major faff - but I sent it all off, money, documents etc etc - to then have it sent back.  The photos have been 'rejected' - he was smiling. How dare he?? In their defence the application paper tells you over and over again to check the photo requirements - clearly I had overlooked the smiling bit - so off he went to get this one done - he looks so hard - not Leo, but it is.


9 comments:

  1. I also carry a 'consent to travel' which is a document that gives travel details and it signed by COGs father with full contact details and then witnessed by a JP ( he has a friend that is one). I had to produce it in Germany and in France as they got very off with me about the surname problem, they also insisted on talking to her not me, it was all a bit of a hassle really. Some countries are more sensible than others I guess in terms of common sense and some just apply rules. Australia and Dubai have never asked once, it's open Europe that has been our main hassle!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know what you mean - opn Europe means we have had to go back to having a resident's permit again - it had disappeared (and all the hanging about in queues that goes with it) but now it's an a European wide requirement.

      Delete
  2. *UAE* not Dubai lol, I do know my countries really!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Whereabouts iCanada will you be travelling to? The difference between the smiling and non smiling pic is hilarious!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We'll be around Windsor most of the time (family) but we'll also be travelling around for a week or so. We'll be visiting Niagara Falls and Toronto - I know because I have booked the hotels -husband is in charge of the rest of the 'travel week' - so it will be a surprise!!! We would have come back to see the Tiger Cats play (we saw them at the Ivor Wynne Stadium last year - boy did it piss down with rain) but they're playing away all of the 3 weeks we'll be in Canada :(

      Delete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Does Canada, like Italy, have a law stipulating that one must travel using their Canadian passport into and out of Canada? Do you know anything about this?

    I didn't know Italy had a law making this a requirement!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know if Canada has a law like that - last year Robert traveled in on his British passport where it clearly states he was born in Canada- and no one at the border ever said anything - apart from wanting to know what it was like to live in Italy, had we seen the Royal Wedding, didn't we agree that Yorkshire was the most beautiful county in England - like I said, they mainly just wanted a chat :)

      Delete
  6. Yay, we'll be almost in the same time zone! Hope your stay in the States is great fun. And the TSA doesn't cause you anymore harassment than normal.

    ReplyDelete