Immigration: Act One, Take One

Josh, Evan and I are officially on the path of becoming legal immigrants in Italy--woo hoo. I'd describe the process as organized chaos, but I think that using 'organized' is a bit too generous of a description. Chaos, however, fits the experience just fine:) Thank God we had a company-provided relocation expert escorting us through the process, or we may have ended up deported:)

The immigration process here is a multi-stepped process, involving various trips to the Polizia, Immigration building and the post office. (The post office is a place used to conduct a lot more business than just buying stamps and mailing letters). The process for Evan and I will be a lot less involved than Josh's, since he is the one working here, and then Evan and I are more of less just along for the ride as far as Italy is concerned.

For part one of the process, I was told to meet our relocation representative, with Evan, at the police station at 8:30 in the morning. Although the station is only a few miles from the hotel, we left ourselves plenty of time to get there, since you never know what Napoli traffic will be like. We used our GPS to find the correct location, and arrived about 30 minutes early, and scored a 'too good to be true' type of parking spot right across the street from the station. We hung out there, looking at the huge line of immigrant hopefuls congregated outside of the station,and waited for our escort to arrive. At just about 8:29, a guy pulled up to us and told us we were in his spot. There was not a 'no parking' or 'reserved parking' sign, but he was clearly directing us to get out of his space, so I hopped out, and Josh drove away, just as Evan started to cry....great! I had no clue what this escort/representative looked like, and had no idea where I was supposed to go or what I was supposed to do (nor did I have a phone), so I just joined the huge crowd of folks gathered by the entrance. I had no clue if Josh would be looping around or not, so I just stood there, clueless, clutching a packet of paperwork which included copies of my passport and a letter from my hotel saying I was staying there, and hoped to be rescued soon by someone who could tell me what the heck to do. As I was starting to feel more and more insecure about being in the right place, Josh pulled up, and told me the rep was running late and she would come meet me in a few minutes. Thankfully, I synced up w/ her (Josh had given her my description), and rather than going right into the station to get started (since we were already behind schedule for the 8:30 appt), we went to the bar (again, Bar is what the Italians call the stand up coffee places) and she bought me a cappucino while she had a macchiatto to start the day. In an Italian Bar, you go to the register first, pay for your food/drink, are given a receipt, and then you go to the counter to get what you ordered. Our rep paid for my cappucino, and then when we got to the counter and I specified decaf, she had to go back to the cashier, because, come to find out, most Bars charge more if you want decaf instead of regular. Hmmm. I learn something new everyday.
So, we took our time getting acquainted, and enjoying our morning espressos. Josh, in the meantime, had found parking, and figured he would wait for us in the bar. He was surprised, that as he entered the bar, he saw us leaving through the other door, to just start heading towards our appointment. We hadn't even went in the police station yet, and here he was, thinking we would be out any minute. Anyways, he hung out in the bar, got his shot of espresso, and let everyone dote on Evan. I swear, they absolutely love babies here! It is worth it to buy a 'bambino on board' sign for your car, because people will actually treat you better on the road w/ those posted on your back windshield....I ned to buy one of those.
So, once in the police station, I sat in a room while our Rep ran back and forth between my waiting area, and the secret back room that she kept going into w/ various documents of mine, and after about 30 minutes, I was done. At least with part one. I'll have to meet with them again in January for fingerprinting and some additional paperwork, but for now, and ok.
Josh's process started at the immigration office, only a mile from the police station, but that translated into a 40 minute drive--Napoli rush hour and maybe early holiday traffic. Our rep pretty much handled everything, again, going in the back room with all the documents, and eventually, returning w/ everything approved and ready for step two. We've heard the next steps, with the multiple trips to various offices and post office is where the real chaos begins. One of the girls we know, went to do the required post office stop, and the post office was on strike that day. The strikes here are so random, and I still don't understand what is acheived during these strikes..i.e..if there are negotiations going on, or if places just randomly close, since whether its a bus driver strike or post office strike, they saem to start as randomly as they end, with everything just going back to normal as if nothing, but a bit of an inconvenience, occurred.
So, until step 2....