having trouble releasing our goods from Customs
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
Everything's gone pretty well with our move, until now.
Today's the first day, for instance, of our lease on our apartment. Kenny's learning lots of English, primarily by interacting with kids at the drop-in centre we found, and we've started the eight-month process of getting Mari landed immigrant status in this country.
Then today I went to Customs to release our goods so that we can move our things into our new apartment. As proof that I'd lived in Japan for over a year I had:
+ 2009 driver's license
+ 2007 re-entry visa
+ 2006 family registration document
All were denied. They need statements from bank accounts (in the boxes I'm trying to release, with no hope of cutting new ones now that I've closed the account) or a lease (we can get a copy but it'll be in Japanese when we get it and it will require translation and certification). During an hour-long follow-up phone call with Customs, I learned that perhaps a letter from the Canadian Consular services indicating that I registered as a resident in Tokyo and then joined the Consular Services warden program *might* be acceptable. But .. wow, Customs can make life hard. Let this be a lesson to anyone who is attempting a return to Canada from "living abroad" in Japan.
So it looks like our apartment will sit empty for a while longer than we knew.