It has been a lot of hypothetical planning and a very very long time waiting, but it looks like I am soon to be lost-and-hopefully-loving-it in Alaska! I accepted a job there before leaving Bermuda, and hit a lot of paperwork obstacles along the way (mostly neither the HR rep no I realized that we had to do the lengthy VISA Screen process, so that only started in September when I was originally supposed to be starting).
However, today I presented to US Customs and Border Security and requested to enter the US under TN Non-Immigrant status and handed over all the supporting documents. I finally got to see the little offices behind the regular customs officers in the airport. They were polite, professional, and even had a few tips to offer about Alaska, and overall the whole process went smoothly. I received a stamp in my passport that shows I am lawfully allowed to reside and work in the United States for up to 3 years. As an added bonus, the Calgary airport has a US Customs preclearance area, so I can sit back and enjoy the flight to Seattle, and then onwards to Anchorage.
I have also been lucky to run into a lot of people bestowing random acts of kindness on me -- my friend Candi who opened her home to me for a visit and good rest before my flight today, a young man travelling to Montreal who, like me, parked in the wrong spot at the Park and Fly and tackled a passing shuttlevan with me, a different young man who carried one of my 3 enormous bags onto the shuttle, and the airport security guard who caught me in the check in area and gave me a luggage cart "courtesy of the Calgary airport." It is either my super lucky day, or I really look like a basket case...maybe a little of both. But who cares...I'm moving to Alaska!!
My work today is pretty much done. Tomorrow the paperwork continues.
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