Without even trying...

We heard today that S has a visa that means that she can start work at Corporation of Current Employment. It all came about rather bizarrely, S was determined not to apply for a job at CoCE, because it's where I work. Not that she objects to working in the same organisation as me, but if they were prepared to give me a job then maybe it's too contemptible a group to consider working for.

Anyway, S got offered a job without trying. She wasn't desperate for a job, she works for University of Previous Employment, and for the National Cancer Service (or something like that) in Wales, and they're both pretty flexible (which they need to be, what with having to work at the nursery every other day).

I was chatting with R one day, who was doing a systematic review - and he said that he needed someone who knew what they were doing to help with his review (that's what S does, btw). But, he said, he needed someone in Los Angeles, so he could meet them; and they needed to be able to be paid in pounds, from Britain. And where was he going to find such a person?

So S started working on that project, and (as she does) stormed in like an organisational whirlwind (if that's not too much of an oxymoron) and tried to make sure it was done right. The people at CoCE obviously liked this sort of thing (perhaps they are married to Germans?) and decided to offer her more work.

However, before they could offer her more work, they had to get her a work visa, which is the process that started a few months ago, and is very nearly complete. The piece of paper that says she can have a visa is now in the post, somewhere between a lawyer's office and CoCE. But it's not a visa - it's just a piece of paper that says that she is allowed a visa; and that piece of paper is all you need to be able to (legally) work (for CoCE) in the USA. (It's an H1-b visa, the same as mine, in case you're interested.)

Until you leave the country. When you leave the country, you need a visa to get back in again, so you need to turn that piece of paper into a work visa. The transformation process can only be done at a US embassy, by making an appointment several weeks in advance, so just how we manage to work that is going to be a mystery. (Although if we deny the existence of the piece of paper, presumable her old H4 visa still lets her in the country, even if it doesn't let her work.)