December 2006 and My Canadian Visa Issue

Yes... two year ago, it was, when my family and i, who at the moment were living in Ottawa, decided to come to NYC to spend the holiday season!

My Canadian Visa was about to expire, and we decided that it would be best to apply for it in NYC, close enough... etc etc... but still out of the country!

Put in NYC, i let Christmas pass, and by the 27th of December i went to the Embassy to ask for a New Visa!... I was doing really well in Canada, my parents were diplomats and so i took it all for granted!

1st day... With all the forms filled and the documentation necessary i submitted it all and awaited for a reply, when the conselour tells me, that at the moment i was unabled to get a visa, cuz i was too old to be under my parents guard as a diplomat, so i needed to find a way of prooving i'd be in Canada on my own, independent, for school or work, and for those i needed to have the proper letters justifying why i wanted to stay in Canada.

Obviously it was a big issue, cuz thru being a diplomat i can work in whatever, untill the age of 25 and i don't need any specific visa. But the man told me that i only have 7 months left as a 24 year old and that he couldn't issue me a visa, and that actually that was only untill i was 23 years old, which later i figured he either lied or was uninformed!

Diplomatic Visas are only applicable untill the age of 25, if you are not working to an instituiton, UN or etc.

I worried, but not much, cuz i had made enough contacts through the 2 years i was already living in the there... i had built a life, i wasn't ready to get rid of, so i took a breath and went home trying to find the best way of solving the problem!

2nd day... about two days later... it was the 29th of December i go back... this time i had a letter of my Agent, saying that i had a job booking to attend on the 2nd of January, and that i couldn't miss it!

WHAT A MISTAKE!

The man, which name doesn't occur to me right now, freaks out, questionning me things like:

"How do you have an agent in Canada?"

"What makes you think that you can go to Canada and take a privileged spot of a canadian?"

"How do you work in Canada?"

Obviously with another obstacul and me feeling like the man just wanted to make my life impossible, i couldn't even reply to his questions, i just said: " Well, i studied in Canada, i'm there cuz my family lives there, i have a house, i have a job, my whole life is there, so if that's gonna change i ask you to please allow me to have a temporary visa to at least get into the country and get my belongings. I also knew i was giving me way too much power, and it would not make anything easier.

He replied something like i would need different documentations, like a proper job (everyday 9-5 job letter with a contract)... or a letter from the school where i studied, but that for that i would have to be currently attending the school!

Oh Boy... i just knew he was up for no good!

So i found a way of contacting the school i was suppose to be attending and have the director send me a letter in which he actually lied, saying that i was still frequenting the school... and the consuleur said "No", in order to obtain a student visa i would have to be a full-time student, which obviously i wasn't, and he added:

"I googled you, and luckly for you, your myspace doesn't say you live in Canada, but Angola, Portugal, Brazil, NY... so if you are all over the place as you are, why don't you apply for an Internacional Artist type of Visa?"

Well, first, cuz i've been a diplomat all these year, and never really looked for alternative ways, cuz i didn't need to.

Then cuz to do that i would have to go back to the country where my passport is from, Angola, and i don't feel like it!

Also, you are a fucking ass and fucking hate you, i swear if i see you on the streets i'll kick your fucking ass!!! Aaah!

With that said, i got a BIG STAMP in my Passport saying: "DENIED"... which is the worst cuz i wasn't allowed back in the country for at least 4 years!!!!

You dont understand... it's been two years... of course i have overcome, but at the moment i was devastated... i was left in NY, with my laptop and a back-pack that i brought to spend a week!

I was scared, as much as accepting, that i'm just not born to have it easy!

I've been a diplomat for over 8 years and i never looked for alternative ways of having a permancy or any either type of status cuz i didn't have to!

So in NYC i stayed... untill April of 2007, when actually my parents found a way to ask for help to higher powers and they even said that the man really just had personal issues and they were sorry about the happenning!

I was also informed he was fired... Thank God, imagine how many peoples lives this guy might have destroyed!

So finally i was able to get back in Canada.

In NYC for 4 months... i once again had lost goals, priorities, enthusiasm and all!

I couldn't commit to anything cuz i knew, sooner or later i would be back in Canada, didn't know when, but things were being worked on, tho i knew it would take a while!

I was just partying and hanging around... i started going to the gym (way too much free time in my hands) and became a beefcake, fell in love (THE MOST COMPLICATED OF THEM ALL, AND STILL GOING... LOVE LOVE LOVE to be spoken about later)...

Yeah, I was so In Love that i actually didn't want to be there anymore, i just wanted to return to NYC and be with my baby!... But things were complicated, i needed to work and make money to be able to support myself in NY... as much as i wanted to give it another try and see if i could probably make something happen in Canada... I had been cast for the HairSpray Movie and they dropped me! The biggest lost of the year on my career!

I was just lost... and i couldn't seem to be able to find myself back!

Whatta crazy intense life ever since!

There's a lot more DRAMA coming!!!!

Soundtrack: Imagine, By: John Lennon