Location: London, England
Plan: Arrive in London for 5 week research project at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine(LSHTM)
Background:
I did some research about being a visitor in the UK. Do visitors need a visa? No. Do students need visas? Only if you are there longer than 6 months...welp that's not me...so I guess I don't need a visa. But at the suggestion of my supervisor at the LSHTM, I thought I would get a letter for immigration from SGU to let them know what I was doing in the country...
Ok, so now I only needed to find a place to live... I had a friend in Grenada from London and he recommended a few websites like Craigslist...but I ended up finding a website called Roomster.com and a lovely woman named "Laura Vaughn" with a beautiful 3 br flat, and she wanted to let me lease one room there for a reasonable price...
She seemed a little strange, but how can you really tell over the internet? We exchanged about 20 emails, including a 10 page tenancy agreement, etc. She wanted me to make a deposit and first months payment of rent before I got there to secure my place. I admit, I was a little nervous about doing that...but I didnt want to be homeless when I got to the UK. So I sent her an email with my concerns, and she responded reassuringly... So I decided to wire her 800 GBP, or about $1300 US....and I just prayed that it wasnt a Somalian scam artist on the internet.
After that, I didnt really hear from her again...well I KIND of did...but like "oh im so busy, blah blah blah". She was supposed to send me a signed copy of the tenancy agreement...never did...supposed to send me a scanned copy of her passport...never did... So I asked my Practicum supervisor to give "her" a call on the phone number she provided me with to figure out the details of how I would be meeting up with her, etc.
Isolde gave "her" a call...and it was a distinctly African man..."WHO is this?! Why are you calling?!?!?" Very paranoid...Isolde was like "Im leila's supervisor and I just wanted to figure out the logistics of her arrival".. "YES! the American! We know, we have already discussed details with her!" then he hung up.
So Isolde told me...don't meet them at the airport, come meet me at XYZ restraunt when you arrive...we will go from there. At this point, I was fairly certain I had been scammed, but was hoping for the best...who knows, maybe Laura just had a really hostile boyfriend?
So I said to myself...let's just take this one step at a time...
6:00 AM, London time, just arrived after a 3 stop connection flight from Cleveland to NYC, NYC to Boston, Boston to Heathrow...After traveling for 20 hours...Im exhausted. But extremely excited, to say the least!
Waiting in the immigration line was torture...I was starving, I missed the "breakfast" on the plane because I was sleeping... but after 30 mins, I was finally at my immigration officers booth.
Immigration Officer (IO): "Hello, so what brings you to london?"
Me: "Im doing some research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
IO: "How long will you be staying?"
Me: "5 weeks"
IO: "Do you have any documentation with the details of your stay here?"
Me: " Yes, my school provided me with a letter for immigration.." I pulled out the letter...
IO: reading....making faces "hmmm...it says here you are conducting an internship?"
Me: "Yes, well, its actually research."
IO: "well why would they call it an internship?"
Me: "Well, I guess its just a generic word for what my experience is"
IO: "can you please wait over there while I go ask my supervisor some questions?"
So I waited for like 45 mins...then he comes back
IO: "Im sorry, we are going to have to detain you for further investigation"
Me: "OK....is there anything I can help you with?"
IO: "we will be interviewing you shortly"
They bring me to a room...just like you see on TV...Isolated, one window to the hallway... nothing to read. UGH. Im starving, tired, and im supposed to meet Isolde at the cafe in 30 mins...how long is this going to take?
the IO comes back and interrogates me for about an hour...Documenting everything we say by hand... He then takes me to another room where I am fingerprinted and photographed (see below). Then I was searched....my coat, backpack, everything.
IO: "we are going to need to search your bags.... lets go to baggage claim together...."
we get to baggage claim only to find out that MY BAGS NEVER ARRIVED.
IO: "well im sorry, but we may have to deport you back to Boston because your bags didnt arrive"
Me: "Im sorry, why is this?"
IO: "well, as a part of letting you land, we need to search your bags"
Me: "Well I can wait here until my bags arrive"
IO: "lets give it some time...let me speak with my supervisor"
He puts me back into the holding room... and I wait for what seems like an eternity...
He comes back
IO: "ok well im going to have my supervisor ask you some more questions"
Me: "yes, sure, absolutely"
So they interrogate me for another 45 mins...once again, hand documenting the whole thing...SO inefficient...
then they leave me for a little and come back.
IO; "good news, we had called your supervisor at the school, and she verified your story, and we are going to let you land this time"
Me: "wow thank you!"
By this poit it was 11:30...and I had been in immigration holding for 5.5 hours!
I couldnt reach Isolde with the payphone...because I literally couldnt figure it out...So I decided to just show up at the school...bagless...starving...and go from there.
1:00 PM Arrive at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
Isolde: "Wow im so glad you made it here! They never called me back to tell me that you were being landed, they just told me they may have to deport you!"
I told her how my bags didnt arrive, etc...and we decided to call "Laura Vaughn" together...To see if I could just go home and rest for alittle... No such luck...The same man answered. then hung up on us.
Welcome to London: Homeless, Penniless, Bagless.
My only consolation-this classic immigration photo:
