Molly the immigrant.

I have just gotten back from having my visa application approved. I am not actually feeling massive relief; I'm not organizing a big celebration. Don't misunderstand me, this application process has been a prolonged period of frustrating uncertainty about my future and it great to have it behind me. But really all that changes is that I can stop worrying and put that energy back into my job.

A typical application requires you to hand over your passport, your sole lifeline in a foreign country, for up to 12 weeks. If you're a complicated case, it could take even longer. Recent news articles have revealed that the UK Border Agency has massive backlogs dating back years and years. The helplessness of surrendering your passport to this beast of a bureaucratic machine is more than just an administrative nightmare. Sure, it would totally scupper my plans to attend the big international conference in April. But what if there was a family emergency? The worry that, if it came to it, I might not be able to get HOME, is frighteningly powerful.

I had one other option: book a "premium" appointment where the decision is made in the same day. Bringing the visa application price up from £567 to £867, this service gets your passport-shaped security blanket quickly back into your hands. Once you decide you want to pay for one, the fun begins. 42 days in advance, the UKBA website will open up a few appointment slots at their 8 or so locations across the country, at the stroke of midnight. And as thousands of people descend on their server, it crashes, making it nearly impossible to go through the six pages of forms and box ticking that are needed to book one of these prized slots. I found a blog entry from a fellow expat describing in detail how to "play the system." It involves 20 minutes of prep before the midnight rush and opening up 8 tabs in two browsers. At midnight, one tab is used to test if the site is working while the others contain your login details:

Is the site loading?
If yes: press next on one of your "real" tabs, to get to the next page in the process.
If no: keep pressing refresh until it seems to be working.
Repeat.

Now, the server could always go down while you are in the process of "clicking next" and moving to the next page, in which case all your information is lost and you have to start over (or you go to one of your many backup tabs!).

Over an hour (and 300+ page refreshes) later, with a generous glass of wine to sooth my impatience, I got my appointment (in Cardiff, making my life even easier). And all that was left was for me to double, triple, n-tuple check my application and supporting documents before my big day. And today, the appointment was surprisingly efficient. I had a brief meeting (called "sifting") before having my fingerprints/photo taken, and then I was free to leave. I had a brief scare, where they called and said my bank statements weren't acceptable (they were mistaken), but almost as soon as I got into my lab I received a text telling me to head back. My passport was returned with an acceptance letter, and I left with a big smile.

I think I'll have some wine this evening, to mark the occasion, but otherwise I'll just keep coming to lab. And soon enough I'll be searching for the next job. Which requires another visa. And thus everything will begin again in less than a year. Ultimately, this process just reaffirms that I am a foreigner, despite how long I've been here, the friends I've made, the life I've built, and the degrees and jobs I've worked hard at. And this won't change any time soon. But for today, perhaps this little victory is enough.

Overcoming the sleazy-heebie-jeebies of self-promotion

What does the word "networking" make you think of? It is a word that I have often mocked, deriding the suit-wearing business-card-wielding flattery-proffering plastic-smiled people who have attended a workshop on how to shake hands and enthusiastically slide into conversations with the influential denizens of meeting or conferences. It is so easy to dismiss all of that world as "sleazy." Surely the time spent working on your introduction line would be better spent on your science. Surely everyone else is creeped out by your blatant attempt to build more contacts. Good scientists shouldn't have to stoop to such tactics.

But, I must recant these opinions: recent events have shown me that networking and self-promotion can be easy, sleaze-free, and actually feel quite genuine.


Monday last week: I joined twitter. Twice. A personal account for silly comments with friends and a "work account" that is more streamlined for brainy tweets. Probably like all new users, I stalk my stats, checking up on any new followers several times each day. This is rather like watching paint dry, as I really haven't amassed that many recipients for my witty 140-character blips, but it's human nature. Anyways, almost immediately after joining, I was followed by an anonymous MRI-related person. Clicking through the profile links, I discover he has a blog. It is very well put together and the guy is clearly a respected member of the field. In his blog, he has a very long entry that reviews a recent paper, which happens to be on a topic quite similar to a recent publication of my own.

The brain starts to mull over my options. Do I add to the long list of comments? Do I stoop to the act of throwing my paper at the internet community?

Tuesday last week: I make my move. I spend over an hour crafting a two paragraph comment. I open with a complement-- great post, really interesting, i read that paper too, etc. I follow up with something a bit self-deprecating, echoing the blogger's confusion at a certain complex analysis method. Then I try for humor, acknowledging the fact I am about to blatantly hock my own research.

After the groundwork has been completed, I paste my citation and add a link to the pdf download. Not able to end the comment so abruptly, I add a few sentences describing how what I did fits in to the paper reviewed in the original post. No big claims, no exaggerations, just an honest take on the pros and cons of the science involved. After a LOT of editing and hesitation, I press submit.

Tuesday last week, one hour later:  Reply! And not only is the blogger nice, and happy to have my comment, he has actually already seen my paper and was considering using it for his next review! He asks a few questions, he's curious if I'll be presenting more of this research at the upcoming conference... in short, the whole thing was an immensely satisfying success!


I am still a bit off balance by this series of events. I think it has actually changed my perspective on science. People have told me that it takes a bit of time to "recover" from a PhD, in the sense that you really begin to be a professional ("adult") scientist instead of a nervous student version. Regardless, I'm on Twitter. I'm reading lots of interesting science in and out of my field, every day. I'm no longer quite so shy about talking to strangers in my field (online at least, we'll see how I do in person at the conference in April). I'm excited about being a scientist.

Oh, and you can follow me on twitter now: @BrightWrites for personal goodies (look to the right for the latest), and @BrightMG for my science side.