Yesterday I took a day of annual leave to sort out some issues pertaining to our upcoming emigration.

Stage 2: Renewal of Police Clearance Certificate

When we first decided to emigrate, it was clear that it would take a long time, and we would have to renew several things that had already been issued.

Of primary importance among these was the Police Clearance Certificate, which says that, according to police records and our fingerprints, we do not have a criminal record.

The certificates expire in February 2010, so we realised we should renew them before the end of January. This consists of a visit to the local police station, payment of R59, the taking of fingerprints, and the completion of a form.

I figured that, having yesterday off, I could pop into the police station after my driver’s licence renewal. In August, it had taken fifteen minutes at most, so off I drove.

I arrived at around 9am, and walked in, feeling happy with myself for keeping to my schedule. I asked the three policemen who were standing around at the front desk where the office was for getting the police clearance certificate. The reason I asked is because these things can change daily.

I was directed to the same place as last time, so I walked down the corridor towards the office. There were two people outside, waiting for something to happen (I know this, because they had their green barcoded ID books with them).

The guy in the front of the queue said, “PDP, come back at 2” at me. I did not know what he meant, so I said, “I’m here for a police clearance certificate.” He said, “Yes, come back after 2pm.” So not trusting him, I tried to stick my head in through the doorway, only to have it slammed in my face.

I walked back to my car, dejected. After all, only a couple of days ago, M went to the police station at 1pm to do the same thing, only to be told to “come back in the morning”.

Huh?

Now it was time to wait for M to get home from work, for our Great Trek to Pretoria, to the Canadian High Commission. [Read the rest in Part 3.]

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