HERE WE GO AGAIN

Well its time to go to Colombo again, Yeahhhh. I will get used to this and it will be just a normal occurance. However, I do not think I will ever get used to the Immigration Office. You enter the building by going below street level. Security is high here and there are three small aisles (like at the shopping centre). One is the exit and the other two designated for men and women. These are curtained off - upon entering you are patted down. Well everyone else is, as a Sudha I get away with just a cursory look. When dealing with the military or police, being white is very advantageous indeed.

So down some more stairs into what must be the basement, which leads to a food-hallway -a narrow strip filled with retail shops and takeaway food shops. This should have given me an indication of how long this process may take. As we jostle our way through a sea of people I struggle to keep Chanake in view as we head up the stairs to the first floor.

Fortunately, the crowd thins a little so we can regroup. Chanake heads toward what reminds me of the line for the slides at Adventure World on a 38 degree day, except no one has any consideration for personal space. It is only 1m wide and people are pushing and shoving trying to move forward, but security guards are restricting access. These guards have no understanding of English, so Chanake shoots off a response to the guards question and dives in without looking back. I, once again, pull the white card.

They have done their job and the area beyond is quite clear. We go up to the third floor and enter a huge room with a large desk that spreads the length of the room, behind which are dozens of office cubicles. The foyer is pretty much filled with 20 rows of chairs, 50 wide - most of which are filled - and four large glass offices. There are chairs situated outside these, but these are ignored and random lines form. Men in suits are like ants scurrying in and out, carrying manilla folders of documents.

First stop is the Assistant Controller of Immigration of which there are two, but one must be on stress leave as the second office is empty. We stand in line, slowly progressing forward. It's not boring as we are able to observe a few small skirmishes based on the rules of lines and cutting in line. As these start getting quite vocal we dive into the Assistant's office and he informs us that what we are asking is out of his jurisdiction. So we are told to see the Deputy Controller. Chanake skips this and we line up outside the Controller's office. She is pleasant and has no problem issuing a four month extension to our visa, and signs off on our application. Hoorray! ( How naive am I?).

Now we go to the checking clerk who takes our documentation and it disappears into the back room for a while. She informs Chanake that he needs to go and see the Assistant Controller again. So back to the line up and I watch as a Korean man continually examines his watch, quite dumbfounded at the prospect of going to the same office that he had just come out of.

So, once again emerging from his office we head back to the checking clerk and hand the documentation over. Now, I watched quite closely and it seemed to go into the back row of offices then back to the Assistant Controller, who then approves the approval of the Controller. We are then informed that any visit visa extension over 3 months is subject to a new tax of approximately $120 per visa. As an extension of 2 month is only $30 we opt for this. Having finalised this, we are sent to the payment desk where we pay our fees and get a receipt and a number. Then we wait.

Our passports and documentation are then once more taken into the large office behind the desk. I see a man carrying them out and prepare to meet him, but he is on the way to the Assistant Controller's office again. He, by this stage, has seen our pictures so much that I consider him a close personal friend. Upon exiting this office again my number is called, I am shown my visa stamps and am free to go after 4 hours. So I am now the proud owner of a 2 month visa extension, thankyou Chanake.