W00h000

So today we went to the IND (Immigratie en Naturalisatie Dienst). I *think* there's some confusion there.

If you come from a country that's not on the short list of Holland's friend-countries, and you intend to stay more than 3 months, you have to get an MVV before you come. It means you apply for and start the immigration process before leaving your home country and half the IND's work is already done when you land. In that case, you follow the prescribed channels and go (1) to the local government and register with GBA (Gemeentelijke Basisadministratie) and they give you a BSN (burgerservicenummer) and then if you're starting a business go to the KvK (Kamer van Koophandel) to register your business and then to IND to apply for your long-term residency permit (verblijfsvergunning, or pasje).

BUT. If you come from the US, then on the one hand the rules are way simplified, but on the other hand the system confuses itself. You can't start at GBA because you have no evidence of a right to stay here until after you've gone to IND. But when you go to IND, they'll tell you you should have gone to GBA. Here's a tip: Smile and nod. They'll say, "Oh well, we'll just put this sticker in your passport, and you can go to GBA next."

And that's what happened. It was an hour's drive through windy, wet weather with occasional sunshine peeking through the rain to get to the IND, and then a small hike through the same because of course there's no parking right next to the building (>.<) and I *may* have forgotten my letter with the appointment number on it. But no matter. We got there, safe and sound, and they took my papers (the application for a residency permit without MVV plus 18 pages of attachments), took €600, gave me a very pretty stamp in my passport complete with embossing, and waved bye.

The very pretty stamp not only has nice colors, it also says I get to stay for six months while they decide on my application for residency. Yayyy. Step one complete.

A week from today: The GBA to register as a resident of this town and hopefully to get my BSN.