Heading to Buenos Aires, convinced that I was arriving only two days before my provisional visa expired, the first thing I did after dropping my bags off in the place I was staying was head back to the Migrations office in the city. The idea was that I would get my official documents and then stay for a meeting here before returning. Everything was organised, except for one unexpected problem.
I missed the date.
Standing in the reasonably long line at the Migrations office I heard the officer at the window send one of the people away, telling them that they need to return two days before their current document expired. Happy that I had arrived perfectly within that time, it was with confidence that I waited in line, counting my luck that I had not come earlier as planned.
Upon reaching the counter window, I submitted my old document and waited confidently for the new documents that would give me official residency here in Argentina... but they did not come.
Instead I was handed back my old document and told to return one or two days before it expires. Confused and perplexed, I looked back at the man at the counter. He was looking at something, drawing my gaze towards his. As I swung my eyes in that direction, his hand and then finger helped my eyes to focus on the specific point.
It was the date. I had looked at this date on my document many times and was sure that it had said the 30th of this month... but as I looked at it I saw a very different date. It was the 30th of next month. Nooooo!
Somehow my head had been playing tricks on me. I had arrived here one month too early. With nothing else to be done, I turned away and with the old document in hand, headed home.
I had missed the date.
Heading to Buenos Aires, convinced that I was arriving only two days before my provisional visa expired, the first thing I did after dropping my bags off in the place I was staying was head back to the Migrations office in the city. The idea was that I would get my official documents and then stay for a meeting here before returning. Everything was organised, except for one unexpected problem.
I missed the date.
Standing in the reasonably long line at the Migrations office I heard the officer at the window send one of the people away, telling them that they need to return two days before their current document expired. Happy that I had arrived perfectly within that time, it was with confidence that I waited in line, counting my luck that I had not come earlier as planned.