Life is grand

I had three things to do today. Get a bank account, register at the Garda (Police) and get my PPS (akin to a Social Security number.)

We tried the Garda first to formalise my Work Permit. We waited 20 minutes, was directed by two officers and then was told by a helpful lady that the immigration officer was not in and probably wouldn’t be in till 2pm or more likely Tuesday. So if you ever need the immigration officer at the Garda in Waterford, don’t go on Monday.

Next we tried the banks. First choice was Permanent TSB who wouldn’t let me open an account because they need a utility bill with my address and name. I arrivedin Ireland yesterday so it is very unlikely that I would have a utility bill. Plus you need a bank account to get most utility bills. Strangely they would have accepted any utility bill I had received in South Africa. Unfortunatley I had not brought any with me (it never crossed my mind to bring a South African utility bill with a South AFrican address to Ireland.) They also take a PPS letter but that takes a week to get and I need a bank account so I can get paid.

So two down and no success. PPS number next which turned out just fine. You need some form of ID, e.g. a passport, a letter stating your address (doesn’t have to be a utility bill. I just got a letter from my eployer and it was countersigned by my mate Brian who I am living with) and then anything else that can identify you and which originated in your home country. I used my British Airways boarding pass which worked fine.

Brian then had the bright idea of trying AIB in WIT’s campus. So it is an AIB branch but in the WIT (my employer) campus. They accepted my WIT letter and I now have a bank account. The funny bit is I can make use of the Permanent TSB “switch” offer and I’d be accepted. Not sure I will though after TSB turned me down at first.

So just the Garda left to do tomorrow. Hopefully the immigration officer turns up for work.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 24th, 2005 at 6:37 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.