What would you do for $1000 dollars?
This isn’t the tag-line for a new reality TV show. It’s my reality and I’m not sure what the answer is.
Through the English Factory™ I was enrolled in a Peruvian retirement account. Since I’m not a Peruvian national, I’m entitled to close the account and take the money. Right now, the balance is just a few hairs short of one grand. Sounds great on paper, but it might cost me about that much to get it.
Finding out what we need to do was a one month odyssey. Vanessa spent a lot of energy trying to get in contact with anybody from the investment company. Phone calls and e-mails went unreturned. A supervisor at the English Factory™ was nice enough to call the company for me. He actually got a hold of someone and passed along Vanessa’s contact information. Still, nobody called.
Yesterday I hit paydirt. A representative was coming to work to talk with my boss. This was my one chance for guidance. Through an interpreter, here’s what I found out.
First, I need to gather a bunch of paperwork. Includeing certified copies of my Peruvian ID, American passport and a letter from the English Factory™ saying that I’m no longer working. I’ll also need letters from my bank and retirement accounts in the U.S. proving that I’ve had accounts established for at least three years.
So far so good. Getting that done won’t be difficult, a few phone calls and a trip to a notary could get that ball rolling. The letter from the English Factory™ is being drafted as we speak. (I need it to close my bank account.) Once that paperwork is secured, things get unnecessarily complicated.
The pile of paper mentioned above needs to be “approved” by a Peruvian government agent in the U.S. The nearest Peruvian Consulate to where we’re going is Chicago. I know, I’ve been there. It does travel to the Twin Cities area once a year. Still, that’s a trip somewhere to pay a few bucks for somebody to stamp a letter.
Once stamped, it all needs to be sent back to Peru and delivered to Ministry of Exterior Relations. Then, the letters need to be officially translated from English to Spanish by a government approved translator. Finally, they will be delivered to the investment company who will eventually transfer it to an account of my choice.
To get all this done I’ll need to give somebody here, likely my mother-in-law, power of attorney. We were planning to do that anyways. It’s an insurance policy just in case there are any loose ends we need to tie up here when we’re gone.
Here’s a recap, I’ll need: three letters, a trip to a notary, a trip to either Chicago or the Twin Cities, some official stamps, air mail back to Peru, grant somebody power of attorney, find somebody to stand in line at the Ministry, find a translator and then wait to get the cash.
Whew!
After spending a year tracking down and filling out immigration papers I thought we were done. No such luck.
It’s a lot of time, energy and unknown fees. Vanessa and I were wondering if its all worth it.
What say you?
Wow! Talk about bureaucracy. Good luck sir.
If you are going to be taking a trip to the Twin Cities (or Chicago for that matter) anyway, I say do it.