While English majors anxious to begin their first semester abroad at King's College London have already arrived, the current program director, Vicki Mahaffey, remains in America, waiting for the necessary clearance that will allow her to travel to the United Kingdom.
After failing to obtain a visa from the British Consulate in New York, Mahaffey remains unsure of when she will be able to depart for KCL.
Mahaffey, a professor of 20th century British and Irish literature at Penn, was originally unaware of her need to have a visa and is now trying to obtain a work permit.
"It seems that in November of last year, the security measures were heightened everywhere, and the requirements for getting into a country, especially for an extended stay, were made more stringent," Mahaffey said.
English professor David Wallace -- currently on sabbatical as a visiting professor while this situation has unfolded -- is temporarily filling in for Mahaffey with the help of two graduate students.
Wallace, who headed the program several years ago, will work at KCL until Mahaffey arrives.
Penn students currently at KCL continue to be busy with their orientation, and according to Senior Overseas Program Manager Patricia Martin, the "students aren't going to skip a beat, as far as what they would normally be doing."
After finding out on Sept. 2 that she needed a visa -- 13 days before she was scheduled to leave for England -- Mahaffey immediately applied for one, expecting to be quickly approved.
However, after not hearing from the British Consulate regarding the status of her visa, Mahaffey was told on Sept. 13 that her request had not yet been considered.
Two days later -- and six hours before her scheduled 9 p.m. flight to London -- she received a package in the mail informing her that not only had her request been denied, but also that her passport had been tagged so she would not be able to leave the country.
Mahaffey was then informed that she needed a work permit.
While work permits are generally required for people who work abroad for a foreign company or entity, and must therefore be sought by the hiring company, Mahaffey is employed by the University rather than KCL, and does not directly fall under the regulations set forth by work permits.
The "policies [are] unclear," English Department Chairman James English said.
The complicated process is now in the hands of KCL, which decided to request a work permit from the work permit office in England on behalf of Mahaffey.
"The university [in] England says I'm not working for them, [so I am] caught between two sets of regulations [and] have no way of getting into the country with any assurance that they wouldn't make me get on [the] next flight" back to America, Mahaffey said.
"I should have been [able] to enter the county without a problem," she added.
Administrators at Penn have also had their hands full trying to assist Mahaffey.
"It was a full-time job trying to find out exactly what she needed to do, because the regulations in the U.K. are not clear. ... They don't have an official category for someone in her situation who is employed in the U.S. but spending a year abroad," Martin said.
Currently, Mahaffey is not only waiting to receive a work permit, but she must also endure another round of pre-entry clearance.
"Now, once she obtains the work permit, she has to apply again with the work permit for pre-entry clearance," Martin said.
Mahaffey, who is scheduled to begin teaching in London on Sept. 27, is still awaiting a work permit, noting that for the past few weeks she has been changing her flight reservations regularly, in anticipation of receiving the required documents.
It takes "four to five days for the work permit and four to five days for entry clearance ... [ so it] all depends. I'm stuck here and can't get out of the country," Mahaffey said.
Martin expects that Mahaffey will be able to leave for London shortly. She said she could "safely say [Mahaffey will leave] in the next few weeks, but we're hoping to do whatever we can to expedite it so it would be sooner than that."
Mahaffey, who is set to live in England for 12 months, said that not only are her bags packed, but also her car insurance has been discontinued, and she is currently paying rent for a flat in England.
As for the stricter regulations interfering with any other study-abroad programs, Martin said, "I don't have any other person in her situation."
