今日は、急遽、アランデルの The Parson’s Table でお祝いディナーをすることになりました。というのは、先日、わたしの英国の無期限滞在許可書（Indefinite Leave to Remain、ILR）が出ました！いやはや、長くて大変な道のりでした。イギリスに引っ越してくる時に申請した配偶者ビザの申請が一番大変で費用も大きく、なんと言っても申請に必要な書類などやビザが下りる、下りないの基準が明確ではなく、何年も結婚生活を送っていても下りない場合があることをいろいろな人のブログなどで読んでいたので心配でたまらない申請でした。その２年6ヶ月後に延長の申請が必要で、そして今回イギリスに住んで５年経って申請できる無期限滞在許可書の申請となりました。その都度の手続き、書類集めも大変でしたし、費用も１４,０００ポンド（２７０万円強）もかかりました。

We had a celebration dinner at The Parson’s Table in Arundel today because my UK “Indefinite Leave to Remain, (ILR)” status has just been issued!!  Yay!!  It’s been a very long and expensive process.  The first step towards a Spouse Visa that we applied for in Singapore just before we moved to England was the hardest one in terms of the application, cost & stress.  There is no specific list of what to prepare for the submission for the Visa and I have seen many people’s blogs saying their applications were rejected for no given reasons, even though they’d been married for some years, so it was very very stressful for us.  Then we needed to apply for the extension of that after the first 2 and a half years here, and finally, after 5 years of living here, we applied to get ILR.  Each time we had to pay quite a bit of money and also my husband had to collect all the documents necessary for the applications and fill in the forms, which I know was a lot of work and quite nerve wracking for him.

今回の申請そのものはネットで夫がしてくれて、その後、フランス菓子教室があった水曜日の朝にポーツマスにあるビザの申請センターで指紋や写真を登録して（生体認証）、その翌日（昨日）、許可書が下りたという正式な連絡がありました。申請には２種類あって、2000ポンド（約４０万円）支払った場合は6ヶ月以内、3000ポンド（６０万円）支払った場合は翌日中に連絡があるということで、わたしたちは3000ポンド支払ったので昨日連絡がありました。

The application was done online by my husband this time but I had to go to an UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services Centre to register my fingerprints and have a photo taken, which I did on Wednesday morning and we received the official message yesterday morning to let us know that I am now settled.  There are 2 types of application fees – if you pay £2,900 you will receive a decision in 6 months and for £3,900 you get it within one day – so we paid the £3,900.

やれ、やれ、これで一安心です。とても面倒な申請に必要な書類集めや手続きを全部してくれた夫に感謝です。

So, we can now relax about me living in England.  I really appreciate all the work my husband did for me!

ということで、これはお祝いしなくちゃ！ということになり、昨日、レストランの予約を取り、今日お祝いディナーに行って来ました。

So, we said we must celebrate this!  We made a booking at this restaurant yesterday and had dinner this evening.

夫の前菜は、スモークサーモン、とても分厚いスライス。とても美味しかったそうです。

My husband started with Smoked Salmon  – very thick slices, he said he really enjoyed them.

わたしは、カリフラワーのべルーテにしました。美味しかったですが、かなりクリーミーでヘビーですし量も多かったので３分の１くらい残しました。

I had Cauliflower Veloute.  It was good but very creamy and heavy and it was such a large portion, so I had about 2/3 of it.

夫のメインは、たら。

My husband had Cod for the main.

わたしは、臭かったら困るなと思いつつ、ポークチョップにしました。幸い臭くはなかったです、でも、あまり旨みもなかったですね。まぁまぁ。そして、量が多くて、３分の１くらいしか食べられず。日本のレストランの3倍はあります。

I had Pork – I was a little worried about it being too gamey but it wasn’t. However, I cannot say it had a lot of flavour either.  I would say it was OK but could have been better.  It was also another large portion, I had about 1/3 of it.  I would say it was about 3 times the size or more of what you would get for such a dish in Japan in a typical restaurant there.

デザートにキャロットケーキ、をシェアー。

For a dessert, we shared “Carrot Cake”.

ワインはグラス１杯ずつ、ガス入りのお水１本、食後の飲み物は飲まず。これでチップを入れると140ポンド（２８０００円）。やはり、高いですね。ここはコースメニューがあるときはコースメニューならとてもお得なのですが、アラカルトだと例えばわたしのポークは１品で35ポンド（７０００円）とお高くなります。でも、今日はお祝いなので。

We had a glass of wine each, a bottle of sparkling water to share, no tea or coffee after the meal.  It was £140 including tip, which is quite expensive.  If you go when they have a set course menu it is less expensive but it was a Saturday evening so only a la carte was available.  My pork dish on its own was £35.  Still, it was a special celebration dinner.