After a two-week wait, I finally got the password to access my online bank statements (when we switched to eStatements the bank failed to give us the password, which they set).- After two and one half months of collecting documents and proving that we're medically and mentally sound, our application was finally submitted to the Dept. of Home Affairs to renew our temporary residence visas. There's still a long wait ahead to see if they approve it or not, but for once the ball is in their court!
- The icing on the cake: After a three-year wait, we finally got a phone line installed in our house so we can have decent internet access. Yippee!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
A Bureaucratically Beautiful Day
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9 comments:
Was the three year wait for the phone line your decision or did it actually take three years to get a phone line installed?
We are working on our visa stuff right now. I am not a fan of paperwork, but I guess I'd better get used to it!
Hi Jonna,
Unfortunately, it actually took three years, but I don't think that would happen to you. :) Our house was never wired to have a telephone. We only want a phone line so we can have good internet access, as Dan's office is in our house and we do a lot of Skype calls to all over the world. Anyway, they told us our suburb did not have access to aDSL, so putting in the phone line would be pointless. Thus began the waiting for aDSL to come to our neighbourhood. Turns out they entered our suburb incorrectly in the paperwork, so we could have had it all this time. Oh well! I should be angry, I suppose, but I actually think it's kind of funny.
But like I said, I really don't think that will be a problem for you guys! Hope your visa stuff is done soon; I know how time-consuming and confusing it can be. Just take it one day at a time... :)
Confusing would be the key word. We went through a bunch of stuff last night and came up with a list of questions to ask our new friend in the consulates office : )
I am glad you can find humor in the phone line debacle. I am afraid that I would just sit down and cry, but that could just be my "three months from today we leave" emotions talking!
Don't be afraid to cry. I still do on many days myself. When you have a day where you can manage to laugh... that's a blessing. Be patient with yourself; it's a huge move, and dealing with the logistics and emotions of that is more than enough, let alone immigration/visa paperwork!
Good luck! Home Office is a pain in any country...a nightmare I want to say
Yes, I am kind of in a crying week right now. Excited for what is to come, but realizing just how much we are leaving behind. Went to get fingerprints today and found out we need to have our correct address on our drivers licenses, something we failed to do since moving to the apartment. So a waste of over an hour going to and from the state police and almost an hour at the Secretary of State (DMV) with 2 uncooperative and unhappy kids. Crying outside my car at the gas pump was not one of my finer moments, but it was that or unleashing my full frustration on my kids. As it was, they got about 1/2 of it : (
Oh Jonna, I'm so sorry. Sending a hug your way!
I thought you might appreciate this. I just called the South African consulate to ask some questions about the visa paperwork. I started out by saying "some things just don't make sense to me" and the woman I talked to was like "what do you mean they don't make sense? Why would you use that term. Are you implying that someone wrote the paperwork wrong?". I thought she was going to hang up on me! I said "no, maam, it is just a term of speech". Good grief.
Goodness! What consulate is that? Washington, D.C.? Beverly Hills?
If it makes you feel any better, I waited 20 minutes in line at the grocery store check-out for a "price check" on light bulbs only to be told, "There is no price so you can't buy them." I had to laugh... fortunately it was a "good" South Africa day and not a "bad" one...
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