I am always excited and encouraged
by movement forward; especially in the area of our visas. When we do see progress though, it often seems
to come as two steps forward followed shortly by a step back.
Last Tuesday, the 29th of March, John
and Caedmon, who was invited to go along, took a rather full van ride
to the provincial capital. Caedmon had to sit on John’s lap the entire 3-hour
ride! The following day they had great
success as they received the letter we have been waiting for since our arrival
in January. John and Caedmon were then
blessed by a ride from a complete stranger to a local hotel. The man joined them for lunch and then
connected them with his travel agent so they could book a flight straight to
the country’s capital. Thursday morning, John and Caedmon arrived in
the capital city to hand deliver the letter from the provincial capital to our agent working on our work visa in the country’s capital. John said it all went very smoothly, was good
to meet with the agent face to face, Caedmon was a great travel companion, and
they were provided for at every turn!
John and Caedmon returned home early Saturday morning, to Whitman’s and
my great delight; it had been rather quiet at home.
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| Caedmon at the National Monument and Museum |
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| John and Caedmon |
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| Model depicting a battle in the Museum |
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| Model depicting people voting in the first election. |
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| At the top of the monument |
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| Presidential Complex |
Tuesday, the 5th of
April, the four of us made the trip to the local immigration office to finalize
our current visa extension. They took
our pictures and finger prints, then gave us our passports back stamped with
visas valid through the 14th of April, which whether you are ready
to admit it or not is right around the corner.
Then this past Friday we traveled back to the immigration office, this
time with our sponsor, to turn in our passports once again to apply for the
next extension, as each is good for only a month at a time!
We also received news from the
agent in the capital city informing us our application has passed through the
first step at the Social Work Office.
The Social Work Office is to make an official recommendation to the Work
Force Office, which then in turn grants us, or rather John, permission to
work. Then that official approval is
sent to the Immigration Office, which then issues our actual visas. Thus far we are very encouraged by the forward
progress and must enjoy it! Hopefully no
more steps back!
