Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Plan M is in effect

After a couple days of nervous waiting i was told by the Swiss Embassy that yes my Schengen visa will be issued but it'll take a further 4 weeks... 4 weeks i didn't have... SIGH! Once again Stu and i chatted long and hard about the situation, played with a few ideas and scenarios and eventually decided enough was enough with this visa game... we're playing no more. So all flights and booking were cancelled and Stu booked myself a flight to Durbs... he arrives in 10 days :) :)

We've decided to put Plan M into effect... do the marriage paperwork here in Durbs and apply for my Swiss residency permit, enough with these silly tourist visas!! So yes, we are doing things a little differently but it's what works for us... and that's all that matters!


So, here i sit... in Durbs (enjoying the wonderful Durban winter weather), trying to keep myself busy with this and that and procrastinating about studying... nothing new there :P

Friday, July 17, 2009

The visa saga continues

I am currently back in SA on a "visa run". After much research and discussion Stu and i established that i had no choice but to return to SA to reapply for my Schengen visa and to apply for my US tourist visa. We discovered that once a Schengen visa has been issued for a certain duration, it can't be extended in the Schengen region and a new visa has to be applied for... sigh!

So here i am... once again thousands of miles away from the love of my life, waiting around on visas. The day after landing in SA (after a torturous flight full of delays and layovers) i turned up at the US Consulate and applied for my B1/B2 visa... which was intially denied because the lady was not convinced i would be returning to SA. After some pleading i walked out of there empty handed with tears rolling down my cheeks... but whilst on the phone with Stu trying to figure out what's next, the phone rang... it was the lady from the consulate imforming me she had reconsidered and is going to issue me my visa... SIGH!! :) Now my passport and application forms sit at the Swiss Consulate in Pretoria and i await a decision on my visa... not sure how much more visa stress my nerves can handle!!!

Now that i think of it, i didn't actually write a post about my engagement... oops!!!!! I think i just got swept up in everything that i forgot about my poor blog... well Stu and i got engaged on 23 june... i'm very excited about our life together and just can't wait for the "fine print" to be behind us so we can get on with it!! Right now i'm missing him terribly and am just focusing on getting home (that is now Zurich)!