It's been four days now since I got the shock of my life. Andy and I have been working tirelessly, day and night, to find out what our options are. Tuesday night, the news was pretty grim. They advised that I should not go to my appointment (arranged for September 8th) as I might be served a notice of deportation at the Croydon office...fun! As of Tuesday night, my only option was to post my application, hope and pray, and wait 30 days for it to come back. No Malawi trip.
After all this searching I had two other choices - one more risky than the other. I could fly to Malawi as planned on September 2nd and then head straight for the British High Commission in Lilongwe where they might be able to sort out my visa for me. I contacted several people in Malawi and GAIA (the NGO we're working with) who tried very hard and did a lot of work on my behalf to contact the British High Commission. In the end, they said they could extend my visa for me - they just couldn't promise how long it would take...so that eliminated that option. I love Malawi, but I don't want to get stuck there!
Last option: Fly to America and re-apply for another spousal visa. And that's what I'm doing. Both Andy and Sharon called premium rate help-lines and asked SEVERAL times if it was okay for me to fly back into the country and get another visa....YES! (Andy made her say it three times and took her name, haha) But, I'm still very skeptical (can you blame me?!), but I have to give it a shot...for my project, which means everything to me. If I don't try this, I definitely cannot go to Malawi. I booked my flights to America last night (thank God they're cheap at the moment, £298! With Virgin Atlantic!) and set up my appointment for my Biometric Exam in Hartford, CT. Then I'm going to pay for a courier to do a same-day visa for me...I've contacted him and he says no problem. Ironically, it's cheaper for me to fly home, pay for my visa in dollars and pay for this same day courier than to spend £1000 on the settlement visa in the UK.
So that's the deal. I may be posting in 2 weeks time saying I'm stuck in America, but I have to take this risk. Thanks for all your support everyone - you are all the very best. xoxo
Oh yea, and I can change my flight dates to Malawi - so I'll be leaving one week later. I may just get two weeks instead of three, but hey - it's definitely better than nothing at this point.
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1 comment:
Where there's a will, there's a way, right?!
Glad to hear all is looking so much more promising!
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