There's No Place Like Home Affairs

After the cliffhanger of my last Home Affairs blog installment, my Inbox was flooded with people dying to know.  Those three people now have all the answers, but just in case there are more of you out there with these burning questions:  Did she or did she not get a Visa?  Has Lisa been deported?  Maybe she’s being detained and that’s why we haven’t heard from her…. read on for the exciting conclusion.  Kinda.  Sorta.                Cause that’s the kind of information being dished out over here.

When my last blog trailed off with ellipsis, I was battling it out to get an Exceptional Skills Visa.  That was April.  At that time I turned in my application to receive a 90 Day Temporary Visa to give me 90 days to jump through all their hoops.   

Me at Home Affairs, minus the safety personnel

I paid big bucks to get expedited transcripts from three universities in USA, paid big bucks to get an expedited determination by the South African Qualifications Authority of the equivalent level of my education in South Africa, got fingerprinted to get a police clearance certificate, got my chest Xrayed to get a radiological report, and saw a doctor who declared me not mentally disordered or physically defective in any way (I like having that in writing, even though it apparently is a pretty low standard).

Miraculously, I got all this done in 90 days.  In July, with hope in my heart and a spring in my step, I went back to Home Affairs to turn in my application for an Exceptional Skills Visa with all the aforementioned documents. They wouldn’t take it.  They said there has been no decision made on your 90 Day Temporary Visa application.  You are “pending”.  You can’t turn in your new application until they approve this one.  So I waited… and waited …and waited.

5 months later, my 3 month Visa was still “pending”.  By that time, I had quit my job and moved to Pretoria so I lost the opportunity to get an Exceptional Skills Visa because I no longer had an offer of employment from JFF.  That meant if I wanted to stay in the country, the only option was to renew my Volunteer Visa.  Back to Home Affairs I went, to pick up a different application.  Filled out the application, got a letter from my hosting organization confirming I am not being paid for my work in South Africa, and back to Home Affairs I go. 

Now, it’s October and I walk in praying that they have finally approved my temporary Visa so I can turn in this application.  Another miracle, I only waited 15 minutes for my turn at the window and I picked the right window the very first time!  They didn’t send me to 4 other offices first.  I’m not sure you comprehend the magnitude of this miracle.  This satellite branch of Home Affairs in a suburb of Pretoria is new to handling Visa’s since the head office for the entire country was shut down recently when the government lost the lease on the building (hence the 5 month “pending” status!)

So I’m at the right window, fairly friendly lady follows my convoluted story of what I am seeking and plugs my name into the computer.  Hallelujah, my temporary Visa is approved!  Optimistic me: “Now I can turn in this application.  Here ya go”.  Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, when will you learn?  Your naivete is so refreshing.  Prawwbably not what she was thinking.

Nice lady:  “Your temporary Visa is in the office in Durban.  You must go there so they can put the sticker in your passport and update the computer that you have a valid Visa.” 

Our plucky heroine persists: “But you can see that I have a valid Visa, the computer says right there that the Visa was granted.  Can’t I turn in this application based on that?”

“No, I have to submit a copy of the sticker in your passport with your application packet.” 

Hangin-in-there heroine:  “Alrighty then.  Will you take a look at my documentation and see if I have everything else you need once I get the sticker?”

“Yes, it all looks good.  Except your certificates (police, medical, and radiological) are only good for 6 months so they are almost expired.” 

Lisa Lost-it: “That’s because it took you 5 months to process my application!”

Not so nice lady: “That’s the head office for you.” 

Moving on to the next sticky wicket: “Ok, so I come back with my sticker, new certificates and this documentation and submit it to you before my temporary Visa expires December 31.  I already have a plane ticket to USA on December 21 so I can go home for Christmas.  Will they let me back in the country in February?”

“Just show them the receipt for the application.”  I see that this tricky response doesn’t really answer the question.

“Will they let me in?”

“Maybe.”  She says nothing more and appears to think that this is a satisfactory way to end our conversation.  But I don’t walk away, so she continues, “You will have an acknowledgment that you have an application pending.  That should be good enough but you never know with the border guards.”

I slunk out of the office, simultaneously happy that I am no longer on pending status (forward progress!) and depressed that I have to drive all the way to Durban to pick up a sticker.  This is 7 hours each way and $150 in gas and tolls.  I already have a trip to Durban planned for December with lodging arranged so I will save the time and money and wait until that trip to pick up my sticker.  That means I have to go to the police, the doctor and get Xrays again, but that’s still cheaper than $150.

Parental pickup at the airport

Bottom line – I have made 4 trips to Home Affairs and I still don’t have a Visa.  I have to repeat my hoop jumping (I am ready for Best in Show) to get certificates all over again and after all that, may or may not be let back into the country.  
Don’t care, I’m going home for Christmas anyway (home is where ever my family is, which in this case is Arizona).  And then on to California to report back to all the wonderful people who support the work that I do here.  If PLAY is God’s plan for my life, when the time comes He will whisper in that border guard’s ear, “Let her in, she’s with me.”