It's Official.

It's official! I'm coming home for Christmas. I just got my passport back from the Home Office of Immigration here and I couldn't be more excited. I hadn't told anyone back home so as not to worry anyone but I sent in my application in July - only to get a letter back stating that they would not begin to process my application until the day it expired - Namely October 14th. They also held all my documents. Anyway, suffice it to say that I was worried about not getting it back in time for Christmas as the processing time stated it could take up to 14 weeks!

I called last week and was told by some monkey in a call centre that the documents were being processed - that was all the information they had. No I could not call anyone else, no I could not go into an office, no there was nothing I could do, no they could not look into it. If I wanted to ensure I had my passport I could only withdraw my application. They finally suggested writing a letter. I figured... here I am married to a British citizen, working as a teacher (an area in which Britain desperately lacks qualified professionals) and I haven't broken any laws. Wouldn't it be a fairly straightforward and quick process?

So I wrote a letter, attached my flight itinerary to prove I actually had bought the tickets and spent several days trying to get a recommendation letter from my head teacher(which was no problem). I sent the letter urgent delivery at 4:30 on Tuesday and came home to find the package had actually arrived that day! I have a passport and a visa! THANK GOD!






Can't wait to come home and see everybody. I fly out 3 weeks tomorrow!