We have a VISA!!!

Wonder of wonders, Miracle of Miracles!!! Our little girl has her VISA!

Christiana went with our agent today to apply for a temporary permit which would allow us to travel to the United States over Christmas. Instead, when they approached the desk, the agent told them Susanna Jane's application had finally been APPROVED!
Phil thinks it's because Susanna Jane was there in person - who can refuse a visa to this cute face?

Christiana was able to finalize all of the details & complete the formalities for Susanna Jane's residency card. We can't pick it up until January, but PRAISE GOD for granting us this very important document.

Thank you for all of your prayers for us over these many months!

No News is...Aggravating.

We're still waiting for news on Susanna Jane's long-term visa. The same one we started applying for last January.

About a month ago, Christiana met with our visa agent to give him the latest round of documents, including new letters from our insurance company and a lease with Susanna Jane's name on it. However, when Christiana handed that particular document over to our agent, she was told it was merely an amendment to our original lease. She would have to return home with Susanna, locate the original lease, and bring it back to our agent the same day if we were to meet the deadline we'd been given.  Why? Because all of the previous copies of our original lease had "expired".

True story - documents have expiration dates. If we were to go a certain number of days past the date stamped by the notary, we have to start again. It's the same lease, the exact same information, with the same original date of occupancy. The only difference is it has a fresh new stamp on it. 

More documents = more trips to the notary = more MONEY to be paid! 

People have insinuated that our visa agent is to blame - he isn't. He's merely the messenger, so don't shoot him. (As a matter of fact, he doesn't get paid until our daughter gets the visa so he's every bit as anxious to see this completed! The extra fees go to the document center & the notary.) Unfortunately, we've gotten caught in a corrupt loop somewhere in the office of the foreign police. Someone is sitting on our daughter's case file, probably expecting a bribe. 

Our baby girl turns ONE next week - we'd love to give her a VISA for her birthday! Will you continue to pray with us to see that this matter is finally resolved?

Denied AGAIN

Phil met our agent yesterday afternoon, for another trip to the foreign police in the ongoing quest for Susanna Jane's VISA. It was a short trip - her paperwork was denied, AGAIN.

We've been giving several possible explanations as to why her application didn't go through this time, the biggest one being that her name isn't on our lease. Yes, you did read that correctly.

I hardly have the words to describe how I'm feeling at this point. We've spent nearly 7 months in this process, we've produced countless documents (at significant cost!) for new applications, and we're back at square one.

Prayers are appreciated.

The Summer Conundrum

It seems to be rare for missionary teachers to spend the summers in their countries of service. Why? Because they are usually "home" for the summers, visiting family and trying to raise support. That's certainly been our experience in the past.

The pros of going stateside for six weeks or so are fairly obvious: 

• Getting to see precious family members and dear friends
• Opportunities to reconnect with sending churches & sponsors
• Chances to buy affordable clothing, books & coffee
• Air conditioning, iced drinks & free refills

However, if we're in the US, then we're not here in the Czech Republic, which means that we miss out on the following:

• Chances to build relationships with our neighbors, co-workers & students
• Ability to assist with ongoing school improvement projects
• Engaging in summer outreach such as English camp
• Opportunities to study Czech

The decision to remain in Prague this summer was really out of our hands, since we cannot leave the EU until Susanna Jane has a long-term visa. We'd love to introduce our daughter to family members and dear friends; we'd love to visit our supporting churches and let everyone know how very thankful we are. On the other hand, it's a tremendous blessing to remain in the Czech Republic this summer, and we're looking forward to what God has in store for us here. 

Round 3 (or 4? or 7?) for Susanna Jane's Visa

We really do have the best intentions to blog on a more regular basis. There are at least 10 blog posts we've started over the last 6 months which have never been published. There's nothing like a good VISA crisis to get us writing again. If you're tired of reading about our VISA woes, imagine how tired we are of dealing with them!

Christiana received a call this morning from our VISA agent, informing her that the office has once again denied Susanna Jane a long-term residency permit. Considering that we submitted the exact same documents for Susanna Jane which we used for our applications, and given the fact that we now have our long-term permits in hand, there is absolutely no reason that our daughter shouldn't also be granted a permit, but here we go again.

We've been given a 30 day extension to provide them with proof of service with RCE (again), proof of comprehensive medical insurance (again) and a copy of Susanna Jane's insurance card (again).

If, at the end of this next round of documents, they still refuse to grant our daughter her residency permit, then we'll have to hire a lawyer and begin a lengthy & costly appeal process. We have already spent more than double what we had budgeted for this process, and we really cannot afford to have this drag out any longer.

WE NEED YOUR CONTINUED PRAYERS, for many aspects of our service in Prague, and especially now as we continue to do battle at the VISA office. Thanks for standing with us.

Our Very Own "Biometric" Cards

We are now "card-carrying" residents of the Czech Republic! We received our Biometric cards (sort of like a driver's license, but about 10 times more expensive) this afternoon, which means we're good until July of 2015.

One small hiccup - while we were given our long term residency permits, Susanna Jane's application hasn't even gone through yet. We're not sure why there seems to be this delay, since we applied as a family, but we'd appreciate your ongoing prayers for this situation.

One Step Forward, Three Steps Back...

Just when we think we're ready to submit our applications for long-term visas in the Czech Republic, we hit another speed bump.

First, we hit roadblock after roadblock in trying to obtain our background checks from Russia. When those finally arrived, we realized we had to get them translated. Additional delay of 7 days.

We needed four very important documents from the school in Prague, verifying our purpose of stay and our residency. When the envelope was delivered, we discovered we'd been sent another couple's papers. The other couple  had ours. We contacted each other & arranged a trade. Additional delay of 5 days.

Once we had the correct papers in our names, we were informed they had not been completed. The school had inadvertently omitted two key dates of some sort. The papers must be redone, and resent. Additional delays unknown.

Today we received an envelope from the Florida Secretary of State. We assumed it contained the much-awaited apostille on our marriage license. Nope. Even though we had called (TWICE) to verify the procedure, the office refused to apostille the papers because we were not married in the state of Florida. (Any WHY did it take them two full weeks to return our documents with this news???)
We must contact the Secretary of State of North Carolina. Additional delays of up to two weeks for the apostille, with a potential 7 additional days for translation.

We know we've been called to serve at CISP. We see God providing blessing after blessing, and we continue to receive confirmations that we are to arrive in Prague by August 15, the date the school requested us to be there. Please continue to pray with us as we press forward with our visa applications!

We Have Background Checks!

Our Russian background checks have finally arrived!! We received four pieces of paper - two in Russian, two in English - stating that the Russian Ministry of the Interior has no criminal record on either of us. (We weren't expecting they would, but it's nice to have it in writing.)

Now we have to send these documents to be translated into Czech. We would love it if it could be done overnight, but in all probability it could take a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, we're still waiting on several other documents which must be submitted along with our visa application. They are all in various stages (and locations) of completion.

We are so thankful to everyone who's been praying with us through this process. Please continue to stand with us as we track down the remaining paperwork!