I have been expecting to move to Belgium for three months. Each phase of the move took three times as much time as expected. Initially, we were told "Oh...you will have the work permit by mid November, for sure. Instead we received a notice that there was a great delay in processing work permits as approximately 8 employees suddenly resign, walked off or were sacked (Which of the three, I do not know.) from the office that grants the permits. Nick's application was still sitting on a pile of applications that remained untouched. We could hope to see it in another month.
Mid December comes and then goes. Our friends throw a goodbye party for us. But we didn't leave. In actuality, my friends were very happy about the delay. At least that is what they told me. Jokes were made about how we were not really leaving. We just wanted to see how much we were appreciated. We said to ourselves, "Surely we will be gone by the end of December". Yet the only thing that went by was the end of December and we were still there. We received the work permit on December 24th. We applied for the visa on December 27th. On the 28th we were inform of everything that was lacking in our application. "What!" "Not possible!" Or so we thought. We take issue with the grammatical accuracy of statements written on the website regarding required documents. The intent is to ask for documents such as copies of birth certificates and marriage licenses that are not older than 6 months. Instead that ask for these documents to have been apostilled not longer that 6 months. There is no point in arguing. After all the person at the consulate did not write and design the website. So off we went to get more recent copies of our children's birth certificates. The holidays also played a role in slowing this already not so swift move.
On January 2nd, once all new copies were acquired and I returned to the Consulate. I asked how long before we would receive the visas. It was explained to me that there is a process and it takes time. So I thought that I would be waiting at least another week. As we were not in January, I had stopped trying to guess when we would leave. Then suddenly our move was kicked into overdrive! . After the explanation of the time consuming process, I receive a call saying that the visas are ready the very same afternoon. We were ecstatic went temporarily insane. I say this because that evening Nick booked flights to Brussels for the 8th. We went from a passive waiting mode to a whirlwind of activity with a very definite deadline that we set while in a state of ecstatic insanity.
THE MOVE HAD NOW BECOME--SWIFT
