oh yeh visa

Oh yeh. I have the visa. I have the visa. I have the visa!!

I am bona fide, happily allowed to work in South Africa... Finally. I am so pleased.

It took a while.

It took one more visit to my delightful local Home Affairs office.

The amusing thing about Home Affairs offices is that it truly depends on where you go as to what the requirements are. Oh sure there are general guidelines issued from Pretoria, but some offices might require another medical, some might not. Some might require another this, that or the other, some might not. No idea why. Probably because TIA.

It took a mountain of paperwork that I tried desperately to swim through and not sink in, which I have since failed to organise or file in any useful way.

After a winning smile and the tidiest pile of paperwork ever, all in order, the nice lady behind the desk accepted my application.

"How long is the decision making process?" I innocently ask. The answer may as well have been "How long is a piece of string?"

To which I always have an answer... "From the middle to the end and back again."

The answer actually was roughly two months but probably longer. So I prepared myself to shelve the visa thing somewhere at the back of my mind and settle in for a long, frustrating, nail biting wait.

And then. And then. A message less than a month later saying my visa was approved and ready for collection... oh yeh!!