The woes of visas, etc.

Dear god, does it ever end?

I have been staring at this visa application since before we got married in November, and I'll continue staring at it because it is the visa that never ends, it will go on and on my friends. Some people started applying not knowing what it was, and they'll continue applying forever just because...

No, but seriously.

My visa application STILL isn't in. And you know what I realized today? I have two and a half months left on my current visa.

Two. and a half. months.

Now, we have everything sorted--and that probably sounds like plenty of time to someone who hasn't been in a long distance relationship before and doesn't know the pain and suffering caused by separation. So what I see right now is two and a half months before separation has to occur, and, well, it's a bit panic-inducing.

I realize there's nothing REALLY to panic about. We're going to submit this mammoth on Monday.

Except we were going to submit this mammoth in early February. Then in early March when we couldn't get everything certified. Then this past Monday (surprise work!). Then Tuesday (surprise work!). Then Wednesday (surprise plague!). Then Friday (surprise work!). (For those of you wondering, Thursday was planned-work).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining (well, except about the plague bit). But it seems like something is constantly coming up to get in the way of us submitting this thing. And it really shouldn't be this hard to coordinate a time for us to both get to the post office to get some gosh-darned passport photos done, but dear god, it is.

Then there's the uncertainty: do I include police checks and medical checks, or don't I? They're on the document checklist, yet the forums say to wait until you're asked due to the time constraint--both things are only valid for a year, and if it takes more than a year for your visa to be processed, you have to get them redone anyway. I'm leaning toward that because it means I can submit it on Monday. And SO many people have posted it and also gotten their visa approved, how can I be nervous?

But what if we don't have enough evidence of our relationship? For people who have been together for seven years, we certainly don't have the kind of evidence they're looking for! (Wills? We have to make wills? I'm 23, I don't want to face my own mortality!)

I wouldn't be this nervous if the visa didn't have such a hefty price tag, but there you go.

What this post boils down to: I am going to submit this visa application on Monday, gosh darnit. I am going to pay that fee, and I am going to hand this mammoth across the counter. Then I will be on a Bridging Visa, which means separation does NOT have to occur until a decision is made on the partner visa. Then I will be asked for a medical and police check, which is a sign that the visa will soon be approved, and I will provide them. Then my visa will be accepted. Then everyone will live happily ever after.

And no one will have to say goodbye at an airport again.

The end.

(Hopefully this isn't like Disney After Ever After.)

Thank you for allowing me this talk, everyone. You're very kind. I'll just be over here, breathing. Calmly. Rationally. Not thinking about airports.