Today, when Sadie happened to be sixteen months and two days old, we finally closed the long-stay visa process that we started in Hanoi, Vietnam at the end of last April. It doesn't normally take ten months. The type of visa that we have needs to be applied for from outside of Thailand, so that's why we went to Vietnam. Secured her single-entry visa, re-entered Thailand, and Chris's company was the liason for the rest of the paperwork to have a long-stay visa for her approved. We thought that things have gone swimmgingly until we were at the Qantas check-in counter in Melbourne in July, when the error was caught. For some reason, Sadie's visa had already expired.
The good news was that Thai immigration figured that the date on Sadie's visa was a typing error, so she was able to re-enter Thailand. The bad news that we got after we were home was that it was actually a different error, and we'd have to re-start the visa application process all over again, down to having to apply from another country. I'll admit it - I was livid and stayed rather angry about having to start over again for several months. We secured Sadie her second single-entry visa in London over the Christmas holidays (when my rage had given way to acceptance), and thankfully, all of the pieces of the puzzle that came after fell into place they way they needed to.
There were a few tense moments yesterday when I was unable to communicate to the id photo staff that I wanted the date stamped on the back of the four ID photos that I needed to submit, but I guess that wasn't important, in the end.
Wow! I just noticed you are living in Thailand!
Do they have a good library there? How do you get books?
I know my friends said they have an Outback Steakhouse there.
I've traveled a lot in Asia but never to Thailand.
Posted by: Adventure Mom Janna | February 20, 2010 at 11:03 PM