If you have read our newsletters over the past year you will notice a common thread weaving through them all. There is one thing we ask for your prayers every month and there is no end in sight to those requests. It is the Visa and the continual quest to live legitimately in Russia. As a Christian Ministry we want to do everything the right, legal and honest way, and we have, which is why it is taking us forever to get anywhere.
For those of you who are interested here is the story of how we almost have our work permits.
In May of 2009 we as a ministry submitted the proper documents to get new work visas for the international staff who work in Moscow. We had done this many times before and were not expecting any problems. May passed, then June, then July, finally our staff had to leave the country because their visas were expiring and we did not know when they would be re-issued. Eventually we found out that our visas were delayed because there was an investigation into our organization. That was a surprise to us because we had done nothing wrong. We were not worried about the investigation because we knew we were innocent but we also knew that this would slow things down considerably.
They finally told our organization that everything was in order but they decided to reset the visa issuing from June to January so it would be inline with the majority of work visas issued to other non-profits. Therefore from August to January we would need to find another option. We decided to start using 3 month temporary religious visas that would have to be renewed as soon as the previous visa ended. This meant our team would have to get a second, temporary passport valid for two years with which to get the temporary visas. With this we could keep one with us and mail the other to the United States for visa processing. The only problem is Russia will not allow someone to mail a passport in or out, only a few Eastern European countries will allow that, so our team would have to be creative in its timing with which passport they sent where and when. Jessica and I knew we were arriving in late October or early November so we thought that we would only have to do this once in order to get our long term visa and avoid the whole two passport mess. Unfortunately, we were proved wrong.
January rolled around and our organization found out at the last minute that one piece of paper for the visas was supposed to have a stamp on it but it was not there. In place of the stamp we were given verbal approval but not written approval. Apparently that was good enough for the low-level official who is supposed to give the stamps but not good enough for the fastidious fellows at the visa issuing office. By the way I am grateful for their fastidiousness, it is a big step in fighting corruption and I applaud it. This stamp would require a minimum of one month to acquire, unfortunately the first 10 days of that month were holidays. In Russia every day from January 1st to the 10th is a holiday, that meant it would be one month and ten days for us. That meant that our visas would expire and we would need to get yet another 3 month temporary visa. (below is a picture of the market in downtown Budapest)
Jessica and I found out about this a few days too late and as a result we ended up hanging out in Budapest for 3 weeks while we waited for our Letter of Invitation (LOI) to receive a visa, then mailed that LOI along with our passports and applications to the Russian Embassy in Washington DC then waited for them to process it and send it back. But of course there was a massive snowstorm in DC delaying FedEx by three days meaning we had to wait another week in Budapest. Either the Lord was trying to teach us a lesson in patience and reliance upon him or someone or something really did not want us in Russia. We finally got our second 3 month temporary visa in mid February and headed back to Moscow. (Dave finally getting our visas fresh from the FedEx truck)
We waited and waited for news on our permanent visas/work permits but never heard a thing. In the meantime we all got our college diplomas “apostilled” (which is a fancy word for “notarization good enough for any country to recognize”) and translated, then we submitted those to the gentleman whom we hired to get our visas. After getting these (in March) he said “Oh great, now I can go submit these to get your visas.” He never told us he was waiting for these, he just waited and never told us. My mother always said if you can’t say something nice about someone don’t say anything at all. So we are moving on with the story.
We waited some more and eventually time drew near enough that we had to start the process of getting yet another 3 month temporary visa just in case our permanent ones did not arrive in time. I mean really, why should we have expected them to? Let’s be honest.
Through a friend and former colleague we found out that in one morning you could get a new visa for free in Cyprus if you had all the proper paperwork (LOI, passport, pictures, application, HIV/AIDs Test, etc). With this good news Jess and I headed to Cyprus in May with only days to spare on our old temporary visas. We were in Cyprus for three days and sure enough it took one morning and was free, plus we got to hang out at the beach for a day and see a new country! Not bad, but still expensive and not what we wish we were doing with our time. Below is a picture of St Lazarus's Cathedral in Cyprus. Supposedly he was buried there.
Finally we got word that our permanent LOIs (Letters of Invitation) were ready and we could pick them up at the hired “gentleman”’s office. This was good news because it meant we could carefully prepare our applications and send them off in order to get our permanent visas with plenty of time. We went to the office on the day they said they would be ready and sure enough...they weren’t. They said come back next week. We came back the next week and half of the LOIs had either incorrect names, birthplaces or dates. They had to be corrected so we gave them back and told them to correct the mistakes. They said come back in a few days. I did and sure enough...they weren’t ready. A week later and sure enough...not ready. Now our comfortable window of time was becoming more and more uncomfortable. It was coming down to the wire. With only a couple days to spare we got all the right documents and FedEx-ed them to America for processing.
Our permanent passports and visas arrived at the door of a friend the day before they left America to visit us in Russia. It was by the skin of our teeth that they made it. But that seems to be the norm for visas.
Honestly, this last visa trip wasn’t so bad. All we had to do was cross the border and come back. So we found the cheapest flight and hotel offer we could and went with it. Things worked out perfectly for us and we were able to fly Budapest in time to celebrate Jess’s 30th birthday and then fly back on our new visa. It took three days and was incredibly relaxing and stress free. It still was not the ideal situation and not what we came to Russia to do, but one thing we are learning about living in Russia is to make the best of what’s around. So we did.
For more on turning a work visa into a work permit read the next story in the Visa Saga, it will be up soon.
Thank you for your prayers and support in us as we serve here in Russia. We did not come here to go on visa trips or deal with applications and red tape but we will do what we have to in order to share the Gospel. Compared to what the apostles went through our ordeal is a walk in the park. Thanks for holding us up through your prayers and encouragement, we would not have made it this far without you.
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