A Missionary's Departure-Part 2: Visa Woes

Wanted: One Work Visa. Will work long hours and pay a lot for a little sticker in my passport.

I sometimes wonder how many hours I have devoted to keeping one little sticker up to date in my passport. Since 1997 I have had to have this sticker in my passport and the passport with me at all times in the Czech Republic. Each member of my family has also needed this sticker. Children's passports are valid for only 5 years so we have had a number of new passports issued...but please send our old ones back! We need the sticker!

For almost a decade, the process of obtaining or renewing a work visa took some running around to offices but was not complicated. In our first few years, I actually obtained a student visa which was easy to get. Then my regular visits to the foreigner's police in Kutná Hora were very cordial with coffee, chat, and interaction outside of the office. Visa Renewal was always pleasant.

Then we stayed in the USA longer than a year and we lost our visa status. When we came back, the laws had changed (a common theme in this story) and we needed to apply for the visa at a Czech embassy outside the country. So we set off for Bratislava where we have family. The office there dealt with hundreds of requests per week and was neither efficient nor helpful. But that was just a warm-up for dealing with the authorities in Benešov county who didn't understand our job ("starting an American cult") nor our housing situation (renting a house we were trying to purchase) and actively set up as many roadblocks as possible for us.

Some less than fond memories of the dark period of visa renewals includes:

* having to stand in line in front of the embassy for over 2 hours in 20 degree, windy weather and then NOT get one of 12 tickets they issue at the door to receive applications. (Back again the next day at 6:00 AM and even colder weather-but got a ticket!)

* driving the 4 hour trip from Bratislava to Prague AND then back again because Dora's bank statement didn't have her middle name on it.

* hearing that the foreigner's police were looking for me and threatening to arrest our friends for "falsifying living accommodations" paperwork. That night our doorbell rang at 2:00 AM and I was positive I was on my way to jail. (No one was there. It could have been intimidation or it could have been a coincidental mistake)

* having a couple of bags packed and a plan to move to Bosnia because our visa was in process but the Schengen Laws only allowed us in the country 90 days and no more without the visa. An 11th hour decision by the Czech government allowed us (and many other ex-pats) to stay in the country until we had the visas in hand.

Now, wouldn't you know it, the laws have changed again! The laws have been simplified in response to poor implementation and pressure from the European Union to actually make it desirable for foreigners to live in the Czech Republic. The laws will definitely simplify the process once implemented. But there has been a major re-organization of who handles the process and the offices are learning how to do it.

In addition, I attempted to get a work visa without a work permit. This did not work and resulted in my friend and colleague Jan Lukl doing many hours on my behalf to obtain the necessary paperwork. But the paperwork from the labor office did not arrive in time so I lost my application. Therefore I will have to re-submit the application when we get back. There is some time left so I am not too worried about it. But there area always so many "unknowns" along the way. Please be in prayer for each of our visas as we return to the Czech Republic.