Immigration

Thursday June 3, 2010

Currently, my passport is not in my possession. This is probably the most frightening thing that can happen in a foreign country. It is currently residing in the office of immigration awaiting a stamp on my newly renewed visa, allowing me to stay in the country 60 more days, and more importantly allowing me to leave on my desired flight.

Renewing a visa in Ethiopia was shockingly one of the easiest things I’ve done. I only had to fill out one form, go to six different rooms at the office of immigration, be interrogated about my intentions for staying by two different people, pay $20, forfeit my passport, return the following day and help a lovely lady who couldn’t read English fill out her form. But even more surprising all of this only took three hours.

The upside is that I don’t have to be back to immigration until the afternoon, so I have the morning to go to foster, and won’t neglect the kids further.
The moral of this story is don’t let your visa expire, even if they did change the law the very same day you got on the plane and mid-air you were not aware that you can now only get a 30 day visa upon arrival and finally, don’t neglect to look at said visa until the first of the following month, 2 days too late.