Advent: A Time of Joyful Anticipation Well, I'm just stopping by to thank everyone who's commented and supported me throughout this long waiting period. There are 19 days left until Christmas...and I am now trying to think about waiting for my visa in terms of the "joyful hope" to which this Advent season calls us.
Second week of Advent
On Sunday at Mass, the readings were about waiting and time. 2 Peter 3: 8-9 relevantly proclaims:
...do not forget this one thing, dear
friends: with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are
like a day. The Lord is not slow keeping His promise, as some understand
slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to
come to repentance.
Good news: my visa's been approved! I've decided that if God is outside of time, then I should give up my expectation of Him answering my prayers for my visa in MY time; rather, everything will happen in God's own time. The above passage really hit home for me--especially since my visa consultant contacted the Saudi embassy last week and let me know this greatttt news: MY VISA HAS BEEN APPROVED!!!!! Now, my waiting CAN be in joyful anticipation because I know, as with Advent, it's to a definite end! I will be going to Jeddah. It's just a question of when the embassy decides to physically stamp my visa and send it back to me.
I've decided to use this time to perfect the virtue of patience, and to keep trusting in God. As St. Peter suggests, I've let go of time (as much as I can) and am trying to just be.
Preparatory Waiting To anyone else out there reading this and waiting for something--whether it be Christmas day, a visa, being reunited with a spouse or family, or anything at all--consider your own wait a time of preparation. Preparation for the fulfillment of God's plan, for your life, for your future. Inshallah, everything will come into place as it is meant to be.
I invite you all to wait with me in joyful anticipation for the wonderful future ahead!
Worries... "Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere." -Glen Turner
I think that this is quite a fitting quote to begin my entry on 50 days of waiting for my elusive visa. Last week, leading up to the promise of a hopeful day 45 when I would know whether my visa application was accepted or rejected, I was a nervous wreck. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't turn off my thoughts, and I was missing DH so dearly. I kept thinking, "what if my visa is rejected. I will find out my 'fate' any day now." What I didn't realize then is that when I kept worrying (and at the same time saying I was trusting God to bring myself peace), I was working against God's plan for DH and I rather than allowing that plan to play out in God's own perfect way. Passing the 45 day mark of my wait paradoxically brought me peace rather than added anxiety and frustration. How crazy!
You see, praying, "God please allow my visa to arrive by Friday" (the glimmering, hopeful day 45) was doing the opposite of having faith--it was making demands of God that I now recognize were unreasonable! So, when last Friday nothing happened, I finally gave up my anxiety and decided that it's now completely in God's hands. I'm not trying to be all preachy in the least; rather, I'm just giving an idea of how I personally overcame my anxiety over something beyond my control.
A Shocking Confession (gasp!) When there was no visa last Friday, then, my visa consultant made a confession (shh! I think's it's supposed to be kept on the low down, but if you're reading this, you're likely interested in what's going on with Canadian visas for Saudi, and it's only fair I let you in on the play by play).
Around the time I last wrote, she'd informed me that after 30 days she was being notified by the Saudi embassy in Ottawa if visa applications had been rejected, or if there were any problems with applications. After 42-45 days, visas were accordingly consistently arriving back to her with no issue. On Friday, however, the story changed. Sick of "covering up for the embassy," and feeling terrible for DH and I being apart for so long and for giving us false hope about being reunited soon, she confided in me. In reality, the embassy has apparently "lost track" of the dates on which Canadians have been submitting their visa applications. The computer system into which our information is being put is inconsistent. A visa application was returned to my consultant the day I called, after 50+ days of "processing." The embassy said there were documents missing. The "occupation" listed was no longer valid (in the nearly 2 months since this person applied, rules had changed), and this particular individual was forced to reapply, thus commencing yet another 45+ day wait.
So am I scared? Kind of! I am worried that I won't see my husband until June when his contract finishes. I am concerned that we're getting into debt, that I soon have to begin repaying my student loans, and that only one of us is working. But I'm also trying to trust. Trust that there's something bigger at work in all this. That if I'm supposed to make it to Jeddah to enjoy a beautiful pink sunset with DH that I will get there. And if that's not part of what's supposed to happen, then so be it. I am strong. I will make it through whatever comes my way.
Time for Plan B? I have accordingly been applying for college teaching positions in Toronto, and keeping the door open to the possibility that I might be sticking around here. Not that that will necessarily happen--I have to hear back from the embassy sooner or later and know what's happening! But, for the sake of my sanity, I am being proactive and being open to whatever might happen.
There's a certain sense of peace that having foresight brings. Yes, that elusive peace. And the elusive visa. Somehow the elusiveness of both can coexist.
Oh, and I must append this entry with a lovely new development (insert sarcastic tone here)... I just read a job posting seeking female teachers for Saudi Arabia. The "European Recruitment Agency" appends the job post with the following:
Unfortunately we are unable to open this vacancy to applicants from Canada as visas are taking up to 90 days to clear through the Canadian Saudi Embassy. Also, the Saudi Government has recently implemented a change in their visa allocation. As of October 2011 we are unable to put forward female candidates aged below 27 or over 60 years of age. Unfortunately we, as a recruitment agency, have no flexibility on this new ruling. Therefore if you do not fall into the correct age bracket (i.e. you are aged between 27–60) please do not apply.
If you've been following my blog, you already know what "day 42" means--my 45 day visa wait (according to the Saudi embassy in Ottawa's time frame) is about to come to a close, inshallah (god willing). I am so incredibly anxious and excited. Anxious that everything will go through and there are no issues with my application, and excited that, any day now, I could be jumping on the next flight to Jeddah!
The elusive Saudi visa
I called my visa consultant yesterday, day 41, to see if she'd heard anything back from the embassy and to get a sense of how long visas are actually taking (since the embassy has said "30 to 45 days" I wondered whether any visas are approved sooner). She said visas are generally arriving back to her around or after day 41. She receives the FedEx delivery of visas daily at 3pm, so who knows...could today be the day my visa is stamped?
I'm trying to not to be too hopeful and be disappointed yet again. The whole process of applying, reapplying, and waiting for this visa has been emotionally exhausting, and has brought me to the point of exasperation more times than I can count. DH and I are trying to keep it together by skyping most days (as we have been doing for over 2 years now), and praying more than ever. Trying to trust in God's timing for our lives brings some peace of mind. That said, my consultant said that the embassy usually lets her know if there are problems with a visa application around the 30 day mark. I hope this means I'm in the clear!
One of my Canadian readers was kind enough to be in touch letting me know about his visa application process. A few weeks ago we were exchanging information and discussing the whole visa / waiting situation. He'd also been packed and ready to go for two months plus by the time his visa was stamped on the 45th day. Shout out to you, Rob, I hope you've made it to KSA safely!! Congrats on making it through the wait!
Political motives underlying visa wait times
If you're reading this, you might be interested in some of the research I've done (and verified with my visa consultant) about WHY Saudi visas for Canadians are so darned complicated. Having little else to do with my time while waiting, I've made it my mission to understand the politics of the 30 to 45 day wait imposed starting September 1, 2011. Why that date? What suddenly changed? What did Canada do to Saudi Arabia that brought them to implement a policy that is not only frustrating but seemingly ridiculous? Exploring all of these reasons has made me so many things--empathetic, frustrated, angry, and more knowledgeable about global politics and the intricate ways they can play out.
I've found four interesting details / developments that relate to the Canada / KSA visa escapade:
(1) Saudi Arabia is not the first to use visa restrictions / inconveniences to get back at Canada. In January 2011, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a country that previously allowed Canadians to travel there without a visa, imposed a fee upwards of $200 for Canadians wishing to enter the country. "Increasingly strained relations between the two countries led to the new restriction on travel. Authorities in the UAE have cited both landing rigths and a lack of reciprocity as bases for the move." (http://www.moveoneinc.com/blog/immigration/enuae-revokes-visa-waiver-privilege-canadian-citizens/). I have no doubt that Saudi Arabia's reasoning for placing Canadians in the current visa situation is similarly politically motivated.
Political red tape.
(2) The recent "Ethical Oil" campaignthat hit Oprah's "OWN" channel a couple of months ago, for instance, points to strained relations between Canada and KSA. The Ethical Oil campaign involves a controversial video (below) whichsuggests that women's rights in KSA are a compelling justification for boycotting Saudi oil--deemed "Saudi conflict oil"--and consuming Canada's oil instead. Watch it here:
Really? "Ethical oil?" How ethical is Canadian oil?
I could write a whole SERIES of blog entries on this topic exploring the endless ways in which this campaign is just so wrong. Wrong to somehow align women's rights with OIL when it's completely obvious that the real motivation isnotone of genuine concern for Saudi women (if we even need to be concerned about them in such a flat out, problematically broad way) butabout the desire to bolster the sale of Canadian oil in a troubled economic climate.It is beyond frustrating thatwomen's rightsare being posited in a way that uses them / us to propagate political and social agendas.
*If there's interest, I might blog on this more in another entry*
In any case, my rant aside, the "Ethical Oil" campaign naturally provoked a response from Saudi Arabia. They responded not only by attempting to censor the commercial from playing on Canadian tv, but by revoking a previously less painful visa application process.
(3) The 30 to 45 day visa wait is also related quite obviously tocomplaints Saudis have about obtaining their own visas to enter Canada for work, study or travel. It's been known to take literally months (from a month to over six months) for Canada to process Saudi visa requests. Accordingly, by imposing a similar wait on Canadians, Saudi Arabia is trying to push us to relax our own visa policies.
The most obvious evidence of the visawait as a reactive force comes from the Canadian foreign affairs website that states: "Due to the number of applications we receive, we strongly recommend that you submit your application at least 45 days beforeyour departure date. Processing time may be shorter" (http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/saudi_arabia-arabie_saoudite/visas/processing-traitement.aspx). The Saudi embassy in Ottawa makes an almost verbatim statement about Canadians wishing to apply for Saudi visas.
I was reading through a forum for Canadian visa applicants, and the stories and conversations are often heart-wrenching. Family members are separated, wives are pregnant abroad waiting to join their husbands in Canada, Saudi students often do not receive their visas in time to begin the school year, etc, etc. This really puts my situation in perspective. Yes, it's frustrating and challenging playing the waiting game and being separated from my husband, but I understand why Saudi Arabia is taking a stand for its citizens in this way. We'd want our government to do the same for us. Unfortunately, many people and families are caught in the middle of political conflict and unrest, having personally done nothing to warrant the horrendously long waits for visas.
(4) Finally, it is worth mentioning that Canada, in an apparent attempt to reconcile, has apologized to Saudi Arabia for delays in processing visas for Saudi nationals. Arab News reported that on October 9, 2011, the Canadian Ambassador to KSA, David Chatterson, issued an official apology to Saudis:
“The Embassy of Canada would like to take this opportunity to apologize for recent delays in issuing visas and for the negative impacts these might have had on Saudi applicants,” said a statement issued by the embassy on Sunday.The Canadian Embassy would like to assure the citizens of Saudi Arabia that it is workinghard to reduce visa processing times,” it added."
Unfortunately, over a month later, the apology appears to have had little resonance with the Saudi embassy in Ottawa. We cannot expect changes to happen overnight, of course, but it appears that the prolonged visa wait is being systemically entrenched rather than rectified--the embassy has now noted that new applicants should submit their visa applications with only copiesof their passports, and, after 45 days, will send a request for the passport. The stamped passport will be returned 10+ days later.
Could things get worse? Please, please, PLEASE let my application be approved on the first try!!!!!!!
I hope I’ll be able to write by Friday (day 45) with GOOD NEWS! Thanks for your thoughts & prayers, my amazing readers! I look forward to writing to you from Jeddah under a vibrant pink sunset!
I am definitely enduring a test of patience. My first instinct, as a lover of literature, and an English grad, is to turn to Shakespeare for sympathy. He says that:
"Time is very slow for those who wait Very fast for those who are scared Very long for those who lament Very short for those who celebrate But for those who love time is eternal"
Indeed, it is true. Time cannot seem to move any more slowly than it is while I am waiting for my visa. But the good news is I'm in love with my husband, and am trying to focus on the "eternal" nature of time and love! Our time together, whenever that finally arrives, will be lasting!
I have a couple of updates on my visa application process--finally! Good and bad at the same time... DH sent me my paperwork this weekend (Saturday) and I was finally able to actually go to Toronto and apply for my visa on Monday!!! YAY!!! My retired father was kind enough to drive me downtown and joined me in my frantic running around back and forth across the city.
So there is the good news. Bad news? Well, as of September 1, 2011 (and DH and I knew this in advance and were trying to expedite everything to beat the deadline...) visa processing times are between 30 to 45 days. This is a change from the former 5 day timeline! In any case, DH and I were hoping the embassy in Ottawa was just saying this, and not really putting the long wait into effect, but alas, my visa consultant said that I indeed should anticipate at least a month's wait for my passport to be returned with the visa.
When DH sent my sponsorship papers from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, all seemed okay, except that my name was listed with my surname first and given name second. I figured this must be an Arabic thing, since the language reads from right to left. The only things in English on the document were my name and my husband's, so I figured I wasn't an authority to complain about the name thing looking off. Anyways, yesterday, my visa consultant, a Jordanian woman who reads Arabic, pointed out the "error" to me...and it turns out I'm right! *sigh* She said I can try to submit the visa application as it is and see what happens, but if something is wrong, the embassy will likely have me reapply from scratch and wait ANOTHER 30 to 45 days. So, poor DH got up at 5am today to have time before work to go to his workplace's passport office and rectify the papers. He waited 2 hours and the official never showed up in his office! I feel terrible, but neither of us wants to risk having to restart everything (not to mention all the expenses of beginning all my paperwork again!)
All this said, my visa application was submitted yesterday and should arrive in Ottawa today. So the countdown is now on, and I'm waiting for word that my visa has been approved. We're going to send the corrected sponsorship document along once I receive it from Saudi Arabia and try to just add it to my current application. *fingers crossed* it will all work out on the first try!
Of course there were other issues. First, the "travel itinerary" I submitted with my visa application (really, a formality; I'm not supposed to actually book a flight yet) was apparently unreasonable. I'd been instructed to submit an itinerary for a date earlier than 45 days in order to kind of hurry the embassy up...but my consultant said the embassy's been sending back applications requesting more realistic travel dates. So I rushed home from downtown Toronto to send my consultant an updated itinerary for November 6th. 45 days. For a visa. For real.
Secondly, apparently some of my medical tests need explanation (to me--and my doctor--everything seems straightforward, but you can't reason with the embassy's craziness!) So, I rushed from sending in the new itinerary to the doctor's office where I'd been squeezed in. The doctor said he also saw no issue with my medical test results, but obliged me by writing a note to "clarify" the obvious.
Anyways, that was my adventure yesterday. I've been reading another blog about the adventures of trying to get into KSA. An Australian woman who went to Riyadh as a scientist at a hospital. It took her 8 months from the time she signed her contract in March 2009 to get her papers, sponsorship and visa in order and actually arrive that November. I guess things are moving along "fast" for me in relative comparison. But really, how absurd is that?! Let me use this as a cautionary tale for any readers out there who would consider a move to KSA: count on the process taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r! If you have one, do not quit your job until you have your visa in hand. Otherwise, anticipate being like me, sitting around your parents' house playing oh so lovely the waiting game.
I thought I'd be in Jeddah by now. Or at least have my flight booked. But those of you who have been following the whole convoluted process of my attempt to organize my papers to go know that as soon as the Saudis are involved, no matter how prepared and organized I am, it doesn't matter.
Inshallah, inshallah... (God-willing, God-willing...) My sponsorship papers still aren't ready, and my husband's university (my sponsor) doesn't seem to be in a rush to get them in order. So until they get with it, I can't apply for my visa.
The VISA process so far
So far, I've completed everything I need from my end to process the visa:
* Visa application form
* Taken extra passport photos
* Copy of my husband's residency card (called an "Iqama")
* Marriage documents showing my relationship to sponsor (getting these notarized, translated, legalized and stamped by the Saudi embassy in Ottawa was an adventure in itself!)
* Medical report / medical tests (and had these stamped by the Ontario College of Physicians, legalized and stamped by the Saudi embassy)
* Police clearance report (no, everyone, I do not have a criminal record; no scandals lurking here!)
* Copy of passport validity
* Copy of travel itinerary (expected date of departure: September 22...yah right!)
Paperwork ready to go...
All this work...and nothing! I haven't been blogging as much as I'd hoped I would be...but short of complaining about bureaucratic inefficiencies and crying about how much I miss my husband (again), I haven't much to say.
Oh, Oreo
One piece of bad news that worked to my advantage (kind of): my cat, Oreo, has all his paperwork prepared to come with me; however, his international health certificate is valid for only 30 days after it was prepared and stamped by the embassy. That gives me until September 19th...and there's no way I'll be taking off that soon considering all of the above. So...when my parents realized how much MORE money I'd be spending on having his documents redone, they finally caved in and offered to take him in for the year I'm abroad. I'll miss him, but this sure saves a LOT of stress, money and hassle!
(Slightly severe) Academic withdrawal
On another note, I'm in intense withdrawal from academia. I commented on facebook that this is my first time in 22 years not starting school in September. Yikes! This morning, I really began lamenting this, and started going through readings of courses that I'd be in IF I'd decided to accept admission into a PhD program rather than move abroad. *Sigh* Oh, to be in "Early Modern Households and the Professional Stage" right now. Among other pieces for tomorrow's class, I'd be reading
John Dod and Robert Cleaver, A godlie forme of householde gouernment (1612),
Henry Smith, A preparative to marriage,
William Whately, A bride bush,
and all my other lovely favourite early modern pieces in preparation for plays including Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, and Thomas Heywood's A Woman Killed With Kindness. I so want to be back in school!!! Inshallah (see? It's in my own vocabulary now...) I'll soon be teaching English. Inshallah, inshallah...
I ended my last entry by noting the inefficiencies of Saudi bureaucracy--the HR interviewer of a potential employer who didn't let me know he was rescheduling our Skype interview. Well, I ended up receiving an offer to teach English with that particular company (a private English school in Jeddah), but I think I'm going to wait and see if something more lucrative comes up. (Although I did negotiate the salary he was willing to offer and he bumped up his original offer quite substantially!) I have been a bit annoyed with the university that offered me a job: they won't process my application or make an "official" offer until I actually have my physical degree in hand...and that could be some time, even though I'll be finished my master's degree within a month. I'm trying to be positive about it though, and use this as a learning opportunity that will prepare me for the way Saudis run things. I will undoubtedly run more and more into this kind of bureaucratic red tape before arriving!
This morning, I had a phone call from another university in Riyadh (I'm intentionally leaving out potential employer names right now for anonymity). It was 8am (on a Saturday!), and the director apologized for the early call. Ends up he is from the US, which is really a positive. Westerners have a more familiar way of running things, and I would imagine this would tie into the way (and efficiency with which) my application is processed. I'm consciously trying not to say we have a *better* system because everything I read about effectively adjusting to a new culture emphasizes the importance of being *open* to change and differences. That said, I do think working for an American boss would make the transition to KSA smoother.
Downtown Riyadh, KSA
The job sounds fantastic, the pay is more than excellent; in fact, we would save nearly twice as much as if we both worked at the university in Jeddah! But there's the catch: the job isn't in Jeddah and that is where my fiancé has settled in. . . and where I've been researching things to do, places to see, cultural traditions. I feel like I already know Jeddah. When my fiancé first moved to KSA and mentioned a possible transfer to Riyadh I was terrified of that possibility. At that point, I knew so little about KSA in general that the thought of him moving to the ultraconservative capital was more than I could handle! The more I learn and read about the country, though--and notably, all this reading is NOT from biased Western sources (more on that in another entry!)--the more open I begin feeling, and comfortable I slowly become with difference. That said, I'm not sure if I'm very informed about Riyadh culture in relation to Jeddah...and I have been looking forward to living in proximity to the Red Sea!
Also, if we move to Riyadh, my fiancé would have to find a different job. He's already comfortable working at the university where he currently is, and I guess we'll have to have a lot of discussion about which place is the best for both of us.
Eastern Saudi Arabia - close to fun gulf counties!
On a more positive note about Riyadh, it is super close to Kuwait, where my fiancé and I enjoyed some time this past February, and where a dear friend of mine and her husband will be (probably a 5 or 6 hour drive). It's also close to Bahrain, where many Westerners go for weekends where there is more freedom (there, women don't have to wear the abaya [the long black cloak we must wear in public in KSA], and there are movie theatres, and men and women can mix more freely). Also, Riyadh is closer to Dubai, where we'd love to visit!
I'm going to end for now with a bit of a Carrie Bradshaw-like musing (I can just hear her say this in Sex and the City lol): what is ultimately more important--money, or familiarity and comfort?
