The Visa Saga Continues

Written by Brittany

Many of you followed our visa journey back in August as we tried to get our visas to leave on time for the Czech Republic. Well, now that journey continues, and it's just as crazy as last time.

When we were preparing to leave, we did not have much time to acquire our visas, so we got visas that lasted for only 90 days, because they had the fastest turn-around time. These visas expire on November 20. We thought renewing our visas once we were here would be much easier than acquiring them in the first place, but a law change that happened at the end of June changed that.

According to this new law, 90 day visas cannot be renewed in country. Which means, we will have to leave the Czech Republic and go to a Czech embassy in a different country to apply for long term visas and employment cards. When we first heard this, it was definitely overwhelming. We thought our visa frustrations were over, but as we are quickly learning from other ex-pats, these frustrations never really end.

Thankfully our supervisor, Jessica, knew of a consultant, Richard, who we could hire to help us make the appointment at an embassy, figure out what documents we need, and all the other details. Jadon, myself, and our teammate Annie (who is in the same situation) hired Richard, and he has already been a great help.

So what we know as of right now: The three of us have an appointment at the Czech embassy in Berlin, Germany at 1:00pm on November 10. We're still waiting to find out exactly what documents and other things we need.

Please keep us, Annie, and our other teammate Dennis in your prayers as the four of us try to navigate these confusing visa waters. We are so grateful to have Jessica for her practical and emotional support.

Unrelated to visas: This past Saturday, Jadon & I traveled to a small town called Český Krumlov, about 2.5 hours south of Prague. The whole town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (a place that is listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as of special cultural or physical significance). Which basically means that the sites are preserved for their value. 

View of the town from the Castle

Our bus left Prague at 8am, and we were in the town from 11am-8pm. We were able to explore the castle and the many winding streets, as well as enjoy some delicious food, coffee, and just relax in the perfect weather. It was one of the best days we've had here so far. (To see more pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.919632976677.1073741838.69601108&type=1&l=81de5de8b9)

Praises: 
- Fixed washing machine AND a microwave!!
- Health. After a full month of sickness, we are both finally feeling back to normal! (And prayers that we continue to feel that way.)
- We leave for Paris in FOUR days!!!
- Our health insurance cards are finally here! It seems like many things we have been waiting on are coming together.

Prayer Requests:
- Obviously the visas are our main request right now. That we do everything correctly the first time and that we can remain peaceful and patient as things get figure out.
- Traveling. We will be flying to Paris (!!!) on Friday and returning next Wednesday. Prayers that everything we've booked works out and for safety as we travel.
- Our oven is still broken. We aren't sure where we're at with that, but hopefully it will be fixed or replaced soon.
- We are starting our Bible study with two of our friends here tomorrow, so prayers that the Lord can use that to strengthen our personal relationships & our relationships with Him.