I've found simple ways to answer that question without going into the real story. To help me with my frustration, I'm going to type out the situation so you all, as close friends and family members, can try to sympathize with me.
When Heath first got offered the contract, the head coach asked him to change his wedding date so he could be in Kazakhstan by the August 1st practice. This was not a joke. Obviously that wasn't going to happen so the closest he could get was to get there after the honeymoon. With less than 24-hours after we got back from Cancun, Heath was on a plane headed to another country. My husband left me a day after we got back from our honeymoon. Literally.
All jokes aside, we both were expecting me to get my visa within the next two weeks. This meant that I would meet Heath at our new "home" by the end of August. Well, that didn't happen. Through email conversation prior to leaving, the basketball club (consider this title as administrative services for the entire team) asked Heath to provide a legal document proving that we were married. Although we scanned and emailed our marriage license the day we got married at the OKC courthouse, they still wanted him to bring a copy in person. The club said they could not begin my "invitational letter" until they had proof we were officially married. No big deal. He will bring the license, and my letter would come in quickly. Wrong.
As of this past June 15th, the U.S. Embassy of Kazakhstan no longer accepts visa applications by mail. I have two choices: show up to the embassy in person to drop off my application (c'mon really?), or find/pay a third-party person/company to do that for me. Luckily through my travels in a past leadership fellowship, I have a really great and dependable friend who works in D.C. that agreed to do this favor for me (thanks Bennie!). Upon having all required documents, the visa process is only a 5-business day waiting period. To be a step ahead of the waiting game, I already mailed the necessary documents to Bennie so that when my visa is done, he can simply mail it back to me. Simple? Yeah right.
The difficult part of this whole story is obtaining the actual invitational letter. This document serves as an official "invite" into the country, and can only be administered by an organization's letterhead in Kazakhstan. This letter is then attached by email for me to forward to Bennie so I can have all the required documents to apply for the visa. I just don't have the letter yet.
When Heath first got to practice, he dropped off the marriage license to the club. So we waited, and did not hear anything further. Two weeks went by (slow as ever I might add), and I'm getting impatient about this letter. After those two weeks, the club finally sent Heath to the U.S. Embassy in "the city" (Almaty). We thought this meant he was picking up the letter! Unfortunately, Heath had to go to the Embassy to get our marriage license approved. An hour trip to and from there with $50 less in the bank account, Heath left with no letter. However, the $50 went toward an affidavit which meant the club could now start writing the letter. Are you kidding me? Nothing happened with the letter process the first two weeks he was there!
At this point, I've already made personal contact with the club through email. You can trust that they know who I am and what I want... and when I want it. The problem is our timeframes aren't matching. It was then August 26th. Heath had to leave to Lativia for 10 days immediately following the affidavit fiasco so I had to make sure the club knew that we did not forget about the letter. By "make sure", I basically emailed them every day to see where they were at in the process. Heath and I knew we would have to change my original flight there on Sept. 5th, so we were going to wait until we had the letter until we officially changed it. Well, the club said I had to change my flight before they could write the letter because the letter included my travel information. So, we changed it to Sept. 22nd and I get to Kazakhstan on the 24th... one day after Heath gets back from his tournament in Jordan. Heath and I thought this would give them more than enough time for the letter.
It's now Sept. 5th, and I still don't have the letter. I told the club I needed it no later than Sept. 12th so it would give Bennie time to drop off and pick up my visa from the Embassy. Keep in mind it will take up to 5-business days for them to process it in the first place. Their response? "Well we will try. It depends on our Embassy."
Friends and family, I cannot EVEN DEAL! What does a wife gotta do to get to her husband?! I can't imagine a wait list of Americans dying to get into that country as much as I want to.... as much as I need to. I'm trusting that both the club and the Embassy are doing their best to get me there as well, but the deadline is approaching. If I don't get that letter, I will have to change my flight again... or simply cancel it. This whole situation breaks my heart, but I'm trying to find the reason in it. Everything happens for a reason, right?
In the mean time, I will be
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| Photo Credit: Bennie! |
Until next time,
Natalie
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