e-day [part iv]

It's time for some good news!

This is my final installment of the "e-day" series because... we have our visas! After some consternation and much prayer, our visas arrived in the mail today.

Thank you for praying. I'm happy to say that in 21 days, we will be boarding the plane with all of our necessary paperwork. Praise God!

How NOT to Get a Visa*

1. Get into lively discussions on the way to DC. There's no recipe more proven than a discussion on relationships to assist you in missing all your turns (or at least the important ones).

2. Arrive after 10am (and forget your quarters!). After 10am, all the parking garages increase their prices exponentially... and there probably won't be any street meter-parking left.

3. If you happen to get there before 10, be sure to park front-end-first in the street parking slots. Even if you're only there for a couple minutes, you will receive a ticket. Street parking is back-in only.

4. Have a third-party do your background check. If it's not done by the State Police, the Embassy won't be interested in your app.

5. Leave your cash at home. They only take cash or money orders... so no cash, no visa.

6. Come during their lunch break-- anytime between 12:00-2:30 works.

7. If you aren't successful with #1-#6, and the Embassy does issue you a visa, you have one last hope! Don't look at your visa when you pick it up. Don't check for signatures, don't check to make sure all the fields were filled out correctly, if you're lucky, they may have left some things blank-- making your visa invalid.

But, if you decide that you DO want a visa... just follow the inverse of the above steps, and also take note of the following:

- DO bring your own prepaid flat-rate mailing envelope for the Embassy to mail you back your visa (otherwise, you get gouged by paying $20 for theirs)

- DO make sure you have all the correct information and paperwork, so you only have to make one trip! 

- DO have the contact # of someone in the country you are visiting in case you run into trouble and need advice 

- DO take a picture (or write down) where you parked if you choose to brave a parking garage

Anyone else have advice on the Do's and Don'ts of Visa acquisition? Leave them in the comment section below.


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* This information is tried and true and has been fully disclosed for the purpose of assisting any aspiring travelers, missionaries, or expatriates attempting to acquire their Thai work visas in DC.

e-day [part iii]

Thank you so much for your prayers regarding our visas! This post is the third installment of the "e-day three-day adventure." Claire and I drove to the Thai Embassy yesterday (trip #2) to acquire our non-immigrant type B visas... with great success! As soon as we walked in the Embassy, we were warmly greeted (such a different tone than last time) and were immediately assisted. They even offered to expedite the process for us, as Claire needed her passport back by this Friday for her trip to Mexico.

It was so simple. We handed them our paperwork; they looked over it; we left. They told us we could come back in 24 hours to pick it up. So, Claire took an extended "lunch break" from work today and traveled (trip #3) to the Embassy to pick up our visas. There was a little mix-up, which, to steal Tamra's phrase, may result "blog fodder" for a future post tentatively titled: "How NOT to Get a Visa"...

But, despite some of the mishaps and mis-communication along the way, there have been so many moments of God's hand working. He is still in control. He is a good Father... who not only calls His children out of places to new places, but also is there with them throughout every step. At the end of this month, I will have a lot more to praise God for because I am more acutely aware of all the little things and big things He has worked out.

Thank you for your faithfulness to pray for Claire and me-- I am excited for the progress (little by little!) that we are making to wrap up things here in America, and prepare for Thailand. T-38 days until departure!

Matt 7:9-11

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

E-Day [part ii]

[From the Thai Ministry of Education]

Just a quick update on our "Embassy visit" situation (for those of you who have asked!). When Claire and I went to the Embassy last week they told us we needed two more items: a letter from the Thai Ministry of Education (which John Lapos promptly provided us with) and another background check. The Embassy said the background check could take 4-8 weeks, and the Virginia State Police said 2-4 weeks. We were hoping for two weeks... But great news!

Our background checks were both in our respective mailboxes yesterday afternoon. That's less than one week. Praise God! I know that many of you have been praying specifically about this, thank you. We are trying to schedule another trip to D.C. next week to take care of getting our visa. So, expect a [part iii] sometime next week!

E-day! [part i]

Today was the big day! E-day. Embassy-day. After days (well, hours at least) of careful preparation, Claire and I each had a neat folder of copious paperwork to present to the Thai Embassy. We had our passports, bonus passport pictures, visa application, letter of recommendation from the BSC, bonus letter from Thongchai about the BSC,  transcripts, a background check done through our church, teaching certification, teaching recommendation letter from our TESOL tutor, TESOL certification, resume, bank statement and cash payment.

After a smooth trip to D.C. (which, in itself is a miracle!) we eventually found ourselves at the Thai embassy. There may have been some detours along the way, but we hit the 9-1:00pm window. Happy as organized little clams, we waited our turn and presented the receptionist with our compilation of paperwork. She was not nearly as proud of it as we were. She hadn't heard of the BSC and wanted a copy of the BSC's registration from the Ministry of Education... And a different background check. After we got home I went on the website referenced to get more information on the Ministry of Education. This is the front page:

[click picture to enlarge]

Needless to say, my Thai tutoring is going no where near this well, so I just closed my browser and we passed the question onto John Lapos-- our awesome POC in Thailand. (But seriously... please look at this picture. What in the world. Graphic designer friends: please apply to work for Thailand)

While we were hoping to get our work visa today, there was so much good that came out of this trip. For starters, my long-lost wallet (a month and a half and counting...) was found! Claire's car had swallowed it in one of our previous adventures, and there it was waiting for me, wedged between the console and passenger's seat. Yay!

Also, the pile of things we had to compile has inspired me to make some kind of "Going to Thailand" spreadsheet for future sojourners. There is a lot to keep track of and multiple time-lines to be aware of. I think that having some kind of master-list would be helpful for people wanting to do this in the future. It's my new project!

 And lastly, it's my Spring Break this week-- and every break needs to be celebrated with some sort of trip. It was nice to not have to work, and to talk about Thailand with, perhaps, one of the only people who isn't bored by my verbose ramblings on the topic. :) 

For those of you who prayed for us, and for today, thank you! I know that God has a plan that is bigger than ours, and that He is always working out circumstances in our lives to maximize His glory. My prayer is that He would continue to give us patience and joy as we persevere in what He has called us to do.

As the Thai would say, "Mai pen rai" (no worries)-- God is still in control!

Stay tuned for the "E-day [part ii]" post in the next 2-4 weeks.

PS: Today marks our "2 mo." mark before D-Day: Departure Day.