life

now we can breathe.

13 Aug 2013

friday3

it’s finally officially official… again. my love has her visa!! (which she actually got in june – from the american embassy in stockholm). but, the most important thing now is that it is valid – which it was not when we landed, according to the lady checking our passports. there was a signature missing from lina’s university and without that one tiny little signature (the name was typed, but not signed), her whole visa and everything was invalid (even though the american embassy in stockholm issued and validated her visa).

anyway… so the department of homeland security (immigration and all that) whisked her into an interview room. read more about my experiences (= freak out meltdown at baggage claim) during her little interview time here. at the end of the interview, they gave her only one month to stay in the states. she had to get that signature from the person at her university and send the forms to washington, dc, and then they would validate her visa and she could stay. but it all had to be done within a month. and according to her passport when we arrived on july 18, they only gave her until august 16. so basically her visa was only good for ONE MONTH – not the five years that it actually said.

well, last week came and we began wondering if the US government was going to send back her forms and validate her visa for the whole 4-5 years again. i mean, it was only a week left until august 16. we checked the mail obsessively, but nothing arrived. we began wondering if we were gonna have to buy her a plane ticket back to sweden. well, the school was gonna have to buy the ticket, since it was their fault this was happening – though they have been great and totally, completely embarrassed & sorry this happened.

by today we were in a bit of panic mode. with only 3 days to go on her visa and only 3 days to legally be in the states, lina still had not received anything. so, lina emailed her university. long story, short. the school emailed her back at once and told her to call whoever in washington. then, they emailed almost immediately after that and said that there had been a letter delivered to them saying that her visa was now valid for the entire time and that we could come by and pick up the papers.

WOO HOO! now, lina is officially here for her entire university education!! now i/we can finally breathe completely and know that this is where we live… together. no worries about being separated (we dealt with that so much in the beginning of our relationship, living in separate countries, traveling back & forth, spending 3 months together, 3 months apart). but, now, we are here.

and we’re here to stay. for now… (hehe).

oh yeah! and more big news! our first visitors have booked their trip & bought their plane tickets!! next may, lina’s mom & two of her aunts will be spending a week with us. we’re so excited. so, all you other friends and family all over the world, in the states, wherever… the calendar’s filling up, so pick your dates and let us know!

i’m gonna go and celebrate now! peace out. love.

No Comments

  • Reply SopranoOut 13 Aug 2013 at 22:58

    Phew!!!!!!!! I may or may not be a little teary and a little shaky right this minute.

    • Reply liz 15 Aug 2013 at 21:57

      awww… thank you for your emotional support. i can feel the love. xx

  • Reply ashleypaige4 14 Aug 2013 at 02:15

    YESSSSSSS! Congrats you two beautiful ladies! 🙂

    • Reply liz 15 Aug 2013 at 21:58

      whoop whoop!! you’re too kind, my dear friend. 🙂

  • Reply Holly 14 Aug 2013 at 04:29

    Woop woop! ALl done and dusted… now enjoy!

    • Reply liz 15 Aug 2013 at 21:58

      enjoy, we will!! xx

  • Reply Victoria Oldham 14 Aug 2013 at 05:49

    Huge congrats! I know when my visa to stay indefinitely was granted it took a massive weight off our shoulders.
    And now you can put some roots down. 🙂

    • Reply liz 15 Aug 2013 at 21:59

      yes, finally, we can be settled for a bit! it felt amazing when i got my permanent residence visa in sweden, so now we both officially have 2 homes. 🙂

  • Reply carissalick 14 Aug 2013 at 09:25

    I’m so glad to hear that! What a relief it must be. Have fun celebrating!

    • Reply liz 15 Aug 2013 at 21:59

      thank you! it feels great, carissa!

  • Reply poetlandia 14 Aug 2013 at 16:04

    I am so glad! this has to have been unbelievably stressful. Really glad for you both that that parts over and finally dealt with !

    • Reply liz 15 Aug 2013 at 22:00

      stressful, but doable. we survived and now we can enjoy! hope things are going ok with you. thinking of you… xx

      • Reply poetlandia 16 Aug 2013 at 09:39

        pretty much the same: stressful but doable. 😉

        thanks for the thoughts … I’m trying to decide where and when to start blogging again. For now I’m just reading. 🙂

  • Reply A never ending emotional roller-coaster ride | going the distance for love blog 16 Aug 2013 at 10:40

    […] now we can breathe. (belovelive.com) […]

  • Reply goingthedistanceforloveblog 16 Aug 2013 at 11:44

    Thanks for following us 🙂 I always enjoy reading other peoples stories, and it´s especially great when they seem very similar to my own. I look forward to following your.

    • Reply liz 18 Aug 2013 at 20:25

      I look to following your journey as well. It is great to find people in the same situations. 🙂

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