Visa? Or not?

Portugal is gonna Portugal, and we're letting go...

In my last post I wrote about our tentative departure date of July 23rd, arriving on the morning of the 24th. We bought refundable airline tickets and made appointments with the vet, and I had started working on arranging for movers to come the week before our flight.

We made these plans based on the experience of others who had applied at the Newark consulate earlier this year and how long it took for them to get their approvals. For some as few as 13 business days, for others as long as 56 business days, the average being about 26 business days. We were hoping by applying on May 20th, we would have our visas by the end of June, about 30 business days from our trip to Newark. Well.... Today is July 4th and surprise, not a peep. (BTW… Happy 4th of July, or is that Unhappy July 4th?)

Since we obviously have not gotten our visas yet, this image is here to give us a bit of hope and aspiration.

But we kinda already knew this... About two weeks ago, shortly after my last post went live, Yoav and I were chatting over dinner, saying that we shouldn't panic about the visa or change our plans until we reach July 15th with no approval. If by then there is no visa, then we would sort out next steps. We do have our apartment until the end of July, and if we need to, we could do an AirBnb for a week or two in August while we wait. Not ideal, but we will make it happen.

Then just over a week ago, we learned via the Americans&FriendsPT FaceBook group that somebody who applied a couple of days after us contacted the Newark consulate for a status update. They received a response (which is often not the case) from the same lovely person who we met with, that the consulate has been having computer issues and their system has been down for weeks.

WAIT! WHAT???

THIS CAN'T BE!...

Our application hasn't even been entered into the system yet!?¹

But we have plans!

We don't want to change them!

We don't want to be stuck in an AirBnb with just our suitcases and the dog while we just wait for the unknown!

Who knows how long that could take!?

Well... Portugal is gonna to Portugal, whether one likes it or not. The very first thing you must learn and accept unconditionally when dealing with the Portuguese government is patience (and flexibility). You must accept that things will take a long time, and unknowns will inevitably pop up. It has been said many times that the bureaucracy in Portugal is second only to Italy in the EU.

The fact that we have spent money on getting things set up for this move² means nothing to the government of Portugal. So, we are quite literally blowing up our entire lives at their mercy. And... Honestly as hard as that is at times... We're okay with that, even though it likely means blowing through even more of our savings. Yes, this may seem absolutely crazy to the outside world, we are glass half full people (I wasn't born this way³) and believe that patience and trust will carry us through.

Okay, so learning that our visa application may not have even been entered into the system yet definitely was a curveball. It very quickly occurred to us that we really have no idea when we will get our visas. It could take months. It also occurred to us that there is a very simple solution that will cost even more money, but it will solve so many issues.

The solution is to move forward as if we had our visas and to fly out on our planned red-eye the evening of July 23rd arriving in Porto on the 24th. That by the way is only 19 days away. Yikes! We can go on a 90 day tourist visa, and will hope and pray that our residency visas get approved before the 90 days run out on October 22nd, which is a full five months after we applied in May.

Once our visas are approved, we can do a very quick trip to Newark, get our passports stamped with our visas, and fly back, officially starting the clock towards our residency. Of course, that means more money spent... But after calculating our costs to stay in Philadelphia and wait it out... It turns out to be cheaper even after factoring in the cost of the extra round trip to Newark. We won't be paying double rents, double utilities, car insurance, or a litany of other expenses that are either doubled or tied to living in Philly.

Sunset on the River Douro as it flows into the Atlantic from our 2018 trip. This image is perfect as a metaphor of the sun setting on our life in the US all the way across the Atlantic.

So, problem solved right? Well.... The logistics have certainly been sorted out. But, let's talk about the other side of the coin in this situation. That would be related to all the feels around the fact that in less than three weeks, we will be picking up our lives moving to Portugal. And there is an enormous amount to be accomplished before we leave.

This brings up a word I personally haven't had many struggles with in life.

ANXIETY

For the first time in a very long time, I am experiencing anxiety in what I can only describe as unfamiliar ways. Funny, as I am writing this out and mentioning this to Yoav, he clarified that my anxiety has not been about the move itself, but the logistics of the physical moving of our possessions.

I'll post more details about the orchestration of our move and all that is involved in an upcoming post, but for now, lets just say that spending day in and day out sorting and packing for the second time in a year is exhausting, we are on a very hard deadline, and it is stressful as hell. The movers arrive on July 17th. A mere two weeks away.

Meanwhile to add to everything… The goings on in the US Supreme Court this past week has been pretty overwhelming (albeit not all that shocking). I am still processing all that has happened along with the nightmare of the debate this last week. Let’s just say, I have thoughts… And I will post about them.

Also… We have had several friends mention that we are leaving just in the nick of time… As has been our plan since we decided to make the move two years ago.

I will try to squeeze in another post before we leave (after which I will then get to remove the “Almost” from An American (Almost) in Portugal). Until then... The adventure continues.

1. Looking back, I now remember our person at the consulate having issues with her computer, she even had to write out a handwritten receipt for the fee.

2. This includes paying for health insurance and rent on an empty and unseen apartment in Porto since April.

3. To know me in my youth, you would have known me to be a rather negative person who had little vision for the future and lacked any self-esteem. Props to two very good therapists over the past 15 years who helped turn me (mostly) into an optimist.