On my way to Durban, South Africa from #yeg on a secret (non-work) mission. I don’t actually get there until Monday.
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Welp! Thanks to the slowness in the Canadian High Commission in Pretoria, I’m not making it back to Canada on the original timeline (Aug 15). So, I’m stuck in South Africa until that gets ironed out.
Longest of shots: Anyone have a pull at the high commission?!
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Still stuck in South Africa.
At least the view from my place isn’t bad.
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@linux_mclinuxface Does it feel real yet?
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@tripplehelix definitely.
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Still trapped in South Africa.
The current stage of our process (Canadian citizenship processing) has never taken more than 31 days according to our social worker. Today is day 29 for us. Families that were here a month ago were processed in ~5 days. The office processing is on infinite ring.
And this is not even the last step.
We’ve been appealing to our member of parlament, personal diplomatic connections, our other social workers, etc. Most are sympathetic, but no avail.
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Chris Huck :freecad: :ubuntu:replied to Kyle Davis on last edited by
@linux_mclinuxface Well, this is definitely a case where you don’t want to be the data point that sets a new precedent… Hopefully this will be the day!
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Kyle Davisreplied to Chris Huck :freecad: :ubuntu: on last edited by
@chrishuck yeah, I was telling my wife “this is a time where I don’t want to set a record”
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Amelia Bellamy-Royds :progress:replied to Kyle Davis on last edited by
@linux_mclinuxface This must be so frustrating. I hope you have managed to make a good temporary home where you can focus on creating a joyful & calm environment for your new family member.
If there is any silver lining to the delay, at least it has spaced apart the stress of meeting the new family from the stress of moving halfway around the world. When your little one gets on that plane, it will be with the support of parents he knows will take care of him.
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Kyle Davisreplied to Amelia Bellamy-Royds :progress: on last edited by
@AmeliasBrain yeah, not really. Tomorrow is our 4th move with him. We’re hoping this one is the last.
I do think he is bonding well, so you have a point on that side.
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Still trapped in South Africa: Now with record-breaking length.
Today marks 32 days waiting on the Canadian High Commission in Pretoria to approve our application. The processing time is supposed to be no more than 30. If they process it on Monday, that will be day 34.
The timelines are getting scary for the rest of the processing vs our visas.
We’re reaching out to anyone in government that will listen, but it’s complex.
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There is a light at the end of the tunnel!
My partner got on a plane to Pretoria to visit the Canadian High Commission in person (something we were warned not to do). A little in-person conversations yielded our approval in 2hrs. It was clear that they had messed this up big time.
Now we just need to wait on the temp passport and we’ll be out of here on the 5th!
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Chris Huck :freecad: :ubuntu:replied to Kyle Davis on last edited by
@linux_mclinuxface Awesome!
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Hot damn!
Passport has been approved, couple of days processing and we can pick it up.
We leave Durban on Monday for Johannesburg, then we're re-booked to fly from Johannesburg->Frankfurt->Calgary->Edmonton a week from today!
With luck we'll be back in Canada for next weekend.
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Kyle Davisreplied to Kyle Davis last edited by [email protected]
Passport for the little one
We've got everything we need to take off on Thursday getting in late on Friday back in Canada.
So, I can introduce him to poutine on Saturday!
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Kyle Davisreplied to Kyle Davis last edited by [email protected]
We made it back to Edmonton!
Although, if you can avoid it, 29 hrs traveling with an almost 2 yr old is not advised.