What to Do When the Visa Process Gets Hairy
For starters, take a deep breath & realize we've all been through it before. Then remember why you're doing this in the first place.
There’s nothing worse than dealing with the visa (and then residency) process of a foreign country. Unless you’re moving to South Korea on a work visa and they literally take your hand throughout the entire thing.
No joke, they’ll drive you where needed. Tell you when to smile and when to look stoic in official pictures. Walk you single file through the city to the doctor’s office. And send you a list of documents that’s straightforward and never lacking.
I’d move across the world again if it meant getting these egg breads all the time (South Korea, circa 2017)
At least that was my experience when I moved there to teach for a year back in 2017. The entire process of getting a job, moving to the country, and getting my temporary “alien” card took just a few months.
Moving to Ecuador with the Peace Corps was also pretty simple, until the day came that we had to recreate the exact signature from our passport 4 times in a row. It took me hours to redo the signature I had butchered back when I was 14.
In Vietnam, I didn’t realize at the time that I essentially bought my 1-year visa. Everything was presented to me as quite legal and straightforward, until the visa crackdowns during Covid when my visa was deemed “rejected” and I was unable to get a new one. The company who had gotten me this visa 2 years in a row denied any participation when I asked for my 3rd.
These were the easy times. And yet still not without their hurdles.
After Vietnam, we spent the next few years hopping around as digital nomads, essentially avoiding the whole thing. Turns out that brain break was just what we needed to land head first into Italian bureaucracy.
It took 1 year, 2 trips to Colombia, and a never ending list of documents for my husband to secure his work visa in Italy. And that was with a job offer. There were moments during that year that I wanted us to pull out and cancel the whole plan. Another 9 months after that, we both had our temporary residence permits. These just expired and now we’re in another waiting game to get our next round of permits renewed.
Sometimes things are relatively quick and easy, sometimes things are not.
None of these cases did I (or we) do anything terribly right or wrong…except potentially in Vietnam but I’ll take those few years of bliss.
Every country is going to treat this process differently. And also every nationality (unfortunately) gets different treatment. It also might come down to the exact person who’s dealing with your case. Some might be competant, others will be lacking.
My best piece of advice is to just go for it and hope for the best. Know a hurdle will arise at some point but so long as you’re confident in your decision to move, it’ll work out.
When this process gets hairy I can offer you one big piece of advice: remember why you’re doing this. Keep the end goal in mind. If you get so focused on the minute struggles and paperwork, you’ll likely lose your mind and want to pull the rug out from under your own feet.
In times like that, go ahead and get your frustration out with either a punching bag, a run, or a glass (bottle) of wine and then remind yourself why you’re temporarily torturing yourself.
If needed, you might even want to make a list of the reasons you’re most looking forward to this move. I don’t suggest you make them fully based on the cost of living either because sometimes moves and visas can be costly. Think about things like lifestyle, culture, or what’s best for your family.
By keeping your eye on the prize, you’ll realize that this is all worth it to live where you dream of.
And with this, I’m going to wrap up our month of visas. Next week I’ll be back with my monthly round-up and with some plans for September. If there’s anything in particular you want to see here, don’t hesitate to ask!
Until then,
Kat
Awesome advice as always!