Details of my Visa Woes

When I arrived in El Salvador 1000 years ago (actually April 24th) I had to go thru immigration and customs at the airport, per usual. The less than happy faced immigration official put a stamp in my passport that would allow me to stay in El Salvador for 90 days. The next day I started the process to become a resident (NOT a citizen) of El Salvador. Being a resident (and having a resident ID card) would allow me to stay for a long time (a couple of years I think) without having to renew or extend my visa, and would keep me from having to go out of the country every 90 days. A residency card out-ranks/supersedes a Visa. By the grace of God, literally, I received my temporary residency card without having huge hassles like most people do. My temporary res. card would also expire in 90 days, but my permanent card would be ready before then, ...or so they said. So, I went off to Guatemala to start school (at the end of April) and then after 8 weeks (early July) I went back to El Salvador for a 3 week break since my school did not have room for me for 3 weeks. During that time I discovered that my permanent card would not be ready any time soon. The reason they're so far behind is that they now insist that an official has to interview each applicant eyeball to eyeball in your house or at your job before you can be approved. 2 days before I returned to school, the interview guy showed up (July 11th). He said my permanent card would be ready in 20-25 days.

Do you get the problem? I had a bus ticket to go back to school in Guatemala on July 15th, but my Visa would expire on July 24th and my residency card would expire on July 27th. That means I would be in Guatemala as an illegal alien once my dates expired, and I may not be able to get back into El Salvador after my residency card expired on July 27th. Yikes! Therefore, before I left El Salvador I and others made numerous phone calls and trips to immigration. We were assured that I would be fine in Guatemala, and that when school ended in early to mid August, I would be allowed back into El Salvador if I just showed them my temporary card and explained (in Spanish, none the less) what was going on. OK, so I crossed my fingers and got on the bus, and left El Salvador as I headed off for school in the neighboring country of Guatemala.

Guess what? The less than happy faced man with some sort of big military type of gun said that I would not be able to return to El Salvador after July 27th, (the date on my temp. res. card). I explained everything. Neither he nor his gun seemed to care. When I finally got into Guatemala, I immediately called my director, Teri, back at the orphanage. I was in a panic. She and others started to make phone calls. They kept being told the same thing....all will be fine when I returned in Aug (after the July 27th expiration date) if I just showed my card to he border guard and explained my situation. Yeah, right.

My entire 1st 1.5 weeks of class I was worthless. I spent nearly every extra min on the Internet or on the phone trying to figure out if I should leave school and get my rear end back into El Salvador before it was too late. Or did I need to go to the USA? Or do I stay and take my chances and hope I can get back into El Salvador? I could just see myself in "No man's land" which is a stretch of road about 200 yards long that sits between the border of Guatemala and El Salvador. Guatemala would definitely let me out of their country because I would be an illegal alien (after I paid a nice fee), but El Salvador may not let me in. So I could just see me sitting on my suitcase in No Mans Land with a cell phone that can't reach over the mountains to call for help. And then the official would decide to take me into the local jail to be held until they can figure out what to do with me. OK, I admit it, maybe I have an over-active imagination...or maybe not. But I was STRESSED OUT! I remember calling my mom and dad late one night, sometime after midnight. I'm not typically a person that goes running to their mommy and daddy with issues. But sometimes a kid (even an adult kid) just needs to hear that everything is going to be OK from their mommy and daddy. On that night my mom and dad could not have been better. They listed to me (most importantly), told me they loved me, assured me they and others would be praying for me, and helped me come up with a game plan. And yes, it did dawn on my just how fortunate I am to have my mommy and daddy that I can run too. So many don't have this option.

A friend of mine at school recommended that I talk to a local guy who knew just about everything and everyone in Antigua, his name is David. David put me in touch with Jose, a guy who I could pay to get an extension on my visa. It was definitely one of those things where you don't ask questions, you certainly don't ask if thing's are being done legally, and you just hope for the best. He made some calls and assured me that he could get Guatemala immigration to put an extension onto my El Salvador visa for about $60. However (you knew there was going to be a however, didn't you!) he had to have my drivers license, passport, temp res. card, and an active credit card to be left with him during this time. YIKES! But I proceeded, and the plan was that he would take my passport to immigration the next day (Friday- and Monday was the deadline)and get them to stamp an extension onto my visa. However, he ran into a snag, and we worked that snag out on Sat. So he returned on Monday to immigration. Again, another snag. I was in a panic. It was now the day (Monday) that my visa would expire, and the snag caused us to be delayed one more day. Jose told me he talked to his "inside person" who assured him that she could be able to "make something happen".

On July 24th (technically 91 days after April 24th...and yes, this does matter to immigration officials) my Visa was stamped with the "appropriate date" giving me another 90 days to breathe. Now all I have to do is wait for Aug 12th when I have to cross the borders of Guatemala and El Salvador and hope that both sets of guards recognize/accept Guatemala's extension onto my El Salvador Visa, which honestly shouldn't be a problem and truely is legal. But nevertheless I'll breath a sigh of relief and say another pray of thanks once I'm on the inside of the El Salvador border.

I'd be lying if I said I was never worried or scared. But to tell you the truth, after my late night talk with my folks, an uncanny peace came over me. And for the next few days after that late night phone call, I'd start to get anxious about something, and then something quirky would happen that would speak peace into my heart that God was in control, and He would take care of things, I just needed to have faith. I know that might sound weird to you. But it's true, and it's happened over and over again. Bottom line, God was, and still is faithful, even when my faith is wavering. And for those of you who were aware of the situation, and praying for me, then you should know that you really were standing in the gap for me and you really made a difference. Thank you!