Officially South African
Well, sort of.
After 405 days of anxiety and disappointment filled waiting, I have finally received my Temporary Resident visa from DHA.
I honestly think they save the highest stress and anxiety days for the very end of the process.
Last week Thursday, I got a call from my visa agent saying the application had been completed and forwarded back to Cape Town. On Friday, it was ready for collection so we immediately jetted down to VFS to pick it up.
Here’s the fun part.
You don’t know what the result is until VFS opens the super secret envelope in front of you. All you know is that a decision has been made… oh, and that if you’re rejected you have 10 days to appeal.
Needless to say the 24 hours from “it’s done” to “and the winner is…” had our stomachs completely in knots. We did our best to temper our enthusiasm just in case they said “No”.
So we rolled up to VFS, me wearing my lucky ballcap (not the brightest move since, well, you can’t wear caps indoors in some places in South Africa) and headed to the collection area.
When my number was called, and after signing the “Yes, I got the envelope completely sealed” affidavit, the VFS person opened it and said the three of the most beautiful words.
“You are approved”
Sidenote: She said it so quietly, we literally asked ‘wait, what?’ to make sure we heard it right.
The IMMEDIATE sense of relief was overwhelming and I’m not too proud to admit that I may have teared up a little in the VFS office.
So now it’s official.
I’m a legal resident of South Africa.
And I couldn’t be happier.
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