Nothing

Well, I keep thinking that I should update this, but I keep waiting, hoping that something will happen with which to update. Since the good news that David's application is in Accra, we've not really heard anything. I was writing letters to the visa office, but after five or six, received a polite, but rather curt, reply that the application is in line to be reviewed, but will be processed as received, so could I please leave them alone. Not wanting to upset anybody and possibly slow the process down more than it already is, I've ceased the communication. But, with not hearing anything from anybody for the last two months, we're both getting a little antsy. Each morning brings the possibility of news, but each evening comes without anything. Very discouraging... especially now that there is absolutely nothing we can do.

We continue to have the smallest hope of being together for Christmas, but that would mean David would pretty much have to get his visa in the next week, and then there's a very good possibility that we would not be able to afford a plane ticket for during the holiday season. Your prayers are most appreciated, not only for us to be reunited soon, but also just for patience and peace of mind.

A little tidbit

On September 30, David received an email from the visa office in Accra, Ghana, confirming that they have received his application and begun processing it. There wasn't much other information in the email, just details of what he can expect as the process goes on. But I still thought it was rather nice of them to have given us some kind of communication that they have received the application and begun the process.

We still have no idea of what kind of time line we're looking at in order for David to get his visa. The email from the visa office states that Family Class sponsored applications like his take an average of 18 months for processing. We're just praying that that is very generously overstated! Hopefully he'll hear within the next couple weeks if he needs to go for a personal interview or needs to supply additional paperwork. Both seem unlikely, knowing what I know was in the application, but one can never read the minds of those in government positions! But if one or both extra steps are required, it will only prolong the process as the visa office is required to schedule any such appointments 60 days in advance. So for now, we're both just waiting to hear something. I guess this whole thing has taught us patience if nothing else!

As of October 5, it is six months since I left Ghana, six months since David and I have been able to talk to each other face to face. One other thing I've learned... never take for granted the privilege of being able to look into your spouse's eyes as you speak!

Halfway there!

Yesterday, I received an exciting letter from Immigration Canada. My application to sponsor David was reviewed and a decision made about it on September 17. I have met the requirements and been pronounced eligible as a sponsor. Exciting news since my part of the application was the only thing we were really worried about. Even more exciting since we weren't expecting to hear anything about this until the middle or end of October.

David's application has been sent back to Ghana, to the Canadian High Commission in Accra, which is in charge of permanent residence applications for several countries in West Africa. They will be reviewing it and contacting him for any further documents or interviews as needed. Being the one who put everything together, I don't foresee any need for information to be added to what was sent, so I'm hoping that within a couple months, David will be called to come get his entrance visa.

Our prayer for the last several months has been that God would reunite us before the end of the year... even though that seems pretty doubtful when looking at the timelines given by Immigration Canada. But we know that God is more than able to do this and are believing that He knows what's best for us. I really can't see the benefits of this husband and wife being seperated for any longer than we already have been (next week will be six months!), but am praying for strength should God have more for us to learn. After the encouraging speed with which my application was processed, there is a good deal more hope in both of us that we really could get to spend Christmas together. I hope you will join us in praying for God's mercy and comfort in this trial, as well as asking Him, if He sees fit, to reunite us again with all speed.

I'll be sure to update as soon as any information is known on David's application.

Quick update

Not that there's much to say. We haven't heard anything from Immigration Canada yet, but the website says that they're working on applications received the week before ours, so hopefully in a few weeks, we'll hear something.

David and I are both fine, but extremely lonely. We've learned a lot about ourselves, about each other, and about making a marriage work in these past five months. As grateful as I am to learn those things, it's still VERY hard to be seperated from him for so long. All you wives out there, never take for granted the pleasure of welcoming your husband home at the end of the day with a kiss, hug, and warm dinner. I feel as if I've been deprived of all of my duties as a wife. Perhaps some wives feel like they'd enjoy that, but I absolutely loved, and thrived in, the months that I was able to be a wife. Yes, I'm very eagerly looking forward to having someone to take care of again.

As always, your prayers are appreciated. I know we're going to get through this thing okay, but having your prayers, thoughts, and concerns will only make it easier.

I'm so horrible...

For someone who is a journalist at heart, I sure do suck at updating this thing. Anyways, here's what's going on...

I received David's half of the paperwork in mid-July, and then yesterday, August 14, sent everything off, neatly packaged in an ExpressMail envelope addressed to Mississauga, Ontario. We've done our part so now all we can do is wait until we hear from Immigration Canada. This is what we're expecting...

Immigration is about a month to a month and a half behind, so at the end of September, someone (hopefully someone kind-hearted, sympathetic and able to pull the right strings) will start looking over my sponsorship application. I should hear back from them in 30 to 40 days, so around the end of October. Then, once they've contacted me and confirmed that I still want them to continue processing David's application (trust me, my answer shall be a resounding "YES!"), they'll send his documents to the visa office in Accra, Ghana. Unfortunately, it appears that that visa office is known as one of the slowest case processing centres in the world. Anyway, if all goes well, he should be called in to submit his passport for a visa in 6-18 months (yes, that's the timeline the website gives, but we're sure hoping that things move a little faster than that). If things don't go all well, he may be asked to submit further documentation, or be called in for an interview (or multiple interviews, possibly), or be asked to have vaccinations done and submit proof of that. Looking at things from here, there's a chance that he may not have all his vaccinations done, but I, personally (not saying that I actually know anything!), don't see any reason for an interview or more paperwork.

We were originally hoping he'd be here by the end of the year, but realistically, we're looking at something closer to February or March, quite possibly even later. Since I've gotten several questions about what's going on and how things work, I thought I'd just post this instead of explaining things over and over again. If you're interested in more information or have questions on stuff I didn't think about including, just let me know... I love talking about David and anything that has to do with him!

Making headway

Just a quick update: We're still wading through the stacks of paperwork that are needed for the immigration process, but there is an end in sight! I've got my forms pretty much all filled out and most of my documentation rounded up... just half a couple questions for my dearest hubby to answer. He's got most of the forms filled out (mind you, he's got two or three times as much to do as I do!), just about all his documents around, and he and Kwabena have had their medical exams. The biggest delay so far is because Kwesi (the oldest of the children) is old enough now to need a passport in order to have his exam. Unfortunately, this is the first time he's needed one so he doesn't have one yet. We'll be waiting anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months for that, then once he has his medical exam done, David should finally be able to send his wad of paperwork to me. I'll add mine to his and ship the whole lot off to the Immigration Canada office for processing. Hopefully someone there will take pity on our poor souls and will hurry our application through so that David can be here by Christmas. If not, I am so getting a flight to Ghana! We're both sick and tired of missing each other!

I'm horrid at this!

My apologies on the lack of updates. Limited computer time + so many things to do = putting things in order of priority. I've meant to do this several times, but just haven't been able to get around to it.

So here's what been happening. I've now been in British Columbia for 43 days... which seems like an eternity. I've done enough whining and that's not what this site is for, so I won't go on. I've found a job, one that seems a bit of a miracle considering that it's pretty much what I really wanted but wasn't qualified for. The salary is extremely generous as well, much better than I had hoped for. That still isn't covering the extra costs of this whole immigration thing, so I'm also cleaning an occasional empty house for a realtor (and hoping for more!). I'm renting a room in a duplex with a young couple and another young girl, and have started adjusting to single life. The methods of cooking for one still completely escape me...

We have begun our long trek through this bog of paperwork called "Sponsorship and Immigration." David has his set of forms and is working on getting the necessary documentation; medical records, police checks, affidavit for child support, etc., etc.... the list seems pretty overwhelming. Once he gets everything done and all the forms filled out, he'll be sending all that paperwork to me. I, of course, will have my set of forms filled out and documentation gathered (yeah, he's a little ahead of me!), and will group the whole big bundle together (I'm going to have to send the lot through a baler with as many papers as there are!) and send in off to Ottawa, Ontario to the case center there. If all goes as scheduled, I'll hear back from them about my sponsorship application within 60 days. If approved (I don't see any reason why I wouldn't be, but that might not be what they think), they'll start tearing into David's application, shredding up and mashing his whole life, and, if he survives that, then he should get an appointment at the Canadian embassy in Ghana to get his visa stamped into his passport. That could take anywhere from 3 to 8 months (we're hoping for a miracle... like 3 days?). Once he gets his visa, he'll finally be free to travel to Canada (trust me, it'll happen at the earliest possible date! I'll be looking to get a ticket for the day after he gets his visa). Once in Canada, after registering at Customs, he'll receive his Permanent Residence Card and finally nobody will be able to seperate us ever again!

Well, that's the plan... the way things are supposed to work... yeah, to be honest, with the way everything else has gone since I left him, it seems pretty unlikely. But we definitely appreciate your prayers, I know that there are a lot of people praying for us. Keep it up!

Introduction

This blog is a tale of love, not unrequited love as is the story so many tell, but rather of undying love across a distance that seems impossible. This is the tale of my husband and his wife, David and Larita, two ordinary people who find themselves in a rather extraordinary circumstance.

Rather than start at the very beginning, which would make this introduction rather lengthy and dull, suffice it to say that ours is a very different romance. Truly it was love at first sight, no matter how fantastical it sounds. You may argue, if you like, whether such a thing ever happens, as I used to, but I know that it does because it happened to me. David and I met, innocently enough with a simple greeting and several days without a verbal word spoken. But from the first moment our eyes met, our hearts seemed to have plenty to converse about. Since that day of our first meeting, nothing and nobody else has occupied our thoughts and feelings as much as one another.

Despite being from two opposite sides of the world, I moved back to Ghana (where we had met) from Canada (where I was living) to be with him and we were happily married in a sweet, small, and simple ceremony in late 2007. So far, this all sounds like a fairytale, doesn't it? (Of course, I have left out quite a bit of the struggles we went through, but now that our marriage is signed and paid for, those struggles are not of any real importance. However, if you are especially curious and wish to know the details, please feel free to send me a message and I will be happy to answer your questions as I find appropriate.) And it really all was very fairytale-like for the first while. Endless days of honeymoon where we had nothing to do but be completely wrapped up in each other. However, within time, this fluffy fairytale began to take on a slightly darker tint and begin to head in the direction of a nightmare. By February 2008, it had most definitely become at least a close relative to a nightmare. Those endless days of nothing but lazing around loving each other were also endless days of not earning money. The economy of Ghana is in tatters, leaving both of us able-bodied useful people without any income or even possibility of a job. As with any marriage, the thought of children not too far in the future caused us to take a good hard look at what the state of our family was. Not good. So after much sobbing, tears, and goodbye kisses, it became clear that, as the one with the decided advantage of North American citizenship, I must leave my blissful married home and return to the cold land of British Columbia, Canada, from whence I came. Unfortunately, international travel isn't as easy for most of the world as it is for the average North American. There is no such thing as merely purchasing a visa to the appropriate country, or flying without any visa at all. No, one must apply for visa or resident status, endure countless investigations and interviews into every part of one's life, pay what is often equivilant to three or four months' gross salary, and still have only a 50/50 chance of actually obtaining the traveling permissions applied for, often seeming to hinge on which side of the bed your immigration counsellor woke up on that specific morning. Of course, after that, there is also the ordeal of purchasing a ticket and then requesting and receiving the appropriate transit visas. Imagine one rather large fiasco equivilant to being sued, divorced, and declared bankrupt all on one day.

So because the prospect of this process didn't look very agreeable with us (never minding the fact that we didn't have the money for it nor any way of saving money for it), I was sent off to Canada alone, leaving my husband and a good deal of my heart in Ghana, not knowing when I would see either of them again. My duty right now is to find a job, work, and become stable in order to apply as a sponsor for my husband, thus skipping a large part of the process described above and giving us a better chance of being reunited in Canada, where we will both be able to work in order to gain a better future for our family (in case you're wondering at this point - no, I am not pregnant. That is only an expected, and in our case desired, option for some time not too far along.).

So to make this long story short, I am here, he is there, and there is an awful lot of space between here and there. At the beginning of this process, we are approximating about 11 months of seperation... and hoping desperately that our approximation is extremely generous. I have been in Canada since April 7, 2008, making it just shy of a month apart. As any newlywed would understand, that is a VERY LONG TIME. I currently do not have a permanent job yet, though I have a few options pending and have applied for an awful lot of positions. So I guess you could say that at the moment, our situation isn't looking promising. But, as always, we're trusting that God knows what he is doing and has something good planned for us in the end of this all... I'm sure we'll both do a good bit of learning about something in the meantime too.

If this story intrigues you at all, pass it along to your friends and check back often for updates. The more people who know about this little family's fight to reunite, the better. Perhaps we'll even gain the ear of some kind-hearted immigration personnel along the way who can help our sponsorship and immigration process to go a little faster. You can also keep up with a visual version of our tale by going to http://flickr.com and searching for Kwame's Girl (that's me!).