I'm an idiot. In my mind, I was certain I had until the end of August to renew my work visa in Colombia. What I failed to consider/remember is that I received my visa in the U.S. at the beginning of August. On August 3, I looked at my Colombian ID and read that it expired on August 4. To renew my visa requires a mountain of paperwork from my employer, so I went to the office about a week and a half later to get my new visa.
When I arrived at the visa office to get my new visa for this year, they informed me that in order to get a new visa I would have to leave the country. Awesome....AND in order to leave the country I would need to file for a salvoconducto and pay a fine. Double awesome.
So now I have a surprise/forced vacation scheduled for August 25. In order to make the most of a bad situation, I am flying to Houston, Texas to spend 9 days with some of my favorite people in all the world. Trying to make lemonade out of this lemon that life (and my own stupidity) have given me...hoping for a problem-free visa application process in Houston. Stay tuned for the final outcome.
I've definitely been there before; though, it was because the visa renewal process takes so long that the deadline passed while I was waiting for approval. I think it lasted 3 months. Glad you got yours sorted judging by your most recent post and, might I add, in spectacular style!
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