Today's final result from the passport office where Sveta spent her entire day - until 8:00 pm...
The application did not get filed due to the fact that the Director was out sick all day! Sveta waited until 8:00pm for her to come, and when she did not, she requested her phone number to speak with her directly. Now, you're probably thinking, why didn't Sveta just file the papers and leave?
The passport process can take many days unless you know the right person - that would be the Director. The Director promised Sveta that she would turn the Julianna's passport around in two days - you guessed it....apply on Wednesday and pick it up on Friday.
So, the Passport Director is home sick...very sick according to Sveta. The Director asked Sveta to personally bring the paperwork to her house tomorrow between the hours of 11:00am and 11:15am. Then we will know if she can turn it around in 24 hours so that we can stay on track. If we can't have it in 24 hours, then we will not receive it until Tuesday. Tuesday means we have to ask for a one day turn around at the embassy in the hopes of getting out on Wednesday, and that's only if the embassy will give us an afternoon appointment. Currently, they only give appointments between 10:00am and 11:00am.
There's a great chance right now that I will have to get an exit visa to leave this country, which means that we will be here until Friday, August 20. We just don't know right now. Everything is dependent upon the sick Director!
And what about our dear little girl stuck in that Children's Home. Sveta was suppose to be at the Children's Home at 11:00am tomorrow, but she is dropping off the papers first and then going to the Children's Home to find out if they will release her before Sunday, August 15. Sveta said if the passport cannot be done until Tuesday, we will cooperate with the Children's Home. However, the doctor from the Children's Home was to have called the Minister of Health to determine if they could release Julianna before Sunday. So...here's another "up in the air" situation.
Sveta also spoke to the doctor that will be examining Julianna in order for us to get her visa at the embassy. She said that he conveyed to her that Julianna's bout of Chicken Pox and green spots (created by some ineffective ointment) will not keep her from exiting the country to go home! Sveta said the doctor is very nice and will meet us anywhere (in Moscow) for Julianna's physical.
What to do? I e-mailed the lady from the plane and explained the situation in brief. The good news is she gave me the name of the person who can turn around the visa in one day. The other good news is that she just received the referral for her daughter and she and her husband are leaving on Sunday to go to Siberia to see the little girl. The bad news is that she will not be back until Thursday in Moscow...and probably, we will not be able to stay at her home. Oh well, perhaps God's plan was for us to meet her so that we would have the contact for the one-day turn around.
So, the long and the short of this blog is that we don't know yet...! But we do know that the Director is sick and she holds the authority to make the passport happen in one day.
Please pray for the passport director.