Great News!

Some of you may know all about my long relationship with the Home Office. It's been frustrating and expensive....and it's just come to an end!!!!! 

It's so totally YOU, Home Office! Not me! 

The Last Chapter:

In August I had to scramble to find a lawyer who could take me on at the last minute to assist me with making my application for Indefinite Leave to Remain. My Spouse Visa was set to expire and my final step to permanent settlement in the UK was Indefinite Leave to Remain. 

The non-profit organisation that had helped me with my Spouse Visa application lost their funding in the gov't cuts and closed doors. I was made aware of the loss of the organisation 2 weeks before my Spouse Visa expired.

PANIC does not begin to explain what I experienced.

I spent the following week searching for another firm or organisation that 1. offered legal aid 2. could take me on in such short notice. 

There was NO where in Chester. 

Liverpool was my next hope. By a miracle there was one law firm who had an immigration department who offered legal aid. Without legal aid it would have cost £500 to have a lawyer help with the application, then the application fee is currently £972 on top of that (in 2002 it was free to apply btw).

So I needed the legal aid. 

Get this. I had to race to Liverpool the morning after finding the firm to get there in time for the immigration drop in to find out if I would be able to be taken on. 

Mr Woo's brother took me in for 8:30 am. We stood outside waiting for the law firm to open up along with nearly a dozen other people who were hoping to be first to be seen. As soon as the doors were opened it was a mad rush! Everyone headed for the elevator....so what did I do? 

Fat, out of shape and 5 months pregnant? 

I ran up the stairs. 

I beat Mr Woo's brother. He's 25 and trained for the RAF. I ran like the wind. 

I could not breathe when I reached the 3rd floor office. I thought I might throw up. But I was #3! 

It is a drop in, so you basically spend hours waiting. The room was unbelievably hot too. I should have brought a book. 

2 hours or so later I got to be seen. Let's just say I wasn't filled with confidence after the meeting as I seemed to know more about the process and law than the person from the law firm. I was worried. I was also worried about being able to collect all of the evidence in time and I didn't have the money together either. I had just over a week. The good news was they were helping me. I have learned in dealing with the Home Office, they like an application that comes with an opening letter on legal letterhead. 

It was hard. I had to travel back and forth to Liverpool a few times. I had to chase bank statements for Mr Woo and myself. Hunt his wage slips. Wait on letters from my mother and Mr Woo's dad. It was a crazy, crazy time. My hormones were raging. I was feeling very overwhelmed & sorry for myself. 

At the end of the day it was done. The application went in on time. Some of the evidence had to follow later, but it all got there in the end. 

Then the wait. 

When I received the call today we had entered the 3rd month with no news. It's not one of those things you consciously worry about every day, it's one of those back of the mind niggles. 

I must wait no more to find out. I WAS APPROVED!!! 

MY APPLICATION WAS SUCCESSFUL in the words of the Home Office!!!!!!!! 

Some tension left my body and some tears filled my eyes. 

My little family will get to stay together! We'll have our passports back! 

Mr Woo & I are planning going on a Babymoon....perhaps Paris at Christmas?

So I'm officially an ex-pat. I've crossed the immigration finish line. No more steps unless I want to become a citizen.  No more hoops to jump through. Stick a fork in me, I'm done!!!! 

I go next week to pick up all of my paperwork and dance around Liverpool as someone with Indefinite Leave to Remain. Well by dance I actually mean waddle. My bump is pretty big now. 

Mr Woo is taking me out to The Royal Oak tonight to celebrate so I need to do my hair and get on some stretchy glad rags! 

I am so happy x

Isn't She Lovely!

The thoughtfulness and kindness of people will never cease to amaze me. A new friend {that I haven't even met in person yet!} took the time to hand make a card and keepsake for me to celebrate my visa approval. I am just so touched by her thoughtfulness. She did a beautiful job, the pin cushion and card are gorgeous!

I just wanted to take a moment to say Thank You so much. I will always treasure these gifts.

Gotta Love some Otis Redding

I don't know about you, but I don't feel sad listening to some Otis. He seems to sing a lot about longing and yearning...but I associate his music with the best times in my life. I'm listening to Otis right now.

I took the bus then the train to Liverpool yesterday, Liverpool means "Pool of Life". I love taking the train and I love Liverpool. There is something so familiar and warm about the city to me. I feel at home there. It would stand to reason that the opposite should be true as the vast majority of my trips to Liverpool have been trips to do with visa applications or application for permission to marry and so on...

{fyi: my gorgeous little Poppy hedgehog is curled up in my cardigan, i might burst from the cuteness}

But yesterday was my last trip to Liverpool for official purposes until August 2011. I have my Spouse Visa biometric work permit sitting here on my desk. A lot of blood, sweat and tears have gone into the journey to this point. This card is very precious.

Mr Woo and I have gone to dinner to celebrate the approval of the visa. Mr Woo's brother Larry gave me a train ticket to Manchester to go out and celebrate my visa. Yesterday I was on my own. I sat in a restaurant going through the large stack of personal papers that had been returned to me. Included were the cards Mr Woo and I had exchanged on our wedding day, the engagement congratulations, wedding photos and other letters. I felt like ME. I haven't felt like me in a very long time. I felt a glimmer of me sitting there in a large city drinking lemonade.

I sort of forgot what it feels like to be me, but I felt a surge of whatever it is that has been smooshed down for so long. Maybe it was a glimpse of the elusive FREEDOM. Financial freedom. Freedom of movement. Freedom of choice. I have missed being free. I've been caged by circumstances for several years now. I know I am about to enter a chapter of tremendous freedom. How very exciting!

i am too excited!

I am about as excited as this woman is to have sparkling pans! However my excitement has nothing to do with housework {it rarely does}.

1. I have gotten into doing trades with people on Etsy. It is brilliant! I have gotten a few really wonderful things but for some reason I am SUPER EXCITED about today's trade! I'm trading some of my precious vintage buttons for a handmade zipper pouch with Mrs Woo embroidered on! eeeeeeeeee!
   
   
2. When I went to email the person I am doing a trade with I found another message in my inbox....SOMEONE WHO LOVES MY WORK AND WOULD LIKE TO FEATURE ME ON THEIR BLOG! "Would I be interested" she said...whaaaaaaaaaat? What do you think sister?!
   
   
3. This week has been a bit up and down, rollercoastery if you will. We found out my visa application was approved, but then Mr Woo's father left to work abroad for six months...so we've had lots of emotions going on in the family.
   But tonight Mr Woo is taking me to town to celebrate my visa! It has been such a hard and long process it doesn't seem real that this leg of the journey is finally over!
   We opened a bottle of champagne last night...but tonight we're gonna paint the town hot pink! I think I should have some sort of union jack accessory to celebrate my new status!
   

Today's letter is E - for Excited!

Well! Ya don't say!

3 Agencies visited.
5 Appointments.
6 trips to Liverpool.
2 Visa application forms filled in.
4 breakfasts at Starbucks.
4 years worth of very detailed information gathered.
4,000 dollars & 1 inheritance spent.
2 or 3 set backs.
3 diazepam taken.
3 different advisors.
1 extremely clever lawyer from Glasgow.
3 appointments with Connexions.
9 months of preparation.
1.5 years in limbo.
lots of tears.
lots of sleepless nights.
lots of prayers whispered.
lots of stress, worry and anxiety.

1 phone call made it allllll worth it.

"Mrs Woodhouse, I'd like to inform you that your visa application has been successful."

and suddenly my heart has wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



How infinite and sweet
This love so rescuing
Oh how infinitely sweet
This great love that has redeemed
As one, we sing...
Hallelujah, Hallelujah!

do you ever feel like this....

Am I the only one who feels guilty when I'm not doing something. If I'm watching TV I need to be crafting something. If I'm laying in bed I need to be reading or knitting. In the bath...reading....
If I'm cooking I need music or the radio on. OVERSTIMULATED MUCH! Overstimulated and exhausted.


You probably won't know this but at the moment I'm waiting on my spouse visa from the Home Office. I'm an American Girl married to an English Gentleman. I was on a voluntary worker visa which allowed to me volunteer with one particular organization in Scotland which is now closed.
Before getting married I had to apply for all sorts of permission from the government to get married...now in order to work and actually stay over here with my Mr Woo I need a spouse visa.
I've been gathering information and preparing for a year. I finally sent the application off in the middle of June. I've been waiting, the average wait is 3 months.
I haven't been able to work since May 2008. If I take any "cash in hand" work I am in violation of my current visa agreement and risk deportation!

SO. I've got a lot of time on my hands while I wait. (and a mountain of unpaid bills).

At first it was a dream come true....but after a while it becomes overwhelming.

I can not contribute any money to our little family at the moment so I guess I feel like I've got to bust my hump in every other possible way. Cook all the meals, clean every room (except Mr Woo's man cave - I don't go in there! too many wires and beeping noises!), take care of the hedgehog, wash and dry and put clothes away, craft like mad in hopes that I'll sell it all on Etsy and become rich so we don't have to work so hard. I know it isn't right but sometimes I feel like I shouldn't even feel frustrated or fed up because I'm not a contributing member of society at the moment!

Sorry, just feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment....