Visa troubles

While we were sunning ourselves poolside in Malindi, Jeff's tourist visa was quietly expiring.  This was the renewal, and you can only renew in-country one time.  We should have been more on top of that whole thing, but weren't.  We'd left it in the capable hands of our staff person who handles all visa issues.  Somehow it slipped by him as well.  So, when we came back, Jeff was essentially an illegal alien. 

Our staff person kept hearing that Jeff's "KDP" (Kenya Dependent Visa) was almost approved, but for some reason there was a hold-up.  Unfortunately, Jeff could no longer leave the country without getting deported when they saw his expired Visa.  Fortunately (and with much glory to God for pulling this rabbit out of the hat), our visa-handling staff person was able to get Jeff a 30-day extension.  These are not normally issued!  That 30 days was from the date of the stamp, so basically, he got a "free" 30 days in country, plus the 30-day extension. 

Jeff had an evangelism trip scheduled to take off the 2nd week in August, but during the first week, it wasn't looking as if Jeff's KDP would come through in time for him to go.  We were left with a difficult choice.  Either leave the country and miss out on the evangelism trip, or go on the trip and hope the visa gets approved while he's gone, but knowing he'd be deported if it didn't.  If the whole normally-two-month process hadn't already taken eight months, the second option would have been the one of choice.  As it stood, though, Jeff needed to get out of the country.  SIM has an office in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, so off Jeff flew for a 10-day stay at the SIM guest house in Ethiopia.

As it turned out, his visa was approved while he was out of the country, so he was officially stamped and fingerprinted for his alien registration when he returned 10 days later.  And, after talking with the evangelistic outreach trip leader, Jeff decided to join up with the team a few days late.  So, Ashley and I were on our own for most of August.

Oh, it turns out that his KDP was held up because he was a man applying for a dependent visa.  Government officials just couldn't understand why a man was applying for dependent status.  The man should work and not just sit around at home! :)