We’ve asked our visa application case officer’s permission for Matty to apply for a tourist visa. Our thinking is that at least then we can spend time together whilst our application is being processed. (It’s miserable to be apart for so long.) It means we’ll be living on a single income, but my salary is enough to support the both of us – particularly as we’re both able to live quite frugally. Matty’s happy to keep himself busy with sport, possibly some volunteering work (there are plenty of organisations who could use extra manpower) and looking after me, so he won’t be bored.

Matty sent an email asking for permission a few weeks ago – then it was simply a case of waiting for a response. However, we then started to get anxious… our anniversary is in November, and it’d be horrible if we weren’t able to get permission for Matty to make it over here in time for that. (We’ve also got friends’ wedding to attend… and just the chance to spend time together would be wonderful!)

We figured our case officer would have to look at our paperwork before deciding to allow Matty a visa, so at least a short delay was expected. But, after waiting a few weeks, we started to debate whether we should ‘ask again’. The last thing either of us want to do is harass the person responsible for making one of the most important decisions in our life… but, we gingerly opted for Matty to make contact again.

So glad we did! Matty got a response from our case officer the next day (I think, hard to tell with time zone differences), asking him to phone her to discuss. She also requested a copy of our original (Spanish) marriage certificate via email – so I’m going to try to send that off tonight. (Why is there never a scanner around when you need one?!)

Back to waiting again… but I’m feeling very positive! If we were to get permission this week, we could apply for the tourist visa immediately. It’s a 1-2 week processing time, so by the time we purchase tickets… Matty could potentially be here by early November! Fingers crossed!!