Portugal Pain
Back on Track

Well, THAT was a friggin' MONTH.

Since last August when we determined that we were going to emigrate it
has been the focus of all our efforts. Including me working two full-time
jobs to pay for it, which has been fucking exhausting. One of the key
milestones is one's visit with VFS Global, the near-monopoly bureaucracy
that processes visa applications around the world.

The line is so long that the four of us made our appointments in early
December of 2025 and got appointments in March of 2026. Joy's sister
got the first appointment on March 9th, and Joy got the fourth one on March
23rd. 

There is a ton to do in order to prepare, I won't go into it here except
that words like "notarized," "translated," and "apostilled" are heavily 
involved. So we worked diligently for weeks and weeks to prepare

Last February 19th we got an email out of the blue that Joy's appointment
had been cancelled. While investigating that, we discovered that my 
passport number had a typo in it, and many online comments saying that
if your passport number is incorrect you would not be admitted to your 
appointment.

For three weeks we've been in a low-grade panic. Did either Joy or I have
appointments? Would we have to make NEW appointments for... JULY!? and
anticipate not reaching Setubal until OCTOBER!?

WAS I GOING TO HAVE TO WORK UNTIL SEPTEMBER IN ORDER TO PROVIDE HEALTH
INSURANCE FOR US!?

We had NO LUCK contacting anyone at VFS. If you call VFS they tell you to
email them, and when you email them you get a form letter telling them
that someone will get back to you. And they don't.

The prospect of delaying both retirement and emigration for six more months
was... a LOT. It was a lot to cope with. I was seriously bumming.

Then, as Joy's sister's appointment approached, I had an idea. They were
going INTO VFS for their meetings. They could bypass the bureaucracy!

So I crafted a letter like nature crafts a virus. One page only, succinct,
thorough, polite to near obsequeousness, complete with all facts. I outlined
what had happened and suggested that Joy be allowed to attend my VFS meeting,
and pointed out the typo in my passport. 

Then I gave the letter to Freyja and Cara...

...and it worked! 

According to the agent to whom they spoke, I should bring Joy with me to 
my appointment next week. Hopefully all will be sorted!

The relief was absurd. Joy was in tears. I was twerking (and I NEVER twerk).

Here's hoping this meeting goes well!