September 18, 2013

• Status Update

  …because I have nothing else interesting to say…

  As the internship seems increasingly certain, it’s been increasingly difficult to pay attention in class since getting the internship means dropping classes and no exams. But, a sudden and unforeseen twist of events complicated my life today.

  

  Tuesday, I sent an e-mail informing the UN: 1. that my visa application arrived; and 2. that they need to send the employment letter to complete the visa process. By some stroke of fate/luck/coincident, I had included everything in the application that I needed. The employment letter–understandably–has to be sent directly to the consulate from the “employer.” Apparently, the country is pretty protectionist in that it wants to make sure that all of its own citizens have a job before it lets foreigners in. I get it–but, it’s kind of a pain.

  Anyway, when I woke up this morning, I had received an e-mail telling me that the employment letter was forthcoming PENDING FORMAL APPROAL OF THE INTERNSHIP. Apparently, I’ve been running around putting all my little duckies in rows and this is isn’t a certainty on their end. I imagine “formal approval,” is little more than a background check and rubber stamp–especially in light of the fact that it’s unpaid. Still, I will be very frustrated if the consulate returns my application because the UN hasn’t sent in the letter, which is not an onerous task. Basically, it must say: ”Yes, this person applying for a visa has a job/reason to stay in this country for more than 90 days.” Not hard, but must be done. And probably should be done soon.

  This afternoon I received an e-mail from the consulate that said they received my application and are waiting on my employment letter. DUH! Once the letter is sent, I should receive my passport back within four days…and then I can hop on a plane and fly in in just a matter of days after that. I feel like I’m so close to such an awesome experience–and at the same time painfully aware that it could fall apart for reasons beyond my control at any time…I imagine that it’s something like this feeling (although on a much GRANDER scale) for parents all the time with respect to their children. Of course, all that anxiety and stress will dissipate if I can get formal approval AND a letter quickly–or at least know when I’ll know whether I have those things.

  I don’t know what to do to light the fire under the pants of an organization that has unfathomable bureaucracy. So, I simply forwarded the e-mail from the consulate to my contact in the UN telling her why I sent the e-mail, thanks for all their help, etc. Hopefully I’m not wearing out the person on the other side of my e-mails. I’ve tried to keep them light-hearted, to the point, and as few as possible. I only e-mail when I have an update and then I try to say “thanks, you’re awesome” as many times as I can. Hopefully she doesn’t hate me by now.

  Do you have any suggestions about how to compel an employment letter?

  • 12:17 am
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