Tim and I went to the Home Affairs Office for our fourth and final time this morning. We left earlier than ever and arrived at the office before even the outside gates were open. There were still about 20 people in line ahead of us.
After about 10 minutes the outside gates were open and we moved inside through the large complex to the area which we needed. After another 15 minutes outside of this office we were allowed inside. There we took seats in the waiting room. A bit later a woman collected the receipts of people like ourselves who were waiting to pick up the visa results already applied for at an earlier date.
In less that an hour our names were called and with very little extra paperwork our visa extension papers were affixed into our passports. So we received the additional time which we had requested. We can now stay in South Africa until November, 2012. Our wait for service this morning was less than one hour at the Home Affairs office. That is a record for us and wonderfully amazing.
Tim and I celebrated the achievement by driving through a park we had been passing on our trips to and from the Home Affairs office. It is a large park called President Park. It is mostly a grassy area with some trees. There was a small area that had some farm animals and a few ostriches. There were signs warning of a snake infestation. So we stayed in the car and just drove slowly around.
So now our plans are to return to the United States on November 18, 2012. We have not discussed our travels then except that we need to be in Washington, D.C. from January 4 - January 20 for the Franciscan Mission Service re-entry program.
We wish you well, good health and happiness.
Cecilia
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