About visas

The last half year we have been trying to get a residence permit for Isaac to stay in Norway. You might think that once you have married a Norwegian and you have a Norwegian child, getting a permit to stay in Norway ought to be fairly easy. If so you are wrong. I cannot provide for Isaac as required (defined as  having earned 232 000 kroner last year, equaling about 41600 USD), and even if there are exceptions none of them apply to us. There is a slim chance that an exception can be made given the circumstances, and we’re praying and hoping that such an exception will be made. In the mean time we’re trying to find a job for Isaac, but he is not allowed to work while we wait for the result.

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I know that most people who marry someone of a different nationality than their own have to deal with visa issues at some point. Many also have to spend some time apart, which is difficult in it self. When there is a baby involved it becomes close to intolerable. Imagine how much a baby develops in just a couple weeks. It would break my heart if Isaac was forced to miss the “firsts” that are coming up these next months. First crawl, first time eating food, first word, first time sitting up by her self, first step…

Our first application for a residence permit has been denied. We have complained on this decision and provided some more documents and more detailed information. Isaac is allowed to stay in Norway until the process is over. But if it is denied again, then what? If that happens we don’t see many opportunities left for us in Norway and we would have to leave.

Maybe I was naive to live in China on my own, without a Norwegian school or organisation supporting me. Still I believe I learned things during my two years living, working and studying independently in Nanjing that I could not have learned any other way. I also believe this experience is very valuable even if I am left with no university credits to show for it. And now I might not be able to stay with my little family in my home country, because I have lived some years of my life slightly outside the Norwegian system.

I ask for a discussion: does not Olivia, a Norwegian baby, have the right to have her father in Norway even if he is not Norwegian? Or should Olivia move out of the country?

PS: Our case has been on national news, here’s the link. And here‘s a follow-up sent the next day.

Roller coaster year

It is now more than a year since my last post, and what a year it has been! I want to compare this past year to a roller coaster, because I have never before had a year with such great heights and such low depths. And I am still on this roller coaster, but I’ll write more about that later.

First, I am now a missus! I married my darling Isaac this summer, and after six months of marriage I can say with certainty that I could not have found a better husband. I guess I could brag about what a great cook he is, his creativity, his musicality, how practical he is or his sense of romance, but instead I will post a picture so you can see for yourself how very handsome he is:

And here some pictures from the big day, most of them taken by Andreas Fadum (andrefad@online.no):

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Second, I am now the mother of a beautiful baby girl called Olivia. She is 3 months old and I absolutely adore her! Here’s a photographic summary of our time with her so far:

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We have also moved to Norway, here is proof:

I will not say much about the other side of the roller coaster; there have been some really tough months in between these high lights and they have made us stronger both individually and as a couple. God has proved himself faithful and life with him is always exciting, although not always easy.

Stay posted to see what we are doing now and where we are headed!