The application process is well...quite a process! Myles did all of the prep work. The application is about 10 pages long and much documentation is needed. It has to be filled out in Polish and we have to write a paragraph about why we want temporary residence in the Republic of Poland. We had to have all of our birth certificates, insurance documentation from Rockhurst and our marriage license translated into Polish by a certified translator. That cost about $350! Then we had to bring the originals and the Polish translation, and many copies with us. We had to have multiple copies of each application, our passports (originals and copies of the first page and the stamp page of the date we arrived), four passport sized photos of each of us. In Poland they require that the photos are taken at a bit of an angle and the left ear must be exposed. So we had those taken at a photo shop by our house last week. Myles had everything copied and we thought we were ready!
A colleague of Myles', Magda, met us at the office. She works at the university and is a native of Poland. We arrived just before 9:00 and we were second in line. The people in front of us did not take very long and then it was our turn. We go in with all of our documentation and the lady who was handling our application started sifting through all of it. The information on the website that Myles had followed to the letter was not accurate regarding the numbers of copies that were needed. So we had too many copies of some things and not enough of others. Magda translated for us and helped make more copies of whatever was needed.
Though it was not on the posted list, the lady wanted our lease, Myles' contract from the university here and a couple of other documents. Myles had anticipated the possibility and had brought those documents along. We had to have copies of those. Then the website said that children did not need to fill out the section on financial obligations, criminal history, etc. But when we got there they lady said those did have to be filled out. So Magda helped us fill them out (in Polish!).
It was a long and drawn out process. In the end, they want two more documents. They want an addendum to our lease that includes the names of all of our children, as well as our names so that it is clear where every applicant lives (with their parents in the same house). They also want us to document our utility bills. How it is set up with our landlord is that he pays the utility bills and we pay him. So now we've had to ask our landlord to create an addendum to the lease to include everyone's name, and for a letter stating that we pay him for utilities and an estimate of what utilities cost.
We are hopeful that once we get this documentation turned in that the application process will be complete and we can get our cards. But we have heard horror stories from many others who have had a terrible time. Our application now goes to an inspector who may want more, different documentation. We'll just have to see what comes up next. We are so thankful that Magda went with us. We could not have gotten through the initial process without her. I think we'd be arranging our trip back to Olathe if we had to try to do this alone!
We are going to Berlin on Tuesday so we are looking forward to that! Today I am going to lunch with some moms from the British International School. We are finishing up first quarter of school this week. Trey is right up to date with his class. The other three are a week or two behind their classmates at home. But we got a late start here and we will be doing school through June. Also, we will not take so much time off for Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break, conferences, etc. So we'll get caught up!
No comments:
Post a Comment