Patience is a Virtue: A Lesson I Learned Over the Weekend

Pfft! For an impatient person like me, the last 4 days seemed like forever. I could not settle down. I jump each time I hear a message come on my phone. Then I get disappointed when it is not the message I am waiting for.

The irony is, though impatient, I am also a big procrastinator. This time, I did not process my children's UAE residence visa renewal on time. Their (Little Miss and Little Monster's) visas expired last March 20 and by law, I, the sponsor, has 30 days to get the renewal done.

More because I had monetary constraints (I spent more than $1,000 for the three's 2-year visa), so I had to wait til the last minute. The grace period ends on April 19 and I started the application process on April 18, thinking that I could finish it in a day.

But I am wrong.

I thought, I thought...

Actually, I wish to finish the processing of the renewal in a day. Over the past nine years I have been doing this, I can finish the processing in half a day. But then it changed. After submitting the renewal application online, the sponsor needs wait until he/she receives an SMS approval. This is the tricky part - it can take up to three working days before the approval comes!

By 1:00pm, the typing of the online application is already finished. I waited until around 4:00pm. NO SMS. I do not want to go home to Abu Dhabi without the visas!

However, it is getting late and I need to head back home. On my way back, it occurred to me to try to pass by the immigration office and see if they can check the status of my applications. WRONG MOVE.

_{TheDigitalArtist, Pixabay}

In this country, a mother can only sponsor her children under certain circumstances. I used to fit that category. However, now, they are asking my husband to sponsor the children. The lady at the immigration told me that because of this, I have to cancel the application.

"Be quiet and wait."

So I have been told. I called a friend and he asked me to keep my cool. The visas will be done for as long as I wait. NO, I CAN'T WAIT!

Weekend is approaching and I will start accumulating fines for the 2 kids if their visas do not get done maximum by Thursday. I cannot afford fines which, I have been informed will be $34 for the first day and $7 for each day after that. We are talking about two visas here, so that will be a big amount of money for me.

Thursday is the final day.

Finally at around 1:00pm, I got the visa approval for Little Monster. I am ready to fly to Dubai even at that very moment, however the other 2 approvals did not come yet. And no, I do not want to risk their applications again just by being impatient.

Longest Weekend!

When you are waiting for something, time seems to be so slow. Hence, Friday and Saturday for me seem like forever. Though it is good that I got one approval on Thursday - that gave me an impression that the other 2 will not be a problem anymore. I just need to TRUST and RELAX even if my wallet cannot relax. LOL

Patience is a virtue.

_Source

I made it through the worrisome weekend. Sunday is the first day of the work week and so I am back to the waiting game. Each message on the phone is checked - it may be the visa approval SMS I am waiting for.

Finally, the approval for Little Miss's visa came at around 11 am. I finished all that I could related to work so that I can fly to Dubai as soon as the approval for Kuya's visa comes. After what seemed like forever, I got the last SMS at around 1:00pm.

Off to Dubai I went, expecting to get the visa as soon as possible... or so I thought...

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