Gut Punch

We scheduled a call with an immigration attorney to discuss Visa options for the night we drove from Washington to California to pick up Skipper. Mom joined us on the drive this time so she could spend time with her sister – they both know that after the move, they probably won’t see each other again. Neither of them likes to fly, and that is a very long flight.

After arriving at my aunt’s house in California, we took the call with the attorney – at midnight local time, because that is 2pm in Vietnam. And we were not expecting the gut punch we received.

Turns out, the Visas for Vietnam are too expensive to be practical. Sure, tons of people live there for years on 90-day tourist Visas, but I’m not willing to take a chance on not being able to get back into the country after a border run. So we had to look into other options – the only options we have on the table to get us into Vietnam legally are to either A) pay more than we can afford to get us all in, or B) split up the family. One is not possible, and the other is not an option.

I’m still processing, but I am deeply heartbroken. I fell in love with Da Nang, and now I can’t imagine going anywhere else.

I couldn’t be happier to have Skipper back with me, but I truly wish I had better news for her. We’re all pretty devastated about this one – even though Skipper was not excited about moving to Vietnam at first, she became pretty attached to the idea and was actually looking forward to it. But we are determined to move to another country, so I’m going to have to start researching again. So now, my job is to find her an equally amazing school… somewhere else.

While we figure out where this leads, you can follow my posts in The Pivoting Pages.