It wouldn't be an adventure without obstacles

I sent an email today. R and I have decided to apply for just my visa at this point, because we can't figure out how to authenticate his birth certificate. The authentication office took 5 weeks to tell us they don't handle births abroad. Thank you, obviously understaffed and probably suffering from budget cuts authentication office. I don't like you. And while you did try to direct us to the right place, they seemed confused, and if they're the right place, we're looking at another 2 months of waiting. Once we figure out our end of the deal.

This is complicated. The Netherlands has salary requirements (at least for the skilled worker category I'm in) for immigration with dependents, which I find rather sensible. Because R hasn't found a job yet (although we've found a couple for him to apply to!) he counts as a dependent, and my salary isn't high enough for the first year to meet the requirement for him to get a visa too. However, there's a loophole for students, if we apply for both at the same time.

So, by applying for only my visa, we are depending on R finding a job so he can join me before I get a raise. Which would happen at the earliest at the 1 year mark.

I'll admit, this is scary. Really really scary. I don't like long distance, and thought we were done with that when we got married. Our original plan was that he would move when he got a job or the house sold, so realistically this doesn't change the reality that much. But it feels like it does.

However, I know we can do long distance, since we managed for 3.5 years before. And I don't know that I can do another 3 months of unemployment.

Besides, if everything went smoothly and easily, it wouldn't be an adventure. It wouldn't even be reality. So I'm not happy about our new plan, but I'm not unhappy either. R can get a job, and things will be fine. The house is still our bigger issue, because until it sells we can't afford a dog-friendly living space. And R has to be working. If the house sells, he could come visit for 3 months at a time without a visa, and that would be workable.

Explaining everything to myself was very helpful today. I think that this wouldn't have seemed so drastic if I weren't coming down with a cold.

How did I get a cold, anyway?