In mid-November, I send an email to Australian Immigration. They've had our visa application for two months. I politely inquire: are you able to offer any indication of when we can expect a decision? My case manager writes that the application could possibly be finalised in the first week of December. "Thank you for your patience", he adds. He is always responsive and courteous.
I forward this email to the Brazilian guitarist and his migration agent, to give them a bit of encouragement. I want to make sure he keeps the dates free, and doesn't assume that it's all too hard.
And now it is the first week of December. Every day I check my email feverishly and frequently, sometimes keying the letters "ENT" into the search box to check that I haven't somehow missed an email from EntertainmentVisas. Each morning I awake with the thought "This could be the day". As the day progresses, I conclude "Not today, I guess". But at home in the evenings I check email again, in case the notification has been sent to the agent in Brazil and forwarded to me in their time zone.
Friday afternoon passes. Not this week, I guess.
6 December. All I can do is hope that there will be good news next week.
The show is in mid-February, but I can't do any publicity for it, until I know for sure that he is coming.
I've booked the venues and his flights. If I wait for the visa to come through, I might not be able to get the dates for which the visa is granted. What a nightmare that would be.
The man from the Fringe Festival contacts me, reassuring me "Not to worry", as he is still waiting on 100 visas for foreign artists. This is the irony. The Fringe Festival can act as Sponsor for visiting artists, and will arrange their visas. However sponsorship wasn't the difficult bit - my application was approved straight away. The hard part has been assembling all the documentation and contending with a language barrier.
They've had our application for nearly three months. That's the length of time indicated on the Australian Immigration web site, although I never believed it could take so long.
This surely is the longest wait of my life. I am powerless to accelerate or influence the process in any way.
All I can do is wait.
I forward this email to the Brazilian guitarist and his migration agent, to give them a bit of encouragement. I want to make sure he keeps the dates free, and doesn't assume that it's all too hard.
And now it is the first week of December. Every day I check my email feverishly and frequently, sometimes keying the letters "ENT" into the search box to check that I haven't somehow missed an email from EntertainmentVisas. Each morning I awake with the thought "This could be the day". As the day progresses, I conclude "Not today, I guess". But at home in the evenings I check email again, in case the notification has been sent to the agent in Brazil and forwarded to me in their time zone.
Friday afternoon passes. Not this week, I guess.
6 December. All I can do is hope that there will be good news next week.
The show is in mid-February, but I can't do any publicity for it, until I know for sure that he is coming.
I've booked the venues and his flights. If I wait for the visa to come through, I might not be able to get the dates for which the visa is granted. What a nightmare that would be.
The man from the Fringe Festival contacts me, reassuring me "Not to worry", as he is still waiting on 100 visas for foreign artists. This is the irony. The Fringe Festival can act as Sponsor for visiting artists, and will arrange their visas. However sponsorship wasn't the difficult bit - my application was approved straight away. The hard part has been assembling all the documentation and contending with a language barrier.
They've had our application for nearly three months. That's the length of time indicated on the Australian Immigration web site, although I never believed it could take so long.
This surely is the longest wait of my life. I am powerless to accelerate or influence the process in any way.
All I can do is wait.
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