Prayer update

Well, I have something to write about this week ... but it's not my choice of topic. With the help of a legal professional, I have spent the last two days gathering my documents together to renew my residency permission, a fairly mundane task. Knowing that I would be finishing up my paperwork and visiting the immigration office today, I prayed for God's blessing on my work before beginning my day.

Everything was in order when my accountant and I visited the immigration office today. However, the first bureaucrat we visited flatly refused to extend my residency permission because my company had not shown enough activity. As far as my lawyer and I know, there is no legal requirement for a certain minimum amount of economic activity which means there is no legal reason for them to refuse me residency permission. Also, my multiple entry and exit visa is valid through May of 2010. All we asked for is an extension of my residency permission, a very typical request at the immigration office.

My accountant called my lawyer and talked for a bit. His advice was to take my request to extend my residency permission to a new window. In other words, seek out another bureaucrat to approve my request. So we did. We stood in line for some time at another window. When we reached the new bureaucrat, he took my paperwork, looked at the same information that the previous bureaucrat had seen, and started to write information on my paperwork as if he were going to accept it. But then the first bureaucrat we visited walked over to a third bureaucrat and had some words with him. The third bureaucrat then came over and talked with the man with whom we were currently dealing. He then began to ask the same questions as the first person.

My accountant patiently explained the situation. The second bureaucrat then took my paperwork, placing it in a separate box, and told us to return the next day at eleven. What he did not say was most significant: he did not say to pay a fee which in previous years was a necessary part of submitting one's paperwork. My accountant reminded him that my residency permission expires tomorrow and asked if everything was going to be fine. He said it would be. But I remain unconvinced.

Suffice it to say, I do not feel good about the situation. It seems odd to me that he accepted my documents, including my family's passports, but did not require me to pay a fee. It may be if they refuse our request to extend our residency permission that we will be forced to leave the country at least temporarily.

Of course, we leave all this in the hands of our Lord and the Lord of all the earth. I am not worried, but I would ask that you would pray with me that God's will would be done. Because I do not think our work here is completed and am not ready to take a break, I am surprised that things did not go more smoothly. But I know that God is in control and am prepared to follow as He leads.

Look for an update tomorrow as I will know more after my visit to the immigration office.