Approved!

In the wake of the pandemic Thailand switched from “sticker visas” to an E-Visa program, which has made the visa application process both easier and a little confusing (as is typical with most government programs!). After many weeks of messaging back and forth with The Word Language School in Chiang Rai, we finally had all of the paperwork we needed to submit the online form for our student visas. As a note: the paperwork from the school was written in Thai, so we’ve already had a crash course in learning how to read Thai just by trying to fill out these forms. This isn’t a commercial for Google Translate, but if you didn’t know that it can scan and translate documents for you–now you do!

This is our first time requesting a visa online and we found humor in the fact that the online application also asked us to submit a copy of a paper application. We weren’t expecting that and hoped that we had found the correct forms online. (Try finding the right government document via a Google search–it’s a little nerve-wracking.) With bated breath we clicked “submit” and that was two weeks ago. Our flight leaves August 27th so there’s precious little time to amend documents or begin the application process anew. But that won’t be necessary because we just received email confirmation that both of our visa applications have been approved! We are officially students according to the government of Thailand and our visas are valid for an entire year. We don’t intend to stay for twelve months, but God’s plans often go in directions that we weren’t expecting. It’s reassuring to know that our visas won’t expire right on the day that we plan to return home. Flexibility is an important tool in the missionary’s toolbox!

Thank you once again for your prayers and financial support as we step ever closer to our goal. We couldn’t do this without you!