Thursday, April 18, 2013

Need Another Temporary Visa

My work permit was approved last week which means that the government will continue to process my residency permit extension.  My current biometric ID card expires on April 30th.  This is and isn't a problem.  

I can be in CZ with my expired residency permit.  No worries.  If I'm stopped by the police or something then they can check in the computer to show that I have an extension pending approval and I'll be good to go.

The problem is that on the 26th I'm headed off to the Caucasus for a couple of weeks.  So I'll be outside of the Schengen zone when my ID card expires.  I've been told that, with an American passport, I probably won't have any difficulty coming back in CZ.  Americans can be inside the zone for 90 days every 180 days.  However, if I get an overzealous immigration officer who decides to start adding up the dates of my entry and exit stamps then I could be held up for a while.  In order to insure that I won't have any problems at immigration I need to pick up a three month temporary visa.

I've had to do this before so it's not a big deal.  The thing about getting a temporary visa is that it uses up a whole blank page in my passport.  One full page is prime passport real estate but, oh well, what can you do?  I prefer to guarantee that I won't have any problem coming back home.

Yesterday, I set off early in the morning so that I would be in front of the queue at the Interior Ministry.  Of course when I get there I was told that the computer system is down across the entire country.  So I need to try again next week before I fly out.

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