You do the hokey pokey/cokey/tokey and you turn yourself about, that’s what it’s all about.
japra | Mar 27, 2009 | Comments 10
We are making our way through the maze of paperwork for the possible NL move. Apparently, to apply for residence visas, we need birth and marriage certificates less than 6 months old. And they need to be notarized in a particular way. This is trickier than it sounds! Not impossible, but still kind of a headache. I wonder how long it will take to get all of this done?
This low level stress reminds me of the weeks between Christmas 2006 and the beginning of Feb 2007 when we were trying to get all of our paperwork put together for work permits and visas for the UK. But at the same time, we also were sorting through 15 years of accumulated household goods as well as trying to figure out what to do with our house back in Texas. I am glad that part is done, at least. And we don’t have to worry about Trudy this time either. She has a EU pet passport (I am not kidding).
BTW, I’ll be back tomorrow. Yes, a Saturday post! I’m participating in “World Blog Surf Day” with a bunch of other expats. So if you need some reading to go with your morning coffee, I hope you’ll stop by :-)
Filed Under: Blog • Expat Life
About the Author: JaPRA is an expat Texan living in England with her husband (Mr. DJ), their 17-year old daughter (Roxi), and their dog Trudy.
Oh goodness. I can only imagine the red tape you and the family will have to sort through. Is it terrible that I can’t wait to hear all about it?! I’m excited for your move!
Lucylucia–LOL, it is exciting! I thought it might be interesting for y’all to see the other side of the expat experience too. Thanks for your enthusiasm :-)
I hope it all gets squared away without too much hassle. Make sure Trudy has been seen, I think it is in the week before you leave. [I'm sure I've heard this from someone...do check]
Ah! paperwork and how very tiresome it is.
Every country seems to want something different in triplicate.
Morocco was rather fun that way……
However, I envy you going to Holland.
I have always wanted to lived there one day.
Glad you got to spend the day with Bee.
Books and cakes — an excellent combination….
Moannie–Thanks for the tip! Yes indeed, if we were flying with Trudy, she would need to see the vet before we go and get a certificate of sorts. Right now, we’re thinking of driving, which means all we need to leave the UK is a valid pet passport :-)
Elizabeth–I imagine you understand the paperwork labyrinth quite well! I am trying not to get totally psyched about Holland because there is still a chance it could fall through. BUT having said that, yes, we are excited!
Oh dreaded paperwork! :(
I like your new header pic.
About the paperwork, maybe you could save time by having a vow renewal – then you could use the new marriage certificate. Just trying to help!
Akelamalu–Yes, it’s kind of a pain. It’ll be worth it if it works out, though!
Julia–HA! That is a good idea ;-)
It sounds like they’ve got stricter – when we moved there, we had to have an apostille put on our birth and marriage certificates but the certificates were more than 6 months old.
And..do you know what the funny thing was? We went through all the trouble and expense of getting apostilles on our certificates, but they then forgot to update it in their system. When we were leaving NL, I found out that we had been designated as ‘unmarried’ for the whole of our time living there!
I was reading some interesting facts in a magazine and it said that The Netherlands is the most densely populated country in the world!