The Visa Process and Booking Tickets

Aweh, guys!

So, this was admittedly my biggest bugbear and it was my biggest point of stress making me drive hubby nuts. Everyone would ask us when we were leaving but the company hadn’t submitted our documents to the IND, so we didn’t have a solid answer. However, sometime in early March 2019 we were sent the paperwork, filled it in with copies of our passports and we were able to book our appointment at the consulate for our MVV (long stay visa) in Pretoria on the 20th of March. The MVV would allow us to enter the country which would then be converted into a residence permit once we arrived in the Netherlands.

We arrived at our scheduled time and we took a seat in the small waiting area. There was another couple with us. On the wall was a painting including all the possible Dutch derived names that the gent was looking at. Then he goes, “Oh, my name is on here… Bezuidenhout.” What are the odds as we are also Bezuidenhout? We started a conversation but eventually got scolded by security for being too loud… whoopsie! Next it was our turn. We handed over our documents and passports, had our fingerprints scanned (I kept doing it wrong) and we were told it could take up to two weeks before collection. However, it was much quicker, and we received an email notifying us of success and ability to collect on the 25th of March.

So once our visas were collected from the Dutch Consulate in Pretoria on Tuesday the 26th of March, we went to have lunch and decided while we were there to book our tickets, pay for our cats’ relocation and book our AirBnb. We elected to fly with Etihad airways due to the cheap airfare and generous baggage allowance. Per person we could take up to 42kgs of checked luggage (as many bags as necessary under the weight limit), 12kgs for carry-on luggage and a 10kg “personal item”. We were also able to bid for better seat and we won our bid for the second leg of our journey. We will be flying from OR Thambo International Airport on Sunday, the 31st of March at 20:00 in Johannesburg with a short layover in Abu Dhabi before touching down in Amsterdam on the 1st of April at 14:00.

The excitement is real and so is the possibility of pooping my pants in fear.