the time has FINALLY come!

At 11:00am EST TODAY, Palwesh will arrive at the airport. His 15 hour flight will take off at 2:30pm. PLEASE pray for him as this is his first flight...EVER!

I will be flying to Chicago tonight and will meet him at the airport at 5am tomorrow! We are going to visit a few people in the Chicago area and then will fly home Wednesday.

If you are in the Fort Myers area, PLEASE come introduce yourself at either the 4 or 6pm Candlelight service on Christmas Eve at First Assembly of God, Central Campus. I am excited that Palwesh's first exposure to our amazing church will be these services! I know he'll be a tad overwhelmed, but I know he can't wait to meet everyone!

Thank you again for all of your love, support and prayers! You truly are a wonderful bunch of people!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Unbelievable joy!

Ok, my travel agent is a miracle worker and God is AWESOME! 

Palwesh received his visa this morning!!! (which, in itself is a miracle because his interview was less than 72 hours ago!!) I called my travel agent right away and she found him 1 of 2 available seats at an UNBELIEVABLE price!

He will arrive in Chicago at 5:15 Tuesday morning! I will head up to Chicago Monday evening to meet him. Wednesday, Palwesh and I will fly together (HALLELUJAH!) into Tampa where my Dad will be picking us up. 

Thank you all SO much for your prayers! I cannot wait for you to meet this amazing man!

Embassy interview...

Palwesh only had to wait 3 hours (they warned it could take all day) & his interview lasted FOUR minutes! Our visa application has been APPROVED!! He should have it in the next few days! Thank you, Lord!!

There's still a sliver of a chance that he can be here for Christmas!!! PLEASE PRAY for a *miraculously* low flight ticket price!

Thank you for praying us through this journey!

Three days later...

So, our prayers were once again answered! Instead of the projected 15-20 days to get the police report, it took Palwesh THREE days! Hallelujah!

Yesterday, he took all of his paperwork to the company that processes all of it to get it ready for his interview on the 16th. I would ask you to set your alarms to be in prayer starting at Tuesday the 15th at 10:30pm

(which is 9am on the 16th, India time) - this will most likely be an all day process.

Here is the information from the Embassy website to give you some of the Governmental mumbo-jumbo:

Stage 3: The Immigrant Visa Interview

Applicants are scheduled for interview as soon as they are documentarily prepared and, for numerically limited classifications, as soon as the Visa Office confirms that a number, under the applicable numerical quota, is available for that applicant. The purpose of the interview is to evaluate the beneficiary's and any derivatives' eligibility for an immigrant visa. At this time, the consular officer will confirm that all required documents have been presented and that there is a legal basis for immigration for each applicant, that is, that the required family relationship, employment offer or winning diversity lottery entry exists. Consular officers must also review the prospective immigrants' files for any legal impediments to their receiving a visa ("ineligibilities"), paying particular attention to the medical exam results, evidence of financial support, police records, results of name checks and the applicants' statements.

The beneficiaries will be either issued or refused a visa at the end of the interview. If a visa is refused, they will be personally informed of the reason and provided with information on what can be done to overcome or process a waiver of the grounds for refusal, if a waiver is available. If the visa is approved, an immigrant visa form is prepared for each individual.

Stage 4: Return of Passport & Documents by Courier

When the applicant's visa application is successful, the consular officer retains his or her passport and documents. The passport then has the visa placed inside it and the documents are placed in a sealed packet. The passport and document packet are delivered to VFS for distribution by courier. The courier delivers the passport and document packet to the address given by the applicant. It will take up to seven business days after the interview for delivery. The applicants pay for the courier service when they submit their documents at VFS before their visa interview.

When the applicant receives the sealed document packet it must not be opened by anybody. It must remain sealed. If the document packet is opened it must be returned to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate to be resealed before the beneficiary travels to the U.S. A charge must be paid to have it resealed.

Once received, the visa and accompanying document packet can be used to travel to a U.S. port of entry and seek admission as a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR).

I am still praying that God steps forth once again and performs a miracle so that Palwesh can be here by Christmas! What a great present that would be!