A Lady in Waiting

I'm at the mercy of the Danish government now, as I await approval of my Danish residency permit. Yesterday, Kjartan and I went to the Copenhagen Immigration office and took a queue number - they were on #240 when we arrived and we were given #370.

But this is Denmark, and even long lines happen efficiently. A small clock next to the queue machine said the waiting time would be 92 minutes - and that's almost exactly how long we waited. Then, after a 5 minute talk with the immigration officer I was given a stamp in my passport to confirm that I was officially awaiting approval for Danish residency. I asked how long the application would take to be approved and the woman said that it would take 3 months . . . or a year - it depends on the complexity of the case(so much for making time an exact science). We will get a letter in the mail in a two weeks with a more exact wait time (ah, there it is again!).

Inadvertently, we made life easier for ourselves by living in Sweden first. We are allowed to apply under European Union immigration laws instead of Danish laws, and Danish laws are much more strict. Therefore, we bypass a lot of the requirements and rules that we would have had to deal with if we moved directly to Denmark in the first place. Hooray!