The weeks before I left were insane. I was offered a sponsorship deal by the company I'd been indirectly working for (the MBA Center, not my portage company) just before the start of April. The Frenchy and I had already begun the process of sorting through a sponsorship deal with the portage company, so we handed over everything we'd found to the MBA Center. Unfortunately, and despite repeated attempts at clarification, they were convinced it was vastly more complicated. This caused delays, and with each day more precious than the last, any delay was looked on by us with increasing annoyance. So what began as a relatively straightforward (if action-heavy) process turned into a daily, then weekly, and now monthly drama.
At the moment, I'm waiting on the MBA Center's director to interview the people who applied for my position. One of the stipulations of a French sponsorship agreement is that no foreign person may do a job that a French national can, so we had to advertise the position and interview anyone who applied. Unfortunately, several people did just that, and it's taken the director several weeks to organise himself sufficiently to be able to conduct the interviews. Knowing him, it will take another week at least to get through them, and for the Frenchy and I, weeks seem like years.
Once he's done the interviews, the MBA Center can finally complete the sponsorship application and send it to the French employment department. From there, as I understand it, if it's accepted it will go to another working department who will give it the final once-over. If it's accepted there, they'll send me a piece of paper which I can take to the French consulate in Sydney as part of a long-term visa application. From there, the process is simple - a two-four week wait for the visa and then whoosh, back on a plane to Paris. Simple, huh?
I've come up with a rough timeline for all of this (perhaps wishfully thinking. We'll see):
- Interviews: One-two weeks
- Department check 1: One week
- Department check 2: One week
- Postage of valuable piece of paper: One week
- Visa application: Two-four weeks
- Total = Six-nine weeks.
Do I sound a little negative? I guess I am. It's not all doom and gloom though!
The good news is that I've been offered and have signed a contract, so - technically - the job is mine. I won't go deeply into the fact that the job the contract offered is nothing like what I was offered and shook hands on in the weeks before leaving Paris. Suffice it to say that I at least HAVE a job and all the benefits that go along with it. Including, most importantly, being able to be with the Frenchy again.
In the meantime, I'm getting in the occasional paddle on the Harbour, catching up with friends, re-establishing contact with people I haven't seen or spoken to in ages (several years in some cases), still working occasionally for the MBA Center, and also looking for further work. If anyone has any openings anywhere, I'm your man!
I'm also, and this is the best part of all, going to be in Sydney for the birth of my nephew (or niece...though I'm convinced it's going to be a boy), due in mid-July.
So that's where we're at. Holding Pattern D (for Delayed) but hoping to move to Pattern A (for Advancing) soon enough.
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