Might be going home in a two or three months time

I think its time for me to get real and share something important to me, at the same time something that will or impact my life as an expat in a big way. The thing is that for the past couple of years I have been living in kind of limbo, while my visa application has been hanging there waiting to get either accepted or denied. It got denied the first time around over a messy process that I had no say in. I did everything the right way and it got denied anyway, even though the main reason for the rejection never really happened in the first place. I know it sounds confusing, but it is for me as well. Actually for everyone, but I will try to spare you the details of it.

For the longest time I had engaged a lawyer (in this case my girlfriend's father) and I trusted the fact that he got the job done (something he didn't do). No, I haven't been living in Peru as an illegal immigrant, just to have that said. Not that, it has from time to time felt like it, since I have been without “legal” papers, but by the application has been in the process somehow. Anyway, our patience ran out last week and we hired a new lawyer this Monday. Since I am working as I do, my girlfriend went into Lima as my representative and from what I understand, we got some potentially good news. There is something different with me this time around, not as overly optimistic as I were the first time around.

So this time around I do see the possibility that I might be returning home within the next two or three months. Yes, you could say that I see the doom and gloom on the horizon. As I am thinking, if the worst-case scenario does come into play I have had a good run these 3,5 plus years, but for some weird reason, I just can't shake that feeling it's over. The irony in it all, if it happens its all because of a messy and slow working bureaucracy at work. The worst part is that I have to jump through the same hoops as I did back in 2018, but the difference this time around is that I have a good lawyer by my side. It's going to be expensive, but if it will be worth it if things go my way this time.

I might come off as somewhat negative now, but thing is that I don't want to pack up my belongings and head for home, not when I have everything I want in life right here in Peru. That is also the only reason why I have stuck around to fight, but not in a literal way of course. If I did and got caught doing it, that would for sure get me deported back home. This has in many ways become my home and returning to Norway would be too much of cultural change for me. I hate to admit it, but I have become too much of a Latino in how I live my life and do my things. I have in many ways lost that weird, quiet, shy and awkward Norwegian in me. Anyone who has met a Norwegian or lived in Norway knows what I am talking about here.

Like last time around the block, everyone is telling me that it is going to be okay, but my experience so far is telling something else and that's why I am trying to prepare myself for the worst-case scenario. In my eyes the worst-case scenario is that come June I have to pack my suitcases and return home to a Norwegian summer and celebrate mid-summer day with friends and family. I know that this doesn't sound like such a bad thing, because I do miss my family and friends back home, but at the same time it's here I have built my life now and it has been where I have always wanted to be. So in my eyes, it would be a massive defeat to come home and maybe not be able to return for the next two or three years.

So next week its time for me to return to Lima, go through all the hoops and circles I need to so my lawyer can do the rest. That includes a visit at Interpol with all kind of hoops of its own, go to immigration to fill out forms and finally be able to meet my new representative in this saga of a process, but hopefully, it will be the end of it. When I think about it, I haven't been back in Lima since we returned to Huaral back in 2019, so I am looking forward to that. Maybe even stop by an Mc Donalds and such when everything is over. If everything goes according to plan, I will have my citizen card by mid-June and that's a good thing. A card like that would open a whole new set of doors for me here in Peru.

One thing I am sure of, no matter how this process ends the blog stays and I will keep on updating it with new content, even if I have to return home to Norway. Maybe with a different type of content, but I am not giving up on it. At the same time, shortly I will be welcoming a new addition to the Beyond the Horizon family, a second writer. This is a guy that will bring a whole new dimension to the blog with his background and exciting stories. Yes, he is a fellow traveller, but he kinda seeks a different experience than me. At least, I am super excited about the new addition to the family and I hope you guys will be as well when he makes his debut.