Yeah! Jeremy, Kaylie, and Keiric have all been granted their residence permits!!! This means that they have permission to stay through the rest of the year, and no more bureaucratic red tape for them!! We have to take the train back to the Immigration office to pick up the official paperwork and then they are done!
Unfortunately, they still don't believe (have enough information proving) that I am married to Jeremy and therefore should be able to stay. So I had to make another trip to the city hall to get another form from them that said they had recognized our marriage. After I had handed the woman at the counter my passport for identification and the letter the immigration had sent, she was typing away and trying to pull up the form I needed to mail back, and she stopped and asked me why my identification had my married name. I told her it is customary in America to take your husbands name when you get married. She went on to tell me that here in Holland, when you get married, even though some people 'take' the married name, you can't officially change your name. All important paperwork and documents - government, schools, identification, etc.- must always have the maiden name She said, that way "when" (not "if") you get divorced, all your paperwork is still correct. I had heard this before from Terri, whom we work with, who had enrolled in school and they required her to enroll under her maiden name, even though she had been married more than 20 years and her American passport is in her married name. However, it was very peculiar to have this conversation with the woman at the counter who seemed shocked that my paperwork was all in my married name. She then asked me what people do in America when they get divorced, and I said that they can go complete more paperwork to return to their maiden name but that didn't really concern me since divorce is not an option. I then went on to say that I felt that it was really sad that the divorce rate is so high that people are being pro-active in how to make divorce (which apparently is inevitable) easier. I could see her silently pondering that thought and then half-shrug in agreement. I hope that even in a short conversation like that, people re-evaluate how and why they come to the beliefs they hold to in their lives.
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I'll be praying that they will allow you to stay. What an interesting conversation. It is so sad how many people think divorce is an option and break their vows that they've made before God and others. We know WAY too many people that have "thrown their marriages away"...SO sad. Hopefully, your short conversation will do what you said that "people re-evaluate how and why they come to the beliefs they hold to in their lives."
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