After a hellraising process that took 10 full months, I finally have my second visa.

Long time readers of this blog may remember the process I had to go through for this. To get my first visa, I had to start a company here and have myself as the director, which meant I received a business visa. When I put in my papers to renew the visa in mid January, the amount of paperwork they required from me regarding my company was just ridiculous. I ended up having to go from one ministry to the next and back and forth constantly. Every time we'd think we were done, they would ask us for a new paper. Really. We'd visit them and they'd tell us that we only needed one more paper, then when we delivered that, they'd tell us we actually needed yet another. And that part of the process went on for a few months.

I had that company for a year before that and paid all of my taxes and filed all necessary papers. But sometime before summer they actually denied my visa. The ministry of finance had denied it to my company basically. And they offered NO explanation. The people at MUP, the police station (who deal with visas) said they didn't know why I was denied, but they had a huge stack of applications for people who had the same thing happen to them.

My girl and I got engaged in December, though, of last year. And so we put in a new application for a visa based on this. But it's not as simple as that. That whole part of the process is also ridiculous. And every paper we supplied them with last year had to have new copies given to them. It's just crazy. A paper that is literally exactly the same must be given to them with a new date on it. Even stuff that is not dated requires a new copy. The file for me is something like 3 inches thick with papers. And that's just for this year.

But finally, today, they gave me my visa. And of course, they couldn't just give me the new visa. They also want more paperwork. I now have to give them a new birth certificate. In Croatia, their birth certificates are not actually birth certificates. They're more like life certificates. They record stuff in them over time. For instance, if you are married, your "rodni list" is updated with this information. We don't do that in the States. A birth certificate is just that; a birth certificate. It lists only facts about the birth itself, not about the person later in their life. I already had to go to the American Embassy and have them certify that I am not married which is also stupid because they actually can't possibly know if I am married. Anyway, because I did *that* they basically said okay. But I still have to supply them with a new copy of my birth certificate. The date on mine is 1988. But the certificate itself is from 1968, when I was born. They were already supplied with a fresh translation dated now, but they need that purple ink with the notary public stamp to have a date within the last six months.

And, I have to supply them with a paper that proves that my landlord actually owns the apartment I am living in. This despite the fact that we already went to a notary here to certify this and they already have that.

Ah well. At least I have the damned thing now. Now I have to take the application for the birth certificate to the American Embassy and have their notary certify that I am in fact me and send the application off and hope that it actually arrives in the mail.

And I am closing my company. For anyone who is considering opening a company here I recommend you avoid it at all costs. For me it was a pain in the ass and keeping it going is totally a waste of effort and a cause of stress as well as a good way to pay higher taxes. Fuck that.

And we head to Thailand in January and today I read about bombs going off in the Bangkok airport.

America doesn't look too bad sometimes.

Man. Delayed again.

We went to MUP, the police station, on Petrinska yesterday. Waited about 2 hours. That's not the worst. We had to wait 4 hours once. But, this is, hmm, I think our 5th time there, working on my visa renewal. Last time we went they told us all of my papers were in order and that I just had to go to a different police station that's in charge of my district for an interview. Those guys never got around to calling me like they were supposed to so we had to go to them on our own. Got that done. Just a basic interview asking why I'm here, where I live and all that. Easy.

I had a 30 day extension from my last visit to MUP on Petrinska. And it was up and they still hadn't called me, so we had to go in. And wait 2 hours. I was hoping they'd take us in and give me my renewal finally. But no, of course not. My joke has been that to get anything done in Croatia requires at least 3 visits to any place. For instance, we had all sorts of different places to go to renew my visa and each one required about 3 visits before we accomplished what we needed. Same thing with most things here. But with MUP, it's been 5 visits already. Anyway, after 2 hours we finally go in and she tells us that they're still waiting to hear from some finance ministry or something and she extends me another 30 days.

We've been at this for 60 days now. Ah, lovely red tape. But I'm extended again, so that's okay. As long as they eventually approve me it's okay.

Lo!

My long struggle to get a visa in Croatia has come to a successful conclusion. I arrived in Croatia exactly 3 months ago, November 20th, and here it is February 20th. I just left MUP, the police station here where I have to go for this sort of thing, and finally have my business visa in hand. It took a lot of effort, time and money, but I am finally approved for a full, one year stay. And it's renewable each year.

So, there you have it. I will not be back in the States until the San Diego Comicon in July, during which I may stay for a bit and catch up with friends. My cats are relieved that they don't have to enter an airplane anytime soon.

So, the firm that I started here is totally official, approved by the court and a legal entity:

Welly well well.

So, this week has thus far been mostly dealing with visa related issues in Zagreb. I started the week with my first language lesson here, at a school called APLO, right in Bana Jelačića Trg. I studied the Croatian language for about 8 months back in the States, but forgot a lot after my summer visit. So, we're starting with a review of cases and some other stuff. It helps refresh my memory, and then being HERE helps as I see the language everywhere all the time and hear it all the time.

Then, off to visit the lawyer. She had me sign a few things, I gave her some money, then she sent me across town to sign the papers to start my company, Žujo Stripovi, d.o.o.. It's a limited liability company, with the name basically being my nickname, after the beer I drink most, Ožujsko, and "stripovi", which means "comics". The "d.o.o." is like an LLC in the States. Anyway, I went across town to the notary public, here called Javni Bilježnik. Signed tons of papers to start the company. Went to my girlfriend's place and gave her headphones for Skype and got her started with the download, which took an hour. So, I had to leave to go home. Got home sort of late in the day. We tested Skype with her dial up connection and it worked pretty good. So, we may be able to use that if I have to go back to the States.

Today, Tuesday, I had to get up early again and get into town. I had to visit the police station yet again and see the visa person there. I arrived and there was a crowd of people outside her office, maybe ten or so people waiting to see her. I poked my head in and just nodded at her, but wasn't sure if she saw me. She knew I was coming in, though. I stood around outside her office for about a half hour thinking that I was doomed, that I'd have to wait hours. She had not come out once yet. She'd been with that one person the whole time. Finally, she comes out, sees me and tells me to come in with her. Woo hoo! I skipped the entire line. I leave you to draw your own conclusions. If you know the story so far, you can figure it out.

So, I was basically there to give her my paperwork that was canceling my old visa request. It was a letter my lawyer wrote that said I no longer needed that visa as I was starting a "firma" and would be applying for a business visa. She filled out stuff and I sat there and tried to talk to her about whatever nonsense. She asked how my company stuff was going and what my plans were. I told her I'd be going to Texas for the required 90 days out of the country and would leave on February 13th. She then told me that I might not have to leave at all. WHAT? This is the same lady who had told me in December that I definitely had to leave for a full 90 days even if I got a business visa before February 13th. She said it was required back then. Now she seemed to be telling me that was not the case. So, I asked her if it's true, if I might not have to leave at all. She told me that she'd try to help me out so that I would not have to leave.

Fucking A!

So, from there, I went to my lawyer and gave her the required money for the bank account for the firm and rest of her payment as well. Filled out bank cards and such. I told her what the visa lady had said and she said that we basically need to get my business visa application in on Thursday, the 18th.

Tonight, I have to visit my landlord to review our housing contract which needs to be amended to have the firm included. Hopefully it's good, and then tomorrow afternoon I will have to go to the Javni Bilježnik with her to sign this and have it documented.

As it turns out, my lawyer couldn't open the bank account for me. So, I have to go with them in the morning Wednesday (tomorrow), open a personal non resident bank account with the money, then open the account for the firm and transfer the money over to that account from my personal account. Then, she will be going to court tomorrow with all of this data and paperwork to start the firm officially with the government. Then, assuming all goes as planned, I will stop by her office Thursday, then go back to the police station and put my business visa application in. It should take around 2 weeks to hear back on that visa. At that point I should know whether or not I have to leave the country.

So, the adventure continues.

Looks like I need to work this weekend as this is all putting me a bit behind.

Ah, so the world spins and things change.

Further developments on the residence permit for Croatia from today:

I contacted Croaticum, the school that is approved for residence permits if enrolled. We traded e-mails yesterday and they told me to come in at 11:30 today to talk to someone. So, Esad and I take the train then a taxi to get there on time and the person is not there. We wait for a full hour and she's still not there. They had told us that she'd be back at noon, so we waited around. Then, around 12:30 we see everyone packing up to leave for lunch and ask what's up. They don't know where she is and can't call her for whatever reason. We ask if she'll be around later and they don't know. They basically cannot give us any information at all. Totally fucking worthless motherfuckers, a complete waste of time. So, we leave and are fucking pissed off. We have encountered this kind of bullshit incompetence at every turn with all the dealings I've been having with schools and government. Cocksuckers.

The other day, I received a letter from the police asking me to report in at the main station. So, having talked to the police 3 times now, I just expect more bullshit. There's always some fucking stupid reason to ask me for some new paperwork or some other bullshit. So, expected that. We waited in line for maybe 45 minutes or so. When we got in, turns out this lady was great. She's the very person that denied my permit for residency when I applied from the States and had called me in to clarify what was going on as I am now here on a tourist visa and am at a different address than the one from my permit application.

Okay, whatever. But she's nice. And she knows everything about what's going on within the system instead of being some fucking machine that does no more than required. I ask her about the school situation, then ask her about what if I started a company here. And, she told me that basically that's the way to go. She said if I register a company here, I can get a one year business visa. Then that can be renewed with no limit each year. And, after 5 years, if I know the language well, have the company and am a good citizen, I can apply for citizenship.

Now, I had been talking to a local friend here in Gajnice about this very thing. But, the law firm he's at basically told me that I had only the smallest chance of success and it would not likely work. They have a lot of Chinese moving here and he told me they were tightening up the rules because of this. I told this woman that and she laughed, like "that's bullshit". She told me it was easy as long as I have 20,000 kuna (about $3,500) to put into a business bank account on hold until the company is approved (which is the regulation posted on the government website). Then I can use that money to pay employees, withdraw funds or whatever. And not only that, but she called a lawyer friend of hers and sent me over there to get this started. I don't wanna hear any comments about corruption here or anything. If this is what works, then it's what works.

So, she got me started with this. And we chose a company name. My nickname in Gajnice is Žujo. So, the company name should be Žujo Stripovi. The local beer I drink all the time has it's nickname of Žuja, so my name is based on that, and stripovi means comics. She's gonna get the ball rolling, then she goes on vacation until January 10th. We hope to wrap this up before February 1st. But then it sounds like I'll still have to leave and go to the States for 3 months. But, we will close out my application I put in from the States and this will be a new one that I can do from here. If all goes as planned, I will then have a one year permit. I'll leave February 13th, then return mid May and be able to stay for a year and then renew this for another year and so on.

So, there you have it. That's the latest. Long, tiring day.

Going to Texas!

Here's the latest on my wacky life of travel and adventure.

As it stands now, I will be leaving Croatia on February 13th. If I miraculously line up paperwork to stay for a longer time, then I won't leave at all. But it's my assumption that even if I do line up my paperwork, that it won't happen before that date, which is the time I have to leave. With a tourist visa, I can only stay in the country for 90 days in a six month period. So, I'll have to leave, possibly for 3 months, then return later. I will keep my apartment here and plan on returning, definitely. I am moving forward on 3 different strategies to stay in the country for an extended one year permit that is renewable for another year. But I am prepared for very slow bureaucracy, and with X-Mas here right now, I know nothing will move forward until January. So, I contacted some friends to see what my options were in the States.

I do not want to return to LA. But I have some very close friends in Portland and Texas. A few friends stepped up and offered me a place to stay, so thanks to them all. But, ultimately, I chose the San Antonio, Texas option. A very close friend lives there. For those who know her, it's Eva Moon. We were roomies before, we get along and my cats like her dogs. And she has a huge house with an available room for me. So, I will get to catch up with her and her Corgis, check out the local area which I am totally unfamiliar with and have a bit more traveling fun. I'll be totally sad if I have to leave Croatia, but this will make it much easier to deal with the sadness. She's a very good friend and I already know what it's like to live with her.

So, yay!

I still aim to try to stay here, but if not, then I already have a soft landing lined up.

Don't mess with Texas.