That Time I was Kicked Out of Sweden

Before we moved to Sweden I applied for a residency permit as I was told was necessary to live in the country with Chris. After applying I was notified it could take 12-16 months until my application was approved. We knew this was a long process, but were assured that it didn't matter and I could still live in Sweden with Chris while the process took place.

Around mid-November, Chris and I went to the migration office in Sweden to get an extension on my visit while my residency application is still in process. We found out at this appointment that I was unable to apply for an extension and actually needed to get out of the country asap if I wanted my residency application approved. Uhhhh What?! You can only begin to imagine what we felt at this point.

Chris reached out to his network of people who looked into the situation for us. They confirmed that I did need to leave the country and possibly sooner than we expected. The whole situation of back and forth with a variety of different people carried on for a few weeks. The more information we heard the worst the situation got for us. I won't bore you with the details, but basically I was told to leave Sweden ASAP and stay out of the country until my residency permit is approved. Apparently, my being in Sweden could negatively affect the outcome, so I needed to leave and not come back until accepted.

Before all of this occurred we booked a trip to the US for Christmas with my family. Luckily, I was approved to still fly out on this previously scheduled flight, but since it was past the 90 days I was allowed to be in Sweden I had to be escorted through the airport. This was sad and embarrassing, but you do what you have to do. My sweet (and pissed off) husband changed his ticket to fly with me during all of this and I couldn't be more thankful! Harvie also had to fly with us since Chris works long hours and cannot care for her the way she needs, so I needed her with me. Plus, lets be honest, I wanted my furchild with me!

Fast forward to today...Chris is back to work in Sweden and living in our apartment. Harvie and I are in the United States staying with my parents (who, by the way, moved to Texas, which is a whole other situation).  I flew down to Houston on Monday to meet with the Consulate of Sweden. This was another step in my residency permit process where they interviewed me and looked at my supporting documents in person. They then send everything back to Sweden and it stays in a file until someone gets around to my application. At this point I/We have done everything we can do.

Chris is continuously waiting to hear from his network of people. We have been extremely disappointed with Chris' new job moving us to Sweden and dropping the ball on the Ashley portion of this equation. Usually when a company moves a person abroad they apply for a work permit for said person and attach their dependents. Since Chris is already a Swedish citizen and able to work in Sweden they did not have to do this step. However, they completely forgot about me being in the country and what that entails. Plus they gave us incorrect information from the beginning about the whole process. We were under the impression that I was able to move there, apply for an extension as needed and continue on with life in Sweden. This is absolutely not correct and those involved should have known better. We NEVER would have moved to Sweden in the first place had we known that I was not able to stay there with Chris. We would have waited until we could both legally be in the country.

The entire situation is completely overwhelming and frustrating. We have so many mixed emotions and the past few months have been rough. Just being honest! We really have no idea what to do at this point aside from waiting for my residency permit to come through (assuming it even does get approved). It's entirely possible that we may move back to the United States in a few months or my residency permit may come in sooner and we can be reunited in Sweden. We have no idea right now. Stay tuned.

Regardless, Chris and I are SO grateful for one another. We never imagined this would be the journey that moving to Sweden would take us on, But, we are incredibly happy to have each other and are making the best of the situation. This mess has shown us how much we love each other and love our life together. Being unwillingly separated is hard and not something we ever wanted to go through. We are taking life day by day and look forward to the time when we can look back on this and laugh together.

Cheers to messy situations!