visas ... or maybe not

The quest to obtain the proper permission to remain in this country continues. This has been going on since we got here and is becoming so unbearably bureaucratically mind numbingly dementedly dull that all we can do is laugh, shrug our shoulders and mutter, as the Bosnians do, 'this is Bosnia'

Our tourist visas ran out again so we made the trip to Serbia for coffee on Sunday (see my previous post from the last time we had to do this, deludedly thinking that that would be the last time). Dave's company is now officially registered and he has a Bosnian bank account, a Bosnian employee and a Bosnian salary. The big step forward is that company is now permitted to employ him, the creator of the company, as of last week. This is a process that has taken 8 months. Now we can start the process of obtaining temporary residency visas. Having seen the application form we suspect this will take us another 8 months. We also need to re-obtain a load of documentation, such as UK police checks, that we had already obtained before we left the UK as they are now, apparently, out of date.

Back to the police station we must go, where we will be told off, again, for not having a residency visa. We will be told, again, that as we only have a tourist visa we really ought to leave the country for 3 months before we are allowed back in again. We will be told, again, that this is the last time they will renew our visa but not until we point out that we simply cannot move this process along any faster, and it is not our fault that it is taking so long. Once again, the boys will use the corridors as 100m racing tracks and we will be told off by some scary looking policemen having cigarettes. Really, it is so frustrating and such a waste of everyones time and energy. If the powers that be in Bosnia really want people to invest in this country, and create companies which generate income and employment, they really do need to sort this process out.

Oh well, onwards and upwards.

Help a tourist day in Tuzla

Our British car is still looking very British with GB stickers and licence plates all over it (not to mention the right hand drive aspect of the car). Whilst foreign cars are very common in Tuzla (Austrian, Dutch, French and Italian being the most popular) the British cars are few and far between. I have seen one other, a bright blue Smart car, we waved at each other in a moment of solidarity.

Anyhow, driving a British car makes us a bit conspicuous. People tend to notice us, especially the police. Driving to nursery today we came to their attention. I was indicating to turn left and waiting for a gap in the traffic. There weren't any so we waited for quite a while. Now, I grew up and learnt how to drive in London, busy roads are not a problem; if there is a gap in traffic I will take it. Trust me, there weren't any gaps in the traffic which would enable me to safely make the turn but I'm happy to wait.

The local traffic policeman couldn't take the incompetent cautious English driver any longer. He put down his coffee, strode across the road, stopped the oncoming traffic and waved us across, giving us a little wave as he did so. The boys were impressed and are now on the lookout for more policemen to wave to. Job done, he went back across the road to finish his coffee.