⏳ The Holidays: A Pending File 🇬🇧

 

​ A Pending File 🇬🇧

​It is said that during the holidays, everyone is rushing, caught up in a frantic speed deal. It’s the same for me, except my holidays are currently "closed." I wasn't waiting for them, but they certainly waited for me, throwing me headfirst into the biggest time crunch. Before I could even think about Santa Claus, reality hit: a court process, a residency application for the UK pending, and a desperate lack of time to apply for an emergency visitor visa (ETA).

​Let me bring you up to speed on my festive "spirit": A few months ago, I returned from the UK to be with my ailing mother, who passed away in October. In this context, I wasn't supposed to leave the country because of my residency application, but, obviously, priorities changed. To complete my residency file entirely, I had to return; I am currently awaiting the final verdict.

​My one and only wish now is to return to the UK to spend the winter holidays with my sisters who live there. I've asked everyone—the case officer from the residency program, whom I emailed (with no reply), and even a social media informant. The response was generic and full of uncertainty. That's how I concluded that the holidays truly waited for me, in a somber fashion.

​Years ago, I was happy, full of life around Christmas. Now? I haven’t even had the strength to set up a single string of lights or take out the Christmas tree. I am alone in the "abandoned" house my mother left just a month ago. It is a painful, irreversible reality. I am alone with the fear that I cannot even enter the UK because of my pending residency—an ETA application might compromise it or lead to me being denied boarding or entry at the UK border.

​Despite all this, even though I am in my thirties, I’ve learned to put myself in the shoes of a child on the eve of the holidays: we are all waiting for Santa Claus, if you think about it. If I had one simple request, it wouldn't be material, but just this: solace, self-confidence, and the strength to keep going. That is what I wish for you too, because regardless of files and waiting periods, our humanity remains.