Journey to Madrid

We were able to turn our applications in to the Spanish Embassy in Prague almost 2 weeks ago.  It took the consulate a few days to review it, but we did get the word that our applications were accepted.  Whew!  With ALL the many papers that were needed on FIVE family members I am so thankful we didn't miss anything!!
The crazy fact of it all is these papers we had to acquire are JUST to get a 90 day visa and we have MORE to do once we arrive in Spain!  Ahhh!!!  What MORE can we give them?!  Ha!
At first we were told it could take 3 weeks to 2 months.  We were thinking that wasn't too bad.  Then the last word we got this past week was 3 weeks to 6 months?!  My heart sunk a little as we are so ready to get there and get our kids somewhat adjusted before we have to jump them into school.  But, God has a plan and is bigger than it all and we know He is not going to give us or our kids anything we can't handle!  So, we'll just wait and see what unfolds!

Our Czech contact who has done our work visas in the Czech Republic for the last 10 years has been helping us with all of this.  She is a God send!!  We have known her all these years and I have no idea how she can keep up with all the changing laws (but she does it!) and put up with us Americans who are hounding her all the time!  Ha!  No, we're really not that bad!  Anyway, we thought it best to seek her help with this process since the people at the embassy most likely speak Spanish & Czech.  So we knew having Petra's help would be invaluable!  She was also able to obtain many of the necessary Czech documents much quicker and easier (birth certificates of our kids, police reports, etc.) as well as already having a translator to translate these documents into Spanish.  This process would have been so much longer without her help!!
As we got to talking about our visas she told us that the Schengen agreement states that you can be in another Schengen country for 90 days.  Which means we could legally be in Spain for 90 days on our Czech visas.  So we are doing some research to see if our logistics people will allow us to go ahead and move on our desired date of June 8th.  Then Jerry can always travel back to Prague to final things.  With all the stuff we need to sell and get rid of as well as many activities between now and then like birthdays for all 3 kids, a team retreat, a new team member arriving, out of town guests, and not to mention our normal schedule, that's the soonest we could make it.  Having a date to shoot for makes things much easier!

On another note, we got an email from a colleague telling us that driving in Spain on our US driver's license has become more difficult and that they are starting to fine drivers even when it is legal for us to drive on our US license for 6 months.  Jerry did a little research that it is only certain States that they don't accept, but not sure on that.  The problem is, you can't get a Spanish license until after the 90 day visa is up and the next visa stage begins.  This would not really be ideal for us.  Sure, we've been living the last 10 years without a vehicle but circumstances and the way we get around is going to be different.  Jerry had the thought to look into getting a driver's license here in the Czech Republic which would enable us to drive upon our arrive and then turn it in for a Spanish license after the 90 day period in Spain.  This was something we also discussed with Petra and looks like the easiest thing for us to do.  Now we add driving test to the list!!
So, we've got LOTS to do in the next few weeks and I'm already feeling a little overwhelmed.  Mostly by the stuff we need to get rid of and sell because we don't have a vehicle and I don't know the best way to go about finding it a new home!  Much to work on!  And that's our update as of now.  It could change by the end of the week, so stay tuned!  Ha!