25th January: Hurrah! My Work Permit is granted!

Back to the Immigration Office today - it's the only thing on my mind. I queue for twenty minutes in a sweltering office, and reach the enquiry desk just before lunch. There's not much I can do, apart from ask whether they've read my application - if they need any more information I can provide it straight away. It also keeps me at the front of their minds, or at least not too far towards the back of their minds.

The girl on reception checks the screen, and sees that there's been no more movement on my application. It's been logged but nobody has picked it up yet. She checks with a colleague who has just been speaking to another customer. It turns out this colleague is one of the Immigration Officers. She asks me to take a seat, and she'll be out to see me in ten minutes. She lied. She's back out in five.

She has my envelope with her, containing various documents that I provided. She has my passport. And she has information. She's checked my application, and she's approved my work visa! Handing me my passport, she opens it at the page where - gleaming like a cartoon treasure chest - the work visa has been glued in. After the turmoil of the last 44 hours, this seems like such a disproportionately small transaction. But it's huge. It means I can start work. It means I can look for an apartment. It means that the adventure that started 6 months ago when I left Capital One, is finally coming together.