What’s the plan?
Dear diary, today is September 26th, 2024. We are still sorta deciding if we are really-really moving next year or not.
The plan is this:
- For now: Proceed as if we were moving in July 2025
- January 2025 (6 months before desired move date): Start collecting the paperwork
- March 2025 (3 months before desired move date): Reassess the situation, make the final decision and if still “Yes” submit the paperwork
- Based on response:
- If approved: list the house, purge and pack. Move.
- If denied:
- Appeal if we think we cave a case
- Quit and stay in Texas for the time being (or?)
So we are technically still on the fence and will be until at least March. One week I’m all “we are definitely going”, and the next is an “it’s not going to work, we can’t go” kind of week. But it suddenly got a lot easier to let go of things.
I think it started on July 17th. That’s even before the trip! I looked through the photos we took of the things to get rid of and these items were clearly being purged because of the future move. Are we decided then? It’s terrifying, but we are getting rid of stuff as if we were.
– Why can’t you decide? You said you wanted to move?
We do want to. We don’t know if we can pull it off next year. The complicating factor is, in consular language, a dependent ascendant. My mother-in-law lives with us. She can not live alone. So either she goes with us or we are not going.
- This means she will need to be included in the family visa application. The website says that the ascendant has to be financially dependent. Technically she’s not, but she is a dependant in every other sense. We think we can show that in our application, but there’s no telling for sure until we do.
- This also means that we are on our own when it comes to her care once we have moved. She gets some help here through Medicare/Medicaid. In Spain we’ll be private insurance and completely on our own otherwise. It makes me nervous.
It’s difficult to plan a whole year ahead when her condition is slowly deteriorating. This is what we’ll be assessing again in March. Is she still in condition to move? Is she still mobile? Is this a good idea?
All we can do right now is hurry up and wait. And we can also start pairing down our belongings. Let the declutterathon begin.