to south africa’s credit:
student visa application to visa being approved - 18 days.
that’s really fast for a country who tells it’s applicants the processing takes some 6 months or longer (the actual proof of application says 30 days, but they strike that through before they hand it to you so it says nothing). it’s impressive.
to south africa’s discredit:
student visa application to visa in my passport - 121 days.
they never told me it was done. after applying mid-january, there was nothing but silence and promises to let me know what was happening and when it was done. as this never happened and the preliminiary six month estimate wasn’t reached yet, i presumed it was still lying around on someone’s desk waiting for what the bureaucratic systems i had to go there to find out what was going on to find out that my visa had been lying around for four months.
on the upside of it all: today is my first full day of legal residence in south africa in a really long time. yes!
