My Indefinite Leave To Remain in the UK has come through.  

The Royal Mail card has been sitting on the table by the door waiting until today when I could get to the Post Office to pick up the Special Delivery Parcel this morning and there was my passport, my documents and the most anticipated letter ever confirming that I am ‘no longer subject to immigration restrictions’.

There were a few tears of relief…it hasn’t mattered how many times I have logic-ed it all out with ‘of course it won’t be a problem, I more than meet the criteria and submitted absolutely everything that they have asked for’, a tiny voice in my head (you know, THAT voice) kept muttering ‘but you haven’t been working for most of this year’ and ‘you don’t have a stable income/job’ so there has been an internal battle since submitting my application 8 weeks ago which I am so relieved as over…

It’s been almost 6 years since I arrived in London and it’s been challenging and imperfect and joyful and rewarding to build my life here on terms I didn’t know would ever be mine and to make different choices, ones I thought I would never face or even dream I would have to make.  But I feel like I’ve earned this life – it’s mine and being here is not in someone else’s hands anymore – and I’m happier than I ever thought was possible.

So for those of you at ‘home’ (my first one anyway) who still miss me, this news may be a double-edged sword but please know that I’m loved and happy here…and I’m only ever a blog away….