reprieve

Whew! The letter from the immigration office wasn't a work permit, after all. Just a notice that Douglas can now pay a lot of money and *apply* for a work permit. But since we can't find (after an hour of looking) the correct form on the website, and his passport is still off somewhere getting renewed and barcoded, it will likely be a good long while before he can apply for the permit. We couldn't find work permit processing times on the website, either, but we can safely assume that that will add another few weeks or months.

Thank goodness for the tremendous efficiency and transparency of the immigration offices!