immigration...

Today we were taking the bull by its horns and tackling the conundrum which is Mum's residency status.  She and Dad were awarded permanent residency way way back before Cyprus joined the EU but apparently these records are not computerised so apparently in order to secure her status come Brexit we have to exchange her current paperwork for the dreaded MEU3 and after Brexit for whatever form comes next (at a charge no doubt).  I had hoped that it would be a straight swap and no fee or a straight swap with a fee but no no no it has to be the full application with all the 5 years evidence of residency that goes with it.   We learned this after arriving at the Immigration office at 9.30 only to find that the receptionist had 'gone on a break' which lasted the best part of 40 minutes - the good news is that this was long enough for those in front of us in the queue to give up.  I wasn't going to give up because that was what I had earmarked to get done today so I was prepared to stick it out.  Fortunately I had Mum's passport with me so was able to make her appointment (no passport = no appointment) which is mid-March!!! and John and I left with the list of paperwork required and I got him to swing by the bank where they very kindly produced the five years' of bank accounts there and then for me.  We have just about everything else bar a bit of paper regarding her tenancy so she will have nothing to worry about for which John and I were very grateful - we know this has been bothering her.

I had arranged with Mum that I would meet her after I had been to immigration and then we would go for lunch and she had chosen Darcy's which was absolutely fine by me.  When I made the plans it was just going to be Mum and me but John was feeling a bit guilty about not coming to the funeral on Monday so he decided he would come along too.

It was an absolutely glorious day - so hard to believe that it is the end of October and John knew exactly what he was doing by coming today as Mum decided to treat us as a thank you for sorting her out - not that we need a 'thank-you' but it is very very nice to feel appreciated because sometimes these 'official' things are a right ball ache if you pardon the vernacular.

It was a lovlye way to spend lunch.  The venue is very nice - very clean, light and airy with background music that adds to the ambiance rather than encroach on your conversation.

Mum and John both chose the spare ribs (served with chips and coleslaw) and I had lamb shank with mashed potato, minted gravy and vegetables.  John enjoyed a couple of very nice pints of Wadsworth 6x (his description not mine!).  Everything was very nice and so a big big thank-you to Mum for paying for it.  This was to be our main meal of the day and to be honest we didn't need anything else for the rest of the day!!!

Whilst we were down in Paphos we got a couple of bottles of gin to add to our collection.  Today we snapped up a bargain bottle of Tanqueray (not saying where as we might go back and get the remaining two) and a bottle of After Work which was on offer in Paps.  I have to say I love the Hendricks but it is so expensive over here.

We had had a good day, we felt we had really got somewhere today even if it had started with a long boring wait at immigration.  Mum was in good form and we all three had a lovely lunch together and I had managed to get her some interesting DVD box sets so I know she will always have something to watch.  Once home we decided that Hallowe'en deserved to be celebrated with a couple of drinks and a couple of episodes of Making a Murderer!