Still no iPhone...

Today was an exciting mail day. We got a letter from the Gemeinde, which is the city office where you register. This envelope contained 5 letters -- one for each of us -- with just a short message. I didn't even bother to type the contents into an online translator. I just knew that this was THE letter. The one that said our registration/identity cards were ready. I hopped in the car and drove the Gemeinde to pick up the cards. I drove, because I figured I could then proceed directly to the Apple store and pick up some jeans for Brendan, who grew between the time we packed our clothes and the clothes arrived. Darn kid. Must stop feeding him!

So, my smile turned a bit upside down when the nice lady at the Gemeinde office told me that it was not a message to come pick up our cards. Instead, it was a request for proof of medical insurance. What?!?! I normally wouldn't be upset by such a simple request, but besides ruining my Apple Store plans, I am amazed at how inefficient this registration process is. Here's a timeline for you:

Months ago, right after our look-see trip, we applied for our visas to live here. The firm asked a lot of questions, which we answered, and then they submitted the paperwork.

We then waited. And waited.

The week before our flight to Switzerland, we received notice that our visas were ready, so we rushed to San Francisco to pick them up at the Embassy. We were told we needed to fill out an application. Hmm. Seems a bit strange considering the letter we received told us the visas were approved and waiting for us, but being good little rule followers, we filled out the applications and signed them (while the children went wild in the waiting room). We were then told to go away and come back in a couple days to pick up the visas.

We picked up the visas. John got a nice multi-entry visa. The rest of us? Single entry.

We then arrived in Switzerland and immediately went to register so that we could get our permanent visa and our registration card. We took all the paperwork they said we needed. The nice lady at the office checked all of our paperwork. Everyone signed the forms. We were told that it could be two weeks to three months before we got registered.

We waited. We checked mail regularly. We waited some more.

We got a notice that they needed police clearance for John and I. We sent in the clearance we brought with us that they didn't want went we went to register the first time.

We waited. We checked mail regularly. We waited some more.

We got a promising looking letter today. I rushed to the Gemeinde office. We were told to provide proof of medical coverage.

Now I ask you, why couldn't they make this request when we first submitted all the paperwork? If not then, why not when they asked for police clearance?

So, now we wait some more. Hopefully, our next piece of mail will be "THE" letter. Or, it could be a request for the next missing item. We wouldn't want to ask for TWO things in the same letter, afterall. In the meantime, I can't sign a cell phone contract nor can I leave the country. Well, I can leave... I just can't legally return. Sigh.