Long day

I’m writing this a little after 10pm; I just got home from the office.  Needless to say, it’s been a long 12-hour work day!!

But, it was pretty exciting, it flew by, and I got my first front-page by-line, woo hoo!

Early this morning, the newsroom was alerted by some Democrat group in Cambodia that the U.S. was changing the policy for allowing foreigners living abroad to obtain visas for their non-American spouses and children.  Seems pretty mundane, but it has a dramatic effect on the thousands of Americans living abroad.

Basically, as it stands now, let’s say you’re in Cambodia and you marry a Cambodian.  If you want to return to the U.S. together, either permanently or just for a visit, you go to the Embassy and file a petition and the whole process typically takes 1-3 months.

Once August 15^th comes along though, you will have to file the requisite documents through the U.S., sending them to some place in Chicago, which is a huge pain for foreigners living abroad, especially in a place like Cambodia where the mail system is expensive and totally unreliable.  They are estimating this change will make the process much slower, anywhere from 1-3 years.

My colleague, Vincent, worked most of the day getting the legal background on the issue and it was my job to go to this emergency meeting for expats being held in the early evening.  I was able to get some great human interest quotes that reflected the implications that this policy will inevitably have on many Americans with non-U.S. children and spouses.  One lady was on the verge of tears as she talked about how she might not be able to bring her two adopted two-year-old daughters home this Christmas.  She was the perfect face for an otherwise tedious, mundane policy issue.

I will be sure to share the link when it goes live tomorrow.  For now, I’m going to have a beer, watch some Mad Men, and head to bed…and do it all over again in 12 hours!