The Run Around

Goal: Passport for Sophia 1.0

The immigration and identification office has thankfully gone through a major overhaul in the past decade. In the past, hardly anyone had any sort of valid ID card, and getting a passport was a matter of knowing who to pay how much and then waiting for a year. No longer does such a bureaucratic nightmare exist. The website provides all the information needed to go about the process of procuring the identification that a citizen would need.

Those requirements for Sophia´s passport were the following:

1. An appointment scheduled online by filling out a form on the website.
2. Her birth certificate
3. The parents´ ID cards. In case that one or both were foreigners, their respective passport(s). If the parents are foreigners from Latin America or the Caribbean, they do not need to show a visa within their passport. For foreigners from all other regions in the world, they must have a valid and current visa.
4. The presence of both parents and the minor during the appointment.
5. No charges nor fees apply to minors.

Reviewing the website, we tried to make an appointment. Sadly to make an appointment and fill out the form, the first piece of information that is required is the number of the parents Venezuelan ID card. You can get this if you have any visa other than tourist, or if you are Venezuelan and over nine years old. Since neither Zulay nor I have this, there was no way we could schedule an appointment. None the less, we got all the requirements together with their corresponding copies and planned to visit an office.

The office we visited was close to Zulay´s old work. In that office works the boyfriend of the sister-in-law of one of Zulay´s co-workers. That´s three degrees of separation if you were counting. We arrived, filled out a general form at the door, and were quickly attended. They looked at all of our requirements and all looked good, except for lacking the form from the website. We explained that we couldn´t fill out the form since neither of us had the ID card. We were quickly told that they could not attend to us until we had an appointment. When asked for advice, they directed us to the main office downtown. Our contact was not around so we visited Zulay´s old workplace while we waited for him to show up. Once he arrived, he very cordially took our case to his supervisor. The supervisor suggested that we look for a Venezuelan “tutor”, a natural born Venezuelan who could essentially setup the appointment for us. We thanked him and decided to drop by the main office to see what they would say. They suggested the same idea and that we visit a notary to establish the tutorship. With that confirmation, we knew that we were now on the right track.

Goal: Establish Venezuelan Tutor 1.0

We talked with our friend Moises, our teammate KT´s husband. We explained the situation and asked if he would be willing to be our tutor. He eagerly agreed and we set a time to visit a notary. He suggested one in particular that had been helpful to him while he was in the process to get married to KT. He had a friend there that would help us through the process. We all left early one morning and arrived at the notary. The woman who attended us was very kind and told us that we needed a document written by a lawyer that would establish Moises as the tutor to process Sophia´s passport. We would then bring this document in, and three days later we could pickup the notarization. Moises looked for his friend in the office and did not find him. Zulay and I know a lawyer and we figured that she would be able to help us out.

Goal: Getting the document to establish Moises as the Tutor 1.0

Talking with our lawyer friend, she informed us that she was very busy. There was no way that she would be able to get us the document in time.

Goal: Getting the document to establish Moises as the Tutor 2.0

We asked the pastor of Zulay´s church if there was a lawyer in the congregation that would help us out.  He said there wasn´t, but that one of women that help out with the youth has a brother-in-law that is a lawyer. We contacted him and he was very gracious to help us out and said he would even be so kind as to take the document to the notary to make sure everything was up to snuff.

Goal: Passport for Sophia 2.0

Sure that we would soon have the document showing Moises as the tutor, we decided to save time and have him make the appointment for us online. He made the appointment and all went well. Two weeks later we got a message informing us that our appointment had been scheduled for 2:00 in the afternoon on April 22^nd. This was just enough time since after the appointment, the passport would be ready in two weeks and my visa would expire on May 16^th. God is good!

Goal: Getting the document to establish Moises as the Tutor 2.1

A week and a half away from the scheduled appointment, the lawyer had done nothing. We began to call and urgently plead that he get the document ready and turned into the notary. He steadily assured us that he was on it (during the very few times that he answered our calls) and that there was plenty of time.

Goal: Getting the document to establish Moises as the Tutor 2.2

Exactly seven days before the appointment, there was still nothing from the lawyer. We texted, emailed, called, and cajoled the sister-in-law. Finally when he did answer I pleaded with him that I needed the document that next morning without fail. We agreed at a place to meet, much closer to him than it was to me, and at 9:00 am.

Goal: Getting the document to establish Moises as the Tutor 2.3

9:30 am the next morning found me biting my nails. The lawyer was not answering his phone what so ever. He did manage to send a vague text: “I´m on my way”. During these past few weeks Moises had connected with his old friend and found out that he was working in a different notary. He had agreed to help, but we needed to get him the document in the morning. Morning here starts at around 6:00 am and, depending on where you´re going, ends at around 8-10am. As I waited and prayed, I found myself with visions of becoming separated from my family. The lawyer wasn´t going to get the document to us in time. The notary wouldn´t get it to us in time for the appointment. We would lose the appointment. I´d have to leave to renew my visa, and just in that moment they would close the borders of the country refusing to let Americans enter the country. We would become the next international incident on the news, “the family divided by three countries, but united by hope”. And so on and so on.

The lawyer finally showed up at 10:37am. This was the first time I had seen him in person, and even though he was a chubby little guy with a somewhat happy looking ewok-like smile, I confess that I only needed about half a second for me to loath him. I snatched the paper out of his hand and began to review it. While I reviewed, he went over the excuses, the electricity had gone out, he couldn´t go to the notary because of the political situation, and chaos on the streets, etc etc. The document, (which was only 15 lines maximum) had one glaring error. It addressed the immigration office by its old name which had been replaced three years ago. As I angrily pointed out the error, he offered to fix it and have it to me by tomorrow. I said that I never wanted to see him again and that I expected him to return what we had paid him and stormed off as fast as I could to get back home. Not a very Christian attitude I know, but I mention this to show how the stress was getting to me and in no way to justify myself.

Thankfully my wife is good at resolving problems and decided the best thing to do would be to rewrite the document and simply forge his signature. Given the complete lack of options and the urgency of the situation, it sounded like a golden plan to me. An hour later, we had it ready.

Goal: Notarizing the document to establish Moises as the Tutor 1.0

That next morning we went to the notary office where Moises´ friend works. We got there at a decent hour in the morning on the Thursday before the 22^nd which fell on a Monday. We brought the document up to the second story of the office. Moises´ friend quickly directed us to the lawyer that reviews all the documents. I explained our case, presented Moises, and gave her the document. She kindly asked us to wait. When she called us back ten minutes later, she informed us that the document wouldn´t work. She had called a friend of hers that was a judge. The judge agreed with the lawyer that what we needed wasn´t a tutor, but rather to give a power to Moises to request the passport. A tutor is someone who is almost an adoptive parent. As such, a tutor must go through a long process of presentation before a tribunal, then undergoing a socio-economic study of their house and employment, then meeting with a social worker, and finally being established as the tutor. The lawyer was going to save us from having to go through all of that when all we really needed was a document giving power to Moises. Now all we needed was a new document written by a lawyer. We left heart broken. There was no way to make it in time. Our previous lawyer was a screwball and no one would be able to get us the document in under 24 hours. Even then, how could the notary office process the document in time?

Goal: Getting the document giving the power to Moises 1.0

We decided to eat something for breakfast on the road before going home. While eating, Moises called his friend and asked if the same lawyer in the notary could write us the document. He said of course and to come back. We returned hopeful and she set to work getting the document written. Moises´ friend even said that could have the document notarized that same day. God is good!

Goal: Notarizing the document to give the power to Moises 1.0

The lawyer wanted to see our passports to get our numbers and write the document. As she looked at our passports, she noticed that Zulay had no record of an entry into Venezuela. In fact the passport had been issued in Caracas from the Colombian consulate. She claimed that this was a problem. Zulay, said stated, has no legal status in the country what so ever and as such, has no legal basis to grant a power to anyone. I began to fight back with the LOPNA, the Venezuelan child protection law. In many of its articles, it gives the children the right to be raised by their parents, especially the mother. The lawyer considered this for a second and thought of an idea. Since I have some sort of legal status in the country, legally I can give power to Moises, and to Zulay as the mother. This last part never made much sense to us, but we didn´t argue. About four hours later, we had our document notarized in our hand and were ready to get Sophia´s passport.

Goal: Passport for Sophia 3.0

All four of us left at just the right time and made it to the immigration office with all of our documents in hand. I had plenty of copies of all the documents with me and we were good to go. Waiting in line, I was nervous, as I always am with any sort of immigration paper work. It has slightly diminished over the past six years with many travels in different countries, but I still get the butterflies wherever there´s a line, someone reviewing documents, a stamp, and me. Why I´m made up this way, I really don´t know, but I am. That´s also why I hated the movie Argo.

When the woman began to review our documents, she asked for the paper showing Moises as the tutor.  While I pulled out the copy, I turned pale to see that the original wasn´t in the folder. In my minds eye, I saw myself leaving it in the scanner I had used to make the copies. Still, I asked the woman to look at the copy to make sure that it was what we needed. After looking at it a bit with another woman in training, she agreed and asked how fast I could have the original. I said “fast” and flew out the building.   

There are many modes of transportation in this city, and by far the fastest is by motorcycle. Many motorcyclists offer their rides as “moto-taxis” and will take you any where you need to go for the right price. Moises helped me find a good one that didn´t charge too much and disregarding the much repeated warning of my mother to never get on a motorcycle while she lived on this green earth, we were off. On the way I found out the young man driving was Christian and we had an excellent conversation as we flew through semis, traffic and pedestrians. We arrived at the house in good order, I found the document, stuffed it carefully in my backpack, offered him a glass of water and headed back. We made the trip in less than an hour.

Glad and thankful to have the original in hand, we all went back up the desk to present our case. The same woman looked at the original, and the rest of her documents. She said to her friend that she wasn´t in favor of this, given that the parents were undocumented, but that she couldn´t put in jeopardy the rights of the child. She had another friend look at the document granting the power. They both decided that they needed to take it to the lawyer working in the office. Five minutes later, the woman returned us our documents and informed that this wasn´t what we needed. This document wasn´t going to work.  We protested and asked why not. She explained that what we needed was a lukjolxc child laj$%&/ tribune trakdlerfl service. I had a hard time understanding her at this point. We had already been through so much and now it wasn´t going to happen again. I had no idea how this was going to work out, if it was going to work out.

She continued on that since I was undocumented that we needed this other thingamajig. I again returned to the LOPNA citing the child´s right to identification and to travel, but she repeated her spiel. There was nothing more to be done here.

Goal: Looking for the thingamajig 1.0

While heartbroken, we were at least a bit optimistic. The worst had already happened. Everything from here on out was completely in the hands of God. There was no way we could go about scheduling another appointment in time before my visa ran out. It´s a month plus process from beginning to end. Even then, we weren´t sure what we needed to make it happen. We truly needed a miracle. If God really wanted Sophia to have her passport and for us to try to fix our situation here, He was going to have to do it. If He simply wanted us stuck here forever with no possibility to see my parents, for them to meet my wife and their granddaughter, so be it. At some point, surrender to Him is the only option.

I must note here that Sophia needs a Venezuelan passport to leave Venezuela. Without it, there is no way for her to leave or enter. She also needs her Venezuelan passport to get her US nationality, as per the regulations of the US Embassy.

We returned to the website to look for some clues to guide us. At this point the website had been updated and the previous pages which gave us the requirements shown at the beginning was no longer there. The new system directed us to a one line order: In the case that both parents are foreigners  all you must do is present yourself at the closest city hall. That was it. It was cryptic at the most, smelled vaguely of a trap or just seemed to good to be true. What they would tell us there was anyone´s guess and how much more run around they would give us was unknown. Thankfully, Moises and Zulay had picked what the woman at the immigration office had been saying. We needed to visit one of the offices that works with children and minors. They could get us pointed in the right direction.

That next morning, we set out to find what we could find. The first office we visited had moved. The second office was very helpful to direct us to a different office downtown that was sure to help us. That office told us to come back early in the morning. They could get us the document we needed.

Goal: Looking for the thingamajig 1.1

Arriving early that next morning, we found the small hall space outside the office overrun by a chaotic line of thirty people. Some babies, some children, some mothers, some fathers, some social workers. Once we got up to the door, the man informed us only one of us could pass. Zulay darted in with Sophia while Moises and I waited. About an hour later, she brought out Sophia asking for help with her and she jumped back in. Another hour later she came back out. Happily, everything was going to work out. We needed to come back tomorrow, this time at mid-morning in order for all of us to sign the document.

Goal: Looking for the thingamajig 1.2

The next morning at 9 am, Zulay managed to get inside again quickly. Moises, Sophia and myself waited outside. Soon we three were called in. We walked through a maze of walls and doors to find some more chairs where we sat down. Zulay apparently was inside some office talking with the lawyer.  A helpful man came out to ask me for some additional copies of some documents. After about half an hour, we were invited in for the signing. The document very clearly indicated that Moises would be helping us to procure Sophia´s passport given the situation of the parents. Sophia had a right to her passport according to the LOPNA in Article such and such. The lawyer was incredibly friendly, and was very clear to us that, contrary to what many had told along the way, we alone are Sophia´s parents anywhere in the world, documented or not. It is a basic human right that we as a family are always together and the government must do all that it can to protect that right. Then he asked me how to go about getting a visa to the states so that he could visit his cousins in LA. I´ve heard some basic advice which I passed on, but I really wish I could have offered him the same hope that he gave us. We all signed, thanked the lawyer, and happily left! We finally had it!

Goal: Passport for Sophia 4.0

We ran directly to the main immigration and identification office. It was only a half block away. There was a line of about sixty people along the side of the building. With baby in arms, we can jump to the front of most any line, except when the whole line is carrying babies. This came in handy and we got to the door immediately. We were informed that we would have to come back tomorrow, early in the morning since they weren´t processing any more requests for passports that day. The good news is that they would take us immediately without the need to making an appointment online since our travel date was looming so close. Once processed, the passport would be ready in three business days. God is good!

Goal: Passport for Sophia 4.1

That next morning we showed up at six thirty, about half an hour later than the man the previous day had suggested. However, the office opened at 8 am that day. Apparently the man that opens the door at 7 hadn´t shown up that day. With baby in arms, we got thrown to the front of the line and waved on in after presenting all of the paperwork we had.

We walked into a room with a number of desks, chairs and waiting space. No one else had arrived so we all sat down. Soon a young woman showed up and asked for the first number to present themselves.  Zulay and I walked up the desk and began to show our documents. The young woman looked at the letter we had been given the day before. She told me I could wait in the other chairs while she went to show the letter to the lawyer in the office. When the lawyer arrived they chatted a bit and then she showed her the document. We couldn´t tell exactly what they were saying, but I got nervous as I always tend to do. I told Moises that we were probably going to have to go to a tribunal to present our case there. After spending a good ten minutes looking at the document, the lawyer returned the document to the clerk who returned and began to talk with Zulay. Moises and I waited while they chatted and she looked at the rest of our papers, typed at the computer, and kept chatting with Zulay. About half an hour later, they both stood up and suggested that we go out to get something to eat.

Zulay accompanied us outside and gave us the news. The process was just about done, but the clerk needed to present our case to her boss. He would give the final approval or not. Zulay relayed the rest of thier conversation. Apparently the lawyer was very interested in the document we had received the previous day. She was very interested because it was the very first time she had ever seen one. The office always asks for this document in these cases, but no one had every brought it in before. Other couples had said that the office either didn´t want to give it to them or gave some other excuse. In those cases, they had just used a notarized document saying that a Venezuelan had power to setup the appointment and request the passport. The lawyer had asked if she could make a copy of the document to show to other people in the same situation of exactly what they needed.

In other words, we were bureaucratic trail blazers. We were the first to do it right. If that´s our mark on history, the ones that boldly and unwittingly went where no undocumented foreign couple with a baby born in Venezuela had gone before, well then, we shall be remembered for the centuries as such. Maybe we´ll get a statue. Will we be hunched over signing some paper, or perhaps defiantly staring down some office clerk? Will future generations sing songs about the document from the minor´s defense office that could? I´ll let the future take care of it.

Zulay was also clear that the clerk, who was very helpful in listening to the whole story, hardly even looked at our passports, noting that our own particular cases have nothing to do with the passport of our daughter. She also explained why we needed a Venezuelan. The entire ID system is based upon some very advanced electronic system. The only way process a passport is to unlock the system with the electronic fingerprints of someone already in the system. Once you get a Venezuelan ID card, your finger prints are taken and stored in the system, but if you don´t have an ID card, you´re not in the system.

Soon, the same woman showed up and ushered us to a different room. There Moises´ fingerprints were taken along with his signature. Sophia´s photo was taken, and we signed the last forms. The man at the exit told that in three business days, the passport would be ready.

Goal: Passport for Sophia 4.2

That next Thursday (Wednesday was a holiday), we walked in the office and in five minutes walked out with Sophia´s passport. God is good.

Goal: Thankfulness

God really was and is good. There were points where we were going nuts, but God always kept hope alive in us. Without that, I don´t know what would have happened. Interestingly enough, with the way this worked out, we got Sophia´s passport faster and than if they would have processed our request on the 22^nd of April. Perhaps they never would have processed it there in the first place. All I know is that we got it now. And now you know how to go about the process as well should you ever find yourself in the same situation.

I am also extremely grateful to Moises for all that he did in joining us along the whole journey. It must be understood that every time we leave to go to an office or an appointment, it is typically a hour long journey just to get there. Part of that is spent in a very full underground metro at peak hours. Then it is an hours journey back. Thankfully we could keep up our ministry appointments which principally happen in the afternoon and at night even if it was exhausting. I am also grateful to Sophia for her patience with us. We got good about changing her on our lap and being a mobile baby attention unit at any place and situation.

This whole process was only one among seven to get us all legal. We still lack getting Sophia´s Colombian passport, American passport, Zulay´s visa for Venezuela and for the States, and my visa to Venezuela. But now I know all of this can be done. We´ve killed the lion, we´ve killed the bear, and whatever other giant that shows up, is going down in the name of the Lord of Hosts.

Until then,

Press on for Joy!