Well, the Romania idea is long dead. As best I can tell, a new law or set of laws were passed in Bulgaria on Sept 4 regarding how long a foreigner can stay without a visa, how visas are obtained, how registering a company in Bulgaria works … and all that.
Basically, I can only stay in Bulgaria without a visa for 90 days in any 6 month period. July 4th to October 2nd … so the idea that I could just leave the country for a day and come back in (the trip to Romania) no longer would do what I needed to be done.
Second, to apply for the visa-D business visa, I must return to my home country and apply at the Bulgarian consulate there, waiting 30-40 days for the vias. Thus, my trip to Washington D.C.
On Wed October 2nd we went to a travel agency and purchased a flight to Washington D.C., and that night we drove across country once again to Sofia, where at 6:15 a.m. I got on my flight. First to Brussels, Belgium, a 4 hour stay there, then an 8 and a half hour flight to Washington D.C.
I spent the night with my friends Don Mackay and David Jones, living near the corner of N and 22nd street. I arrived there in D.C. about 3 pm local time, Dave picked me up, we met Don and headed for an Outback Steakhouse – I haven’t eaten steak in 3 months you know.
On friday oct 3rd at 10:30 am I showed up at the Bulgarian consulate on the corner of R and 22nd streets and applied for my visa. The woman I talked to seemed to be saying to me that my situation should not give me problems, that I could have a visa D in 30-40 days.
So after that, Dave and Don gave me a ride to Dulles airport, and I flew down here to Longview Texas to wait out the time for my visa. I’m staying with my parents for the next 6 weeks it looks like.
I really did not want to have to return to the US for this, it’s had a significant impact on my work … I can continue working from here on the MacBook, but it’s not my favorite development platform.
Anyway, that’s the current story. There is a chance I might be flying up to Madison WI again to see about a possible new remote contract with a friend’s company … we’ll see. I really don’t want to be in Texas, I really don’t want to be in the states right now.
