4/17/24
It took us about a week and a half to gather all of the information the Church needs to submit our applications for Icelandic visas. Here is a checklist of the things we had to gather:
- Black and White Photocopies of the passport ID/signature page
- Fortunately, we both have valid passports so we didn’t have to get passports before starting the process. Tip for all those who are considering senior missions – get a passport early so you don’t have to wait for it at this point. If you have a passport, renew it if it will expire in the next two years.
- 3 passport style photos
- Yikes! Do we really look that old?! Also, it’s hard not to smile for a picture. Some of us look pretty grumpy . . .
- Residence Permit Application
- This is a long application that was emailed to us with our visa information. There is a lot of legal language in it with many sections already filled out. We had detailed instructions about where to input information, where to sign, etc. It had to be printed, single sided, in color, etc.
- Power of Attorney Form
- Also included with the application, most of the information was already filled out and we had to sign it and have it witnessed.
- FBI Clearance Letter
- This is the paper copy of our FBI clearance that came as a result of our fingerprint scan. Yes, that fingerprint scan. They sent us a digital copy of the clearance letter pretty quickly after we did the fingerprints. Then we had to wait for a physical copy to come in the mail. It took just over a week for it to arrive.
- Marriage Certificate (Senior Couples ONLY)
- So, I couldn’t find our original marriage certificate. Fortunately, it was easy to order a new one that we could copy to include in this information.
When we finally had everything gathered I got it all organized, prepped, and ready to mail to Salt Lake City. We were advised to use UPS or FedEx with tracking to mail this information. I’m often at the UPS store (thank you for the free returns, Amazon Prime!) so I went there to send it. I dropped the envelope off to them on a Tuesday and was told it would be delivered on Thursday or Friday that same week. I had the tracking number so I could watch its progress. Let’s watch its progress together, shall we?!
04/09/2024
5:31 P.M. Label Created
Shipper created a label, UPS has not received the package yet.
04/09/2024
9:04 P.M. We have your package
Springfield, OR, United States
04/10/2024
12:56 A.M. Arrived at Facility
Portland, OR, United States
04/10/2024
5:02 A.M. Departed from Facility
Portland, OR, United States
04/10/2024
8:06 A.M. Arrived at Facility
Hermiston, OR, United States
04/10/2024
9:12 A.M. Departed from Facility
Hermiston, OR, United States
04/10/2024
7:58 P.M. Arrived at Facility
Salt Lake City, UT, United States
04/10/2024
10:29 P.M. Departed from Facility
Springfield, OR, United States
04/11/2024
3:14 A.M. Departed from Facility
Salt Lake City, UT, United States
04/11/2024
3:34 A.M. Arrived at Facility
Salt Lake City, UT, United States
04/11/2024
7:15 A.M. Processing at UPS Facility
Salt Lake City, UT, United States
04/13/2024
12:12 A.M. Departed from Facility
Tacoma, WA, United States
04/13/2024
12:58 A.M. Arrived at Facility
Redmond, WA, United States
04/13/2024
2:32 A.M. Departed from Facility
Redmond, WA, United States
04/13/2024
7:19 A.M. Arrived at Facility
Hermiston, OR, United States
04/15/2024
4:08 A.M. Departed from Facility
Hermiston, OR, United States
04/15/2024
2:08 P.M. Arrived at Facility
Salt Lake City, UT, United States
04/15/2024
11:45 P.M. Departed from Facility
Salt Lake City, UT, United States
04/16/2024
12:07 A.M. Arrived at Facility
Salt Lake City, UT, United States
04/16/2024
7:29 A.M. On the Way
Processing at UPS Facility
Salt Lake City, UT, United States
04/16/2024
8:56 A.M. Out for Delivery
Out For Delivery Today
Salt Lake City, UT, United States
04/16/2024
10:16 A.M. Delivered
DELIVERED
SALT LAKE CITY, UT, US
How this package went from Oregon to Utah to Oregon to Utah to Washington and then to Utah is a complete mystery! It took a week (and a UPS tour of the northwest) but it was finally delivered to the Church office building. This gave us plenty of opportunities to pray and exercise faith in Christ. There is information in that envelope that could be used for identity theft and that was unnerving. And, it takes quite a bit of time for the visa process to be completed. We didn’t want to have to have to start over and gather a new packet of information. However, it made it. Maybe I’ll use UPS again someday?!