Keep us posted - it's an interesting story - hope this time you get your Visa

At some point you just need to compare how much salary you are losing with how much a round trip would cost for the mother from Australia to pick up the child.

fax wrote: ↑Wed Oct 09, 2019 5:50 am for the mother from Australia to pick up the child.

The mother is not in Australia. Do keep up fax.

AustralianAunt wrote: ↑Sun Oct 06, 2019 9:13 pm her mother cannot read or write to complete the application forms, and as we came up to Phnom Penh in a rush from Sihanoukville yesterday

reading /writing khmer is no problem, just use any travel agent and they will walk her thru it at the passport office,
regular passport is like $110, ( 10 years now) overnight service, maybe another $80 or so and than she can depart.
If she already has an Australian passport no reason for visa, just show both passports on check in. At immigration just show Cambodian passport, no exit stamp needed

AustralianAunt wrote: ↑Tue Oct 08, 2019 8:34 pm I told my boss I won’t be coming back anytime soon. She’s not impressed, but luckily I work in local government so she also can’t just fire me

If you work in local government, your boss should understand bureaucracy. What may be difficult is getting her to understand the bureaucracy in Asia/SE Asia is 'special'.

As an expat for some fourteen+ years (Korea, China & Vietnam), I have found myself in several Catch 22 situations. You have been given good advice -

SternAAlbifrons wrote: ↑Sun Oct 06, 2019 11:22 am It should be OK - be direct, humble but dignified, and don't forget to smile.

When is seems you're going to go insane, don't 'lose your cool' - suck back, reload and count to ten. Trust me. In the end it will all work out. In a week or so you will be saying to your boss "...and then...".

Keep us posted.

Yes - about having someone to walk you through it - I agree.

I always take my Khmer friend when going through bureaucracy.

Lessens the chances of any 'misunderstandings' and generally obtains a concise picture of steps required and what steps can be omitted or overlooked.

Tea-money gratitude gifts to expedite the process or simply as a thank-you is part of the culture.

So far I haven't had any knock-backs - compared to a go-it-alone approach.

I am keen to hear of a positive result for you.

Woohoo! So things are looking up! I took the English lawyer letter to the Immigration Office today, and after having it passed onto the boss who examined it and all the other paperwork for approximately 1.5 hours, they have accepted the visa application!!

I was told it will be ready for collection on Friday, and I was given a stamp and the time written down as a kind of receipt, which I think is a good sign!

I just hope now they will accept my uncancelled “departure” stamp when I actually DO depart. I spoke to the Immigration Office staff about this, who sent me over to the airport Customs staff, who basically said “it’ll be fine, we’ll fix it when you leave”.

I’ve also spoken to the lawyer about it, and he basically said “they won’t keep you here and if you have any trouble, tell them to call me”.

Hopefully this will now be the end of my Immigration dramas!! Thanks to everyone for your advice and kind support. It really has helped me stay sane. I’ll keep y’all posted on what transpires.

Getting there!!!

It's a great story.

Mishmash wrote: ↑Wed Oct 09, 2019 10:03 pm Getting there!!!

It's a great story.

Thought I’d give you all an update as it’s been a while and you were all great support. We finally made it through Cambodian immigration, onto the plane and into Australia. Yay!!

We have been back for 4 weeks now and things are going very well. My niece is settling in nicely and although my other kids are a bit jealous, everyone seems to be getting along pretty well.

I am back at work and my boss is still a bitch, but what can you do?

Thanks to everyone for all the advice and support!!