Yes, the Ridgeway family is still here. We hit an interesting catch-22 with the Italian government that must play out before we can move (oh, and the house hasn't sold). First, let me say that our new plans are to move to Italy after Christmas. The University has granted me a one-time extension until January 1.
We were recently notified by the Italian government that our visa applications could not be processed because "the youngest in your party is not yet crawling. Please resubmit at the time s/he is able to stand upright." We took this news badly. Already, the immigration laws are such that moving to Italy from outside the European Union is very difficult. We face income and living requirements that must be validated and certified by the local police and health and human services within a tight time window. Now, they are requiring us to be able to stand upright!?
Of course, with every bureaucratic rule there seems to be an exception, assuming you file the right forms. We found ours through Italy's disabled persons act, "no one may be discriminated against due to a physical disablement whether permanent or temporary." Clearly, they are discriminating against G's temporary unable-to-walk-ed-ness, and that, we claim, is illegal. Working through our local Honorary Vice-Consulate, we were able to secure the proper forms for a Stand-Upright Waiver. We had the forms translated into English, notarized, and affixed with an apostille stamp from California Secretary of State. This stamp certifies that the document is true and legal as recognized by countries who signed, or by countries who recognize, the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents. We filled-in our English translation stating:
"Due to our daughter's young age, she is temporarily unable to crawl, stand-upright, or walk. We expect, in due course, and through physical rehabilitation under the supervision of a pediatrician, she will soon be an upright member of society."
We then translated the forms back to Italian, had them notarized and, again, affixed with an apostille stamp. Our local Honorary Vice-Consulate accepted the forms and sent them on to the Italian government. Unfortunately, the government replied with (English translation):
"We validate the temporary disablement of your daughter/son, but, unfortunately, we cannot issue a waiver at this time because your daughter/son is too young to apply without sufficient evidence of her/his character. Please resubmit this form with her/his transcripts from her/his local legal daycare."
After further clarification, we found that a "legal daycare" is one that has the necessary local, county, and state licenses to operate as a daycare. This is not necessary for a private daycare with one child, that's babysitting. So, in addition to taking G to Folsom Mondays and Fridays for her regular daycare, we have enrolled Greta in a regular daycare on Wednesdays. Two months of daily logs, translated into Italian, notarized, and affixed with an apostille stamp by the California Secretary of State, is sufficient to fulfill the request for "evidence of her character."
Now, the point is moot because G is standing! She started crawling on two weeks ago and now she's using anything she can get her hands on to pull herself upright. It's pretty darn cool, albeit a little nerve racking since she always looks like she's going to fall. I've attached photos of her crawling and standing.Of course, since we've already started down this path with Italy, we now must wait until after the Holidays to move with or without the temporary Stand-Upright waiver. Oh, and if we sell the house by December 1.
