The Backstory Pt. III: Waiting for Mongolia

 

           

Seoul Apartment #3 had the best view

  As our original plan to start out in Mongolia before taking a tour in the U.S. had been interrupted, we did not initially make any effort to settle into a final living situation after our honeymoon. We hoped to get into Mongolia soon to reunite with Yaejin’s family and church, and perhaps have a second ceremony among them. For the time being Yaejin’s entry into the U.S. was good for another two months. When Mongolia showed no signs of opening in late August we started looking in to having her stay legally extended, contacting ports of entry which we hoped might be favorable toward her situation of not being able to return to her country of residence. Unfortunately, because of her Korean citizenship and the fact that she had in fact entered the U.S. from Korea, most of the bureaucratic officials with whom I spoke offered little assistance, saying merely that Korea remains open for entry. Once we enlisted the aid of a very effective immigration lawyer we were able to get her a single month’s extension through October 17. Hearing conflicting reports of Mongolia staying closed until 2021, we decided that rather than extending one month at a time and dealing with the constant uncertainty of awaiting last-minute approval over and over, we could just apply for a proper family visitor’s visa at a U.S. Embassy overseas. This would allow her to stay in the country for another 6 months without having to worry about her status, which we felt certain would hold us until we could get back in to Mongolia, with the added benefit of me being able to go back to work at my interpreting job. The downside was that according to our research, U.S. Embassies were only conducting consular services for citizens in their immediate location during the Pandemic season (why the pandemic should affect whom they can work with at the embassy, especially with travel largely restricted, was and still is beyond my sympathy). That meant we could only get her visa at the embassy in Seoul. So off we went to a mandatory 14-day quarantine for a week of touring and obtaining a U.S. visa for Yaejin.

We started working on the Visa application while still in quarantine. Jakin was in Seoul, also awaiting his opportunity to re-enter Mongolia on a special flight, and he was able to take our deposit for the visa interview to a local bank while we were not allowed out of our room. Only after the payment was processed were we asked to schedule her interview online and discovered that there were no dates available before late January – four months later and beyond my eligibility to remain in Korea! We were shocked. Nothing in our online research or phone calls with the embassy had given us any indication that we would not be able to get her visa in October – we had no intentions to pay for such a long stay in Seoul, even if I was allowed to remain in the country so long. Our entire purpose for flying across the ocean to Korea was now going to be nullified! We tried calling the request notification of any cancellations, but ultimately we were forced to return to the U.S. on her visa waiver again, only good for 90 days. “Oh well,” we thought, “hopefully Mongolia will open up before we have to get out of  America again.”  We could not have guessed what would happen instead.

We landed in Detroit after a 12.5-hour flight from Seoul, and started feeling anxious. We had expected to be re-entering with a visa. Would there be any trouble? But the fact of the matter was that we had no way to get back to her country of residence, she had no real life in Korea, and we had obviously not been trying to do anything under the table, because if we had been attempting immigration why would we have left the U.S. in the first place?!

When we showed our passports I was asked why I had been in Korea. I answered that it was accompanying my wife to get a U.S. visa, then she quickly moved on to her and was finished with me. Without many questions she told Yaejin to go with an officer to another room. I was told to get our luggage and wait. I couldn’t go into the waiting area with her, and we couldn’t communicate in any way. For an hour I stood in the customs baggage claim, hoping and praying. An officer came out to corroborate our stories, asking what our “plan” is if Mongolia continued not to open up. We didn’t really have a plan, so I said we’d have to look in to what we can do to live in Korea or America or something. About an hour later they asked for our bags so they could “check them to make sure there are no signs of us intending to immigrate.” Later I found out that they were telling her to sort through our things and make sure anything she needed was in a suitcase and I would have the rest. I’m not explaining in thorough detail because it’s too frustrating to relive here, but the result was that I was told that she’s not allowed in, she’ll be on the next plane back to Korea, if I want to get on the plane I have to rush to buy a ticket from the airline (nearly impossible given the amount of time until departure). I asked if I could speak with my wife to decide together what to do next, and was told that I could in a bit, until 20 minutes later they said “There’s not enough time, you can’t see her.”  My head was swimming and I had no idea what I should do. We couldn’t communicate anything, so I didn’t know if there’s any reason I should not fly after her (such as the need to apply for anything in the states, etc.) I decided I would take our scheduled connection to Atlanta and fly to Korea from there. About an hour later Yaejin was finally able to text me by purchasing the in-flight wifi, and we decided I should wait before heading over. They had escorted her onto the plane like a criminal and instructed the attendants not to give her passport back until they were about to land in Korea. I’m giving a rushed account here, but suffice to say it was awful and shocking. I felt in a daze for the next 3 days, feeling very tangibly how my new marriage had changed part of me, and thought over and over about the verse from the wedding ceremony, “What God has joined together, let no man separate.” (Mark 10:9) because it was such an unnatural and crippling sensation despite having been very accustomed to being alone just months prior.

We soon determined that there was nothing I needed to accomplish in the U.S. at that time, so I went back to Korea at the beginning of November. Due to our disappointment with the American system and lack of confidence that we would be able to get back in there, or for how long, Yaejin’s father started making serious efforts to get us special entrance into Mongolia. He had not been concerned with this, assuming that things were fine as long as we were in the states and there was no rush for us to come over, but now that we had been forcibly separated he decided it was worth bringing us over. He got in contact with someone with some access to the special flights which occasionally were being allowed to enter the country, albeit at a premium price and compulsory 21-day quarantine at a five-star hotel at the user’s expense. The rumors about when, how often, and which of these flights we might apply for were varied, but it sounded likely that we could get on one from Seoul before the end of 2020. Once this course of action was determined and there did not seem to be need for me to work on it while in America, I rejoined her in Seoul for our second Korean quarantine in a very pleasant apartment we booked for one month. On the third day we heard that the first ever Mongolian (non-quarantined) case of Covid-19 had occurred, and the virus had started to spread in the country. The next week we were told that all special flights scheduled for November had been postponed to December.

At the end of the month we had to book another apartment in Seoul. Although our period of required isolation was only for the first two weeks, without regular jobs to attend,
 churches restricting attendance, and very few acquaintances to see (and those whom we did have were naturally occupied with their regular lives) our time in Korea remained fairly isolated. We hoped that we might be able to get on a flight before February, but since there was no knowing when we might get on a flight, or how much notice they would give us once we were actually approved for one. We booked the next apartment for another month, just through the end of the year. In the mean while Yaejin’s interview for a U.S. visa was still scheduled for January 22, so by our reckoning we could go to America if Mongolia didn’t work out before I was required to exit Korea. After what we had been through in October I didn’t want to risk leaving without her and trying to come right back in. Thankfully, a family friend of Yaejin offered us an apartment to stay in for the remainder of our time in Korea.

Department Store in Seoul

Got to share Christmas dinner with some local family friends,
and enjoyed the city decorations after!

In January Yaejin was granted a visitor’s visa to the U.S., and as we still had no sign of Mongolia changing anything, we planned to go back there for the next few months. But again we faced guff from USCBP upon entry, though the agents in Atlanta were much more agreeable than in Detroit, allowing me to go back with her. They expressed concern over our lack of income or clear ties outside the states. Again, we were bewildered that they think we would attempt to immigrate after all our attempts to not do so thus far. “If he sends her back this time” I thought to myself “I’m just going to immigrate somewhere else. I can’t keep putting her through this long journey to suspicion and rejection.”  

Thankfully, the agent’s decision was not to bar entry, but rather to limit us to only three months – half the time we expected. Nevertheless the fact that we could get in together and stay for a while was relief enough, and we were very fortunate to be able to make it just in time for my my last grandparent's memorial service with my mom's side of the family. Two weeks later, we were also able to participate in an unexpected funeral for my dad's brother. While the circumstances were terribly sad, we were so grateful that God allowed us to be there in person to honor their legacies.

I contacted the immigration lawyer who had helped us and he assured me that we could certainly extend her stay if necessary, and that in his opinion we had been mishandled in Detroit, as the transcript of Yaejin’s interrogation showed that she had answered everything correctly. While this assessment did not change anything to immediate effect, it was reassuring to us that our trauma was not self-inflicted. Ultimately we did not have to solicit more help from the immigration lawyer, as we were finally able to be confirmed for a special flight from Seoul to Ulaan Baatar News of this development came abruptly, however; merely two weeks before the day we needed to depart the U.S. – during which time I had to mail my passport and visa application to the Mongolian Embassy in D.C. This turned in to another crisis because of the short timeframe we had and a miscommunication with the post office in which my qualification that “it just needs to get there fast” was met with “we’ll ship it priority.” Now, semantically “priority” sounds like a faster than regular option. And since I was requesting speed over cost I assumed it was the fastest way to get it there. I don’t know why I didn’t think of going to a courier service instead of the USPS,  but I soon learned that “priority” is actually low priority, as it’s about the slowest possible method. The USPS in has used the pandemic as a reason to drop their quality of service far more than businesses, and my documents did not reach the Embassy until Thursday evening – eight days after I shipped it and 4 days before we were supposed to fly out! It was clear that the post office would not get the passport back to me in time. Amazingly, we were able to be rescued by the one and only acquaintances we have in D.C. – a providential connection which had just been rekindled. They kindly volunteered to drive to the embassy and overnight ship my passport back to us, and it arrived on Saturday! The next task was to get written evidence of our Covid-free status. Travel regulations demanded that we produced results within 72 hours of our departure, and the requirements would be likewise for the Seoul-Mongolia connection. Ideally a Sunday test would provide us with results in time for the flight and still be recent enough to apply for the latter flight (which was Wednesday in Korean time), but clinics were not offering tests on Sundays. If we waited until Monday morning we could definitely be in time for the Mongolian flight, but would not have our results in time for the Monday departure. Therefore, it seemed inevitable that we would need 2 test results – a printed copy for Monday, and results emailed to me from Monday morning which we could print out in the Incheon Airport. By the time we came to this realization it was Thursday night, so we spent almost all of Friday making phone calls and trying to figure out where we could be tested that would give us printed results in time for Monday afternoon. Again we were saved by a family connection, as the manager of a pediatric clinic agreed to give us special tests which could provide results for us on Monday morning, just in time for our flight.

Everything was set for us to start our long trek to Seoul to make our connection to Mongolia. However, the night before our departure, at 12:30am we received a phone call, saying that we were bumped from the Mongolia flight! There would be no purpose in flying to Korea the next morning if we had no connection to make there. I immediately called Delta to see if it was possible to change our flight, though it was doubtful with less than 24hrs until departure. I stayed on hold until around 3:15 before giving up to sleep. God’s providence was revealed the next day, however. With the errands we were undertaking in order to be able to suddenly move our lives across the world, much of our time in America had been constantly on the move. We had been able to visit with many of those with whom we had most wanted to spend time, and said many goodbyes. Now we unexpectedly were granted an extra week of no plans. This gave us a welcome opportunity to take “vacation” at my parents’ house with them and no errands to run.

We enjoyed an outside leisure day instead of flying!

I was supposed to pick up our test results -- now a waste of money and effort – at 9:30am, and I planned to just get them without revealing our change in plans, in appreciate for the exception they had made for us. When the clinician came to my car, I noticed he did not have anything in his hands. “I’ve got some bad news” he said. It turned out that the laboratory had experienced a system-wide computer crash and was unable to process our results after all. He looked morose as he believed this error to be responsible for us missing our flight. What a pleasure it was to alleviate his remorse by telling him that the flight had already been cancelled by other means! And what a mercy it was that God arranged for the delay to be out of our hands rather than a matter of not preparing for the covid testing thoroughly enough! Furthermore, we realized that we would not be allowed to check more than one bag each on the Mongolian flight so we had to repack our belongings to accommodate this limitation. Had we travelled as planned, this would have presented a problem at the Seoul airport in needing to find and enlist shipment to get half of our things to Mongolia! Perhaps most amazingly of all was that I was able to get through to a Delta representative the next afternoon, and incredibly she rescheduled our flights for the following week, even though our departure was supposed to be in less than two hours! Moreover our rescheduled flight would cut out a connection, saving us a total of 12 hours so that we could depart on Tuesday morning instead of Monday – negating the need for us to get two separate Covid tests.  It quickly became evident that the Lord had been behind our midnight phone call, and we were far better off for it.

Sigler Back Yard in bloom

Our flight the following week went according to plan. The entire Airbus A350 was loaded with fewer than 40 passengers, so the 14-hour and 20-minute flight was relatively empty and comfortable.  

We were able to negotiate with airline representatives in Soul to have our bags transferred to the MIAT (Mongolian Airlines) flight, transfer terminals, and find our gate with enough time to spare for an unrushed dinner. However, the MIAT plane was nowhere to be seen, and the staff at the desk were all Korean rather than MIAT representatives. The plane arrived about an hour after our intended take off, and once we had our tickets scanned we were treated to the humorous sight of all MIAT staff being covered from head to toe in hooded white jumpsuits, latex gloves, and face shields over their masks. Suddenly we felt like an infected contagion of refugees, as though we were fleeing the infested world for the clean, sterile safe haven of Mongolia – though in truth we are more fearful of catching the virus in Mongolia than we have been anywhere else! This alarming “uniform” was shared by all MIAT staff during and after the flight – but before we could take off, we had to deplane again.  After everyone was seated and the doors were closed, an attendant asked everyone to get off the plane and leave our baggage in the overhead bins. Apparently one of the passengers from the arriving flight had recorded a high temperature, so the seats had to be disinfected again. The fact that we had all been seated and buckled in was neither deterrent for them nor encouragement for us!

When we landed in Mongolia they told everyone to stay seated and only disembark when our names were called, which they would do in groups. We were called after about an hour, but soon found ourselves in line with the people from the previous group called anyway. Our passports were wiped off and we and our bags were sprayed with some sort of disinfecting mist once we were through customs they divided all passengers into vans to take us to our reserved hotels for 10 days of mandatory isolation.