Needing a visa is like being in a permanent limbo. If you have ever requested a work or study visa, then you know what I’m talking about. If not, let me give you the run-down. You spend hundreds of euros on documents, apostilles, translations. You wait countless hours for decisions to come through, scrambling to make appointments at consulates, unable to plan ahead. No one gives you any assurances as to when you might be able to move to your new home or start your new job. And even then, once (if) you finally get your visa, it's still far from plain sailing. You miss out on job opportunities because your visa can’t be renewed on time, or because employers simply don't sponsor visas. Your friendships hang in the balance because you don’t know whether, when your visa expires, you will be able to get a new one, or if you will be given your marching orders. You are suspended in mid-air, a file lost in a backlog at the Ministry of the Interior. In my experience, losing my freedom of...
Current affairs according to a European Politics graduate