Dual Citizenship

I am one of those lucky people who has dual citizenship. I have British citizenship due to my parents and I have American citizenship because I was born in the United States. When I was going to study abroad in England in 2009 I got my British passport. I thought that the UK passport would help me immensely in living in Europe but then I wanted to go to Switzerland. Switzerland, ever in an effort to remain neutral, is not a part of the EU (European Union). This means that even though I am an EU citizen through being a UK citizen, I would still need a residence permit to live in Switzerland for longer than 3 months. When this dilemma first became apparent, the plan was for me to get a work permit. However, after waiting for more details for over a month on that and nothing really moving ahead, we revisited the idea of me getting a student residence permit. This idea made a lot of sense! I would be an international student at the University of Lausanne with the very students my team and I would be trying to engage. Also, I would have to take language classes of some kind, so this was a way to improve my French as well. There were just so many ways where this plan of action made more sense.

So, as of right now, I am in full-steam ahead Switzerland mode with working towards applying to the University of Lausanne to do a 2 year diploma in French as a Foreign Language. All the application materials are due April 30th. This includes transcripts and diplomas from high school and university, a current C.V., a passport sized photo, and 200 Swiss francs (about 210 dollars). This may not seem like all that much compared to the entrance essays that we have to write here in America, but it will definitely be tricky getting all of the things sent to Lausanne by mail before the end of April! I will be working hard toward this end, but would definitely appreciate prayers in this! 

It is very fortunate that I don't need a visa, since then the application deadline would have been February 28th! I am so thankful for God's timing on all of this as proceeding down this course of action has made a lot of other parts of planning become clearer. I cannot help but be reminded that although I am lucky to have dual citizenship, I am also extremely fortunate to have citizenship in heaven. Without Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for me I would still be lost in my sin. Because he died and rose again, the way was made clear for me to become a child of God, with all the responsibilities and rights of being a part of His family.

But our citizenship is in heaven. ~Philippians 3:20