Visa Troubles Redux

[beatitude]

Due to the most appalling and frustrating bureaucracy you have ever seen in your life, I have to travel back to my home country in order to apply for my student visa. It used to be possible to enter this country on a tourist visa and then switch your status to student, but apparently the rules were changed in March, and I didn't know. Despite assembling numerous supportive letters from different academics (which I annoyed everyone in the university to get - I even gatecrashed the vice-provost) no exceptions can be made. I am trying to make the best of this, but I am very anxious, as it means missing about a month of classes and research, and I am worried that for some reason I won't be awarded a visa in my home country either, and then my PhD will collapse and then...as you can see, I'm a bit stressed. ;) Prayers for me to make the most of this and for everything to be sorted smoothly would be very welcome. Also pray for the officials I saw this morning - they seemed to need it.