Unexpected delay

Brief update on progress: last week, we learned that our application for a work permit had incurred a very unexpected delay. Until now we had understood that we would receive our permit last Friday, after an interview we had scheduled at the US Consulate in Paris. However, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services informed us that they need more information before they can make a decision, and our immigration advisers cannot make any prediction on how long this additional step might take.
This was a serious disappointment and a major surprise. Although after some researching on-line it seems this is quite normal: in 2014 the rate of these requests for additional information was over 50%, and that rate has probably gone up since then. It's just that our advisers never mentioned this, until we had already made all the preparations, picked out our favorite boat and marina, and so forth (everything you can read about in this blog so far). The thing we were least concerned about ends up being the biggest roadblock.
So I immediately canceled the contract for the boat purchase and the surveys we were going to have done, and informed the marina. Everyone was really understanding about this new twist, which is nice.
So we've had to adjust our plans quite a bit. We remain hopeful that, in the end, the visa will be approved because we meet all of the criteria, and that the process will not be delayed too much. Meanwhile we are looking forward to spending the holidays together (our son flew in from Irvine on Sunday, and I picked him up from Geneva last night) and keeping our hopes up that we won't have to wait too long.
When I joined my current employer, the estimate at that time was that the visa would take less than 6 months to obtain. That is now 15 months ago, and it could take many more.... When I joined a previous organization in Switzerland, also not an EU country that has tough immigration laws, the work permit process took three weeks and I think it is similar in my native The Netherlands. Oh well.
The Kha Shing boat is of course back on the market. Don't anybody buy it, you hear ?!  ;-)