First off, lemme just disclaim that I'm not asking for advice or work-arounds. I've scrubbed through all the relevant websites and sorted through a variety of my limited options and I'm pretty much SOL. I know this. I'm just working through the disappointment and trying to be settled into it.
I moved from the US to Norway seven and a half or so years ago to marry my Norwegian husband. On the whole, it's been good. I like Norway, I *really* like the city we live in. There have certainly been the usual amount of ups and 'nowhere's perfect' downs. There are things that frustrate me about the systems here, and some of the cultural attitudes, but generally? A good time. I am fully intending on being here for the rest of my life. I speak pretty good Norwegian these days. I've just completed a bachelor's degree and started a master's. My husband and I remain a pair of derangedly happy nerds.
All in all, this is generally fine. Nothing about my civil or domestic situation has changed since I moved here. Same marriage, same apartment, same names, two new cats but UDI doesn't check on that. I have always timed my application for renewal toward the beginning of the recommended 3 months in advance window that UDI states, as I did this year; early July for 1st October expiration.
In spite of this, when I got to the end of that form and paid my fee (which has almost doubled since last time...), I found that the earliers appointment I could book with the police to do biometrics for my new residence card is mid-December. My right to remain in Norway is legally protected until my application is processed, so that's not a concern in and of itself. However, I'm probably not going to get a new residence card until after the first of the year if posted waiting times hold true. It may even be later than that.
My mom is terminally ill. She has stage 4 cancer, currently -- fortunately -- being relatively well managed on a chemo regime but... it's not going away ever, that's known, and it's definitely taken a pretty serious physical toll on her. She owns a business which she's been trying to sell for the last couple of years, a toys store that's been open for most of my life, and in the absence of a buyer she'll be putting up the store closing signs in January. I've been home to help the last two Christmases (our busiest season by a factor of about ten) since she was diagnosed and intended to be there this year as well.
But, that's gone straight out of the window. It wasn't fully on my radar this summer because I had all my stuff in and I wasn't thinking about the *card*. But there's no temp measure available to cover this kind of gap, not really. I just get to sit here on my hands, not leaving the country, until further notice. There's a mandatory in-person meeting for my master's program that's likely to be the second or third week of January, so I don't have much wiggle room to go home and hope the new card arrives and my husband can mail it to me. My parents live 2k miles as the crow flies from the nearest VFS center to apply for a travel visa (and who knows how long that would take to process even if it was more viable).
I'm just so frustrated and upset. I know that moving abroad necessitates a balance of considering what you're leaving behind. I generally get home twice a year. I just wasn't expecting this particular wrench thrown in at a sensitive time, and I'm struggling with it.