A Zimbabwean man is going on an indefinite fast till he can be reunited

with his wife. Fungai James Tichawangana of Harare has revealed in a blog post

that he applied for a Norwegian family reunification VISA in October

2008 and was told that the VISA would be out in two months time.

However, five months later, he is still waiting.

In the post, made on a Zimbabwean community blog,

www.zimbablog.com, Tichawangana says that the Norwegian Directorate of

Immigration (UDI) has told him that they “do not know” when he will get

his VISA.

“Will someone please tell me, how a country, which has year after

year been said to be the best place to live in the world, cannot

process a VISA application in five whole months?” Tichawangana asks in

the post where he claims that he emailed the King of Norway among other

people seeking expedition of the VISA.

“Can someone tell me how in an age of online transactions that take

five seconds to process, it should take so long for a man to get the

paperwork so that he can be with his wife?” He goes on.

Tichawangana’s wife is studying in Norway and he has visited her once before, in December 2007. He works as a web developer.

He says that as from 2nd March he will drink only water and won’t

eat anything till he gets word from UDI about when the VISA will come

out.

"I am not suicidal," he adds, "I definitely still want to live and I have doctor friend advising me on how far I can push the fast."

He also says that he hopes his actions will bring attention to this

issue and will “urge the UDI and other immigration departments around

the world to fast track family reunification VISAs.”