Visa Woes, Visa Woes...
I wish I could write a poetry on the topic, but since I am only good with prose,
I think I will merely pen down a post on my foreign consulate lows...
Ok, that was horrible but i am a romantic poet i write of love and this is serious ranting that i am about to do here.
Who ever created the visa system probably hated us travelers, the world citizens who love to spread communal harmony, exchange culture and intellect, the free spirits who like to travel beyond borders to another land and discover the hospitality of the other countries beside theirs.
Why this sudden outburst... Nah my friends this is anything but sudden.
So in my last port i mentioned my plans to go touring Europe, which got made late October last year. But then why am i going in April. Well, that 4 lettered word V.I.S.A... those of you who know me, might know that i was a student till year before last and got a job in January 2011. Now for an international citizen that means- 'Change of visa status'. And it is a long and confusing transition. Well i wont get into all that, but to give you a glimpse of how painful the visa process is i will tell you guys of what ensued after i decided to go to France. And only 1 visa could grant us entry to all the Schengen countries, my friend and i decided to make it a France, Belgium, Switzerland, Netherlands trip (plus minus whatever we could cover in 10 days).
Well first, i knew i will need a visa but then i found that since i dont have a valid US stamp on my passport i cant just go to Europe and come back to the States, i will have to stop by India and get my stamping done to return back to my job. That said, i had to combine my Euro trip with my India trip.
But things were not to end there. i later found out that Schengen visa required the first time travelers to be personally present for the interview. So no agents, no middle men. Since i live in the great state of Ohio, there is no consulate general's office here. Apparently everybody is scared that the midwest might rub on them (i dont blame them). So it had to be a trip to Chicago on a weekday. And not only did i have to take a day off but i also had to endure a 10 hr journey to and from Chicago and through a place called Cleveland (only 2nd to Detroit in crime rate).
Ok, anything for Europe... But then i was told that i could not have a Schengen visa from the French consulate as i dint have a valid US visa stamp (where did that come from). Germans told me, i should get a US visa interview date before i get theirs (but that was not possible as you can only book a US visa interview date 10 days before the interview). And since you can only acquire the Schengen visa 15 days prior to your travel date and not later... it became mathematically impossible for me to make the 2 appointments...
I was loosing my patience, and time was running out, i dint want to postpone the trip any further. So in my desperation i reached out one last country on my to-visit list. Belgium.
And it was then when all hope was lost, this nice lady from the Belgian consulate replied to my desperate plea for help with 'Send us your documents and we will let you know if you should travel all the way to Chicago and bother us for an interview'.
And there... i did take that hazardous trip to Chicago, through Cleveland, got lost :-/ (i can get lost anywhere, ironic isn't it) ran across the downtown in the morning rush hour in my high heeled shoes (and made my sweet friend Lydia run along in her high heeled shoes) to get to Wrigley's building for my Schengen visa interview. Panting and dizzy i reached the counter. The lady was friendly, she even got my papers sorted out. And after a few questions and sifting of papers finally i got a green signal... and that my friends is How I got my Schengen visa. (Did you see that - How I met your mother reference... Ah never mind...)
For 10 whole days :-/
Visa woes did I say??
Why this sudden outburst... Nah my friends this is anything but sudden.
So in my last port i mentioned my plans to go touring Europe, which got made late October last year. But then why am i going in April. Well, that 4 lettered word V.I.S.A... those of you who know me, might know that i was a student till year before last and got a job in January 2011. Now for an international citizen that means- 'Change of visa status'. And it is a long and confusing transition. Well i wont get into all that, but to give you a glimpse of how painful the visa process is i will tell you guys of what ensued after i decided to go to France. And only 1 visa could grant us entry to all the Schengen countries, my friend and i decided to make it a France, Belgium, Switzerland, Netherlands trip (plus minus whatever we could cover in 10 days).
Well first, i knew i will need a visa but then i found that since i dont have a valid US stamp on my passport i cant just go to Europe and come back to the States, i will have to stop by India and get my stamping done to return back to my job. That said, i had to combine my Euro trip with my India trip.
But things were not to end there. i later found out that Schengen visa required the first time travelers to be personally present for the interview. So no agents, no middle men. Since i live in the great state of Ohio, there is no consulate general's office here. Apparently everybody is scared that the midwest might rub on them (i dont blame them). So it had to be a trip to Chicago on a weekday. And not only did i have to take a day off but i also had to endure a 10 hr journey to and from Chicago and through a place called Cleveland (only 2nd to Detroit in crime rate).
Ok, anything for Europe... But then i was told that i could not have a Schengen visa from the French consulate as i dint have a valid US visa stamp (where did that come from). Germans told me, i should get a US visa interview date before i get theirs (but that was not possible as you can only book a US visa interview date 10 days before the interview). And since you can only acquire the Schengen visa 15 days prior to your travel date and not later... it became mathematically impossible for me to make the 2 appointments...
I was loosing my patience, and time was running out, i dint want to postpone the trip any further. So in my desperation i reached out one last country on my to-visit list. Belgium.
And it was then when all hope was lost, this nice lady from the Belgian consulate replied to my desperate plea for help with 'Send us your documents and we will let you know if you should travel all the way to Chicago and bother us for an interview'.
And there... i did take that hazardous trip to Chicago, through Cleveland, got lost :-/ (i can get lost anywhere, ironic isn't it) ran across the downtown in the morning rush hour in my high heeled shoes (and made my sweet friend Lydia run along in her high heeled shoes) to get to Wrigley's building for my Schengen visa interview. Panting and dizzy i reached the counter. The lady was friendly, she even got my papers sorted out. And after a few questions and sifting of papers finally i got a green signal... and that my friends is How I got my Schengen visa. (Did you see that - How I met your mother reference... Ah never mind...)
For 10 whole days :-/
Visa woes did I say??
I am not making a political statement here, nor am i talking about the work visa, student visa, the H1s, J1s, F1s and Lord knows how many other alpha-numeric stamps of paper on our blue, maroon and green little identification booklets. All i wanted was a plain and simple 'Travelers Visa'. That something for which i apply when i want to visit a friend in a far off land, or i want to bungee jump off a tower 1000 ft high and come back to my normal dragging life, or when i am fascinated by the multitude of colorful HD videos of a spring fest or beer fest happening in some wonderland and i just want to be a part of it.
I am not going to any of these countries with malice, nor am i going there to disgrace them or make enemies. Instead i am going there because i am curious about their culture, because i want to experience them, make a few friends for life, be one of them for a few moments and capture them for life.
This new place will be a part of my being for life!!! (Wow, i just got a head rush)
So here is a question to all those foreign consulates, including my own country's, albeit all the above why do i have to go through so much scrutiny, why do i have to pay such a hefty fee, take a days leave, travel to a different city (most of the times, because the consulates aren't located in every town corner) and then stand in a long queue and wait for my turn? And why am i asked for 10 different 10 page long documents for being a lover of your country?
I understand the times we live in are not very happy ones and that all this scrutiny is sometimes necessary and the worst bit is i cant even claim to have a solution for the problem. But should we increase this animosity and shadows of darkness the world is living under by restricting the travelers? By making the visa process so tedious that it becomes a deterrent? Till when will we keep mending walls crying good fences make good neighbors? And asking for visas to cross those self same fences? Till when???
3 comments:
Some countries are really paranoid about SE Asian travelers, esp Indians :(
So finally when r u going?
Well, I have heard that too, but everybody has their own experiences and 1 wouldn't know till we actually go there right? So hopefully i will have a different story to tell at the end of the trip. But till then i will reserve my opinion.
I am leaving here on the 6th and will be there from 7th to 14th... its a rather small trip but hey, i am not complaining :)
and a new Travel-O-drama begins....good thing is that despite all the adventures you finally seal the deal, every time!!
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