Friday, July 3, 2009

Visa Drama

Oh my gosh, getting a visa is the most complicated experience ever! Getting all the documentation together for the aplication process resulted in a mad frenzy of payments and frantic searching for the mysterious 1-20 form which was generated by Bellarmine. However, I never received the form in the post and only realised this two days before I was due to go the consulate. What followed was a constant stream of emails and phone calls to Bellarmine. Finally, the form was sent electronically which meant that we could pay the SEVIS fee as well as apply for my visa.
The drama didn't stop there....
The US' embassy is the most intimidating building ever. I was shaking as I went into the building, though this may also have beeen attributed to the huge cappucino which I had just gulped down. With the fear that i would be denied my visa for whatever reason, the long line and security checks didn't help my anxiety...As if i was a national security risk, maybe to the American male population but certainly not a security threat ;)
Anyway, after going for my visa intervew which was all of 30 seconds long it turned out that there was yet another cost for the actual visa which I wasn't aware of it (this on top of the $131 appliaction fee plus the $200 SEVIS fee!. Aaah, so I didn't have my mother with me to pay as you're not allowed to have relatives with you! So right now my visa appplication is on hold until we pay. So lame. But at least I'm not a national security risk!
On a brighter note; 36 days till I leave :)
S.

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