The Visa & The Wait!
Every day I pass through Anna Flyover towards airport and to my left I see a bunch of people. Some of them crying, some of them in sheer joy, some just checking their papers, some waiting outside doing a silent prayer. And by now, you have guessed it. I am talking about the queue outside the US Consul for the visa. I can understand the days where the visa systems weren’t online and the long serpentine queues starting early morning at 4 am. But today, your appointment date is fixed well in advance and the US High Commission knows exactly how many people come everyday. Why do we still have this crowd adjoining the Oxford Univeristy Press building. It just doesn’t reflect anything good about either the consul or us at all. Do they get any joy by making people wait or is it sheer inefficiency on their part in attending to the visa requirements or is it a problem that we have created ourselves by waiting outside for no rhyme or reason when the consul has given clear instructions.
The reason is the latter. Our guys are so worried about missing out the appointment that they come and stand well before their alloted time. I think the document states we should come to the consulate gate only 15 mins or 30 mins before the appointment time.
It really sucks ..I had been once in the Q dude.
The worst part is inside, U dunt even feel that u r in ur motherland.
Ahh…technically speaking…you r not in your motherland.When your in the counsulate..its US soil…its termed as you are in that purticular country.goes for all counsulate.Well its also got to do with the huge amount of people who apply that the counsulate finds the load overwhelming.you can understand a lot of these from the previous posts of prince roy…from princeroy.com i think…go check it out to get a perpective of an american.problems always are not one sided.
Most of the problem is with us. I had a visa interview 2 months back. When I reached the US consulate at 2:15 pm, 15 minutes before my interview time, I found a big queue waiting outside the us consulate. I asked a person who was standing before me when is your interview time. He told me it was at 4:00 pm. He is not alone. Most of the ppl standing before in the queue had visa interview after 3:00 pm. I don’t know why ppl are standing in the scorching sun for hours even though they will not interviewed before the ppl in the earlier session.
Also US consulate should not allow persons whose interview time is later than 15 minutes from the current time. Probably this will reduce the crowd outside. Namba aalunga indian sonna kekka mattanga, american sonna thaan ketpanga.
oh yea, Ive been in that Q a few times and boy, what a difference your status in the US makes!
If you do not stand in the queue, maybe it doesn’t feel authentic – you know, that you *are* in the Q, waiting for your US visa interview. Maybe it is all about the atmosphere and build up!
:)