Fun at the Consulate

Well, after seven attempts, I was finally allowed inside the Consulate yesterday. It's pretty amazing what they won't let you bring in. Sealed envelelopes are a no-no. And you aren't allowed to open them in bring in the envelopes. Nor are you allowed to throw away anything at the consulate, so you must leave and try again. I had other issues, but that was the weirdest. And, after all that, I wasn't actually able to accomplish much of anything. But I did get some advice about Tamding's visa application, so it was helpful. I managed to find out exactly what documents I needed to supply and which needed to be notarized. The result is that I now have a much better idea of my finances because I needed to provide very extensive financial information. It turns out that I'm doing better than I'd thought.

Today's trip to the consulate went much better. Knowing the rules a little better, I got in on the first try. And it only took 45 minutes to have something notarized. Apparently, only consuls can notarize things, so the process is slow. And they charged me $30, which is a little steep. But they can't complain about the documents now, because they notarized them. So that's a plus.

Of course, we aren't done yet. Tamding is back at the consulate right now, waiting in line for his interview. He should be back in about 6 hours and we'll know if he got his visa. One thing is clear: Even if you just want to visit the United States and are fully qualified to do so, it is still much easier to just enter illegally. I wonder how many of our illegal aliens entered illegally simply to avoid the visa hassle. Probably most of them. Oh well, I guess I feel better that we abided by the law. It remains to be seen whether we'll be successful, but at least we tried. I'll have a long wait too, so you'll see more posts soon.