Visa Headaches

When I finished my last post, it was almost as if I presaged that acquiring a visa was going to be an issue. Little did I realize how true this was going to be.

In order to get a visa one needs to have all the required immunization shots documented on the International World Health Organization yellow card, an invitation from the country (or a statement of purpose from the organization where the passport holder will work), and a valid passport. Most importantly--of course--is the check. The DRC embassy in Washington receive all this (and a return envelope) on the 11th.

Typically, they process the visa in 3 days and they mail it back quickly. My visa request should have been "text-book"--incredibly easy. However, by the 15th I went on fedex.com to see if the passport with the visa was getting ready to be mailed and it was no where to be found in the system. Keep in mind that I'm leaving on Monday the 18th and mail does not run on the 17th.

I called the DRC embassy in Washington and with the best French I could muster, I left a message on their answering machine asking for the status of my visa request. By this time, I was so annoyed with the embassy--when they are not being rude, they are busy ignoring my phone calls. Sigh.

I decided to call on the big guns --the US State Department.

I notified the intern coordinator (who also told me that the DRC embassy rarely returns calls). She called the US desk officer for the DRC who then called their DRC embassy contact. It was through this channel I discovered that the DRC embassy, in fact issued the visa ON THE 12th. BUT, they LOST my return envelope and decided not to call for assistance. They knew that I was leaving on the 18th but made not effort to return the documents. If it wasn't for the desk officer sternly asking for them to make my application a priority, I would not have a passport or visa for the trip.

When all was said and done, I received my passport this morning by overnight delivery.

Lesson learned: When an embassy says 3 days, this presupposes that they have already called you when they lost your return envelope or that they have already been prodded by US officials.

In other news, I just found out that I'm going to share a two bedroom apartment by the Congo River (pictures WILL DEFINITELY be coming soon). Pots, pans, sheets, towels, will all be provided. All I'll need to do is go grocery shopping. I'll probably do that the second day. I will also have a fellow intern....competition...just playing=).

If any of you have questions or want to know anything in particular, please leave your comments. I'll address them in my updates.

Until next time...