Trails and Travails of the US Consulate, Chennai
As luck would have it, just when my US Visa expired, I was moving to Bangalore. I will get around it, I told myself and added this to the long list of to-dos in my head. Of course it took a back seat to finding us an apartment, getting Ananya's school started, getting her used to her school bus and then all of us figuring our way around Bangalore. Yeah, it also took a back seat to catching the latest movies, and then my impending vacation to Ludhiana. I kept telling myself, I will do it as soon as I come back.
I checked my mail during the last few days of my vacation and saw a message, asking me to travel to the US and panic struck. It was an important business meeting and I didn't want to miss is, but what do I do now. I called up my husband frantically, asked him to scan my passport over to our admin and asked her to start the process. As the date to take the appointment came nearer, I became aware of a lot of impending holidays. Finally, I managed to secure the appointment for the 22nd of January and the date of travel was decided to be the 27th morning. It was cutting it very close.
Repeated calls and queries to friends assured me that there was no way around this. I had to go to Chennai on the 22nd, appear for the interview and await the return of my passport by courier. The website said it can take up to 7 business days. Well that didn't get with me. My admin assured me that she has seen it arrive in 2 working days. Oh well, Murphy's law seems to apply everywhere. When you want it to hurry up, some glitches are bound to happen.. and happen they did.
The 21st night was spent checking the watch every half an hour, just incase the alarm didn't go off. To add to my woes, the cab drivers strike was on that day, and I didn't know till the last moment if my cab pickup would happen or if I would have to depend on my husband for the airport drop off. Thankfully, the cab came and I reached the airport in time, the flight was on time and I reached Chennai at 8:00am. My appointment was not for another 4 hours and I had no appetite for a breakfast.
The cab driver offered to take me to the Sarvana Bhawan for breakfast and I decided it might be unwise to go for the appointment on an empty stomach. So I had a plain dosa and filter coffee for breakfast. It turned out to be a wise decision as most of the time spent in and around the consulate required me to keep standing, testing our endurance for the coveted visa.
The VFS officers outside the consulate asked me to come at 11:30am. After whiling away almost 2 hours, I was in the line outside the fortress-like consulate. The man at the window checked my passport and the appointment letter and let me in. After a security check at the entrance, we were asked to sit down and wait for our turn. After sometime, people with 12:15 appointment were called and we stood in line. The folks on the line were checking (again) if all the papers were in order. They turned away people who had incorrect demand drafts and faulty photographs. Sent some people back to get more documents. My papers were all in order and soon I was fingerprinted.
As I wondered what next, I was told to wait again till we were called. This time there were no seats left and so I stood. After sometime were asked to cross the courtyard and go to the inner sanctum which housed the real-embassy folks. The folks we had met so far were mere clerks. As we stood outside, there were some people who had preference. Senior citizens and folks with infants/kids. I saw a lady manage a 5 month old baby with one hand and her files with her other hand. Thankfully she was done in no time.
We stood there for about an hour, resting on the railing that provided some respite. A lot of people kept going in, but somehow it felt no one was coming out. After what seemed like an eternity, we were let in. There were a number of people seated in there and a long winding queue. We were asked to take a seat and this was a welcome relief from the wait outside. Slowly, the line kept moving up. We could now hear the consulars asking questions. Some of them seemed to be in a good mood and smiled a lot, while there were others who were having a bad day. We joined the line and after sometime were speeded upto the BEP line.
There were 2 lines, side by side, one with a very pleasant looking and sounding middle aged lady and the other one had a young and curt looking lady. I ended up with the young one and she talked as little as possible, not even replying to my hello. Anyway, she straight away refused to hand over my visa that same day and told me the same details that I had already read quite a few times at the VFS site. I was destined to fret away the next 2-3 days.
I flew back to Bangalore. This time things weren't as good. The cab hadn't come to pick me up, so my dear husband had to come. We didn't stop for even a cup of coffee, just went home where I crashed on the bed. Ananya was happy to see me and disappointed to learn that I had not got anything for her, besides the free pens that we had got on the flight.
Today is day 2 and no sign of my passport. The VFS site says it is with BlueDart guys. The Bluedart site says it should be with me today. When I called up the Bangalore office, they told me it was still in Chennai.. eeks. What am I going to do :( Chennai folks assure me that I should get it tomorrow .. the last possible day I have before my flight. I am keeping my fingers (and toes) crossed that it will arrive tomorrow.
I am just hoping my luck holds out. Please pray for me.
I checked my mail during the last few days of my vacation and saw a message, asking me to travel to the US and panic struck. It was an important business meeting and I didn't want to miss is, but what do I do now. I called up my husband frantically, asked him to scan my passport over to our admin and asked her to start the process. As the date to take the appointment came nearer, I became aware of a lot of impending holidays. Finally, I managed to secure the appointment for the 22nd of January and the date of travel was decided to be the 27th morning. It was cutting it very close.
Repeated calls and queries to friends assured me that there was no way around this. I had to go to Chennai on the 22nd, appear for the interview and await the return of my passport by courier. The website said it can take up to 7 business days. Well that didn't get with me. My admin assured me that she has seen it arrive in 2 working days. Oh well, Murphy's law seems to apply everywhere. When you want it to hurry up, some glitches are bound to happen.. and happen they did.
The 21st night was spent checking the watch every half an hour, just incase the alarm didn't go off. To add to my woes, the cab drivers strike was on that day, and I didn't know till the last moment if my cab pickup would happen or if I would have to depend on my husband for the airport drop off. Thankfully, the cab came and I reached the airport in time, the flight was on time and I reached Chennai at 8:00am. My appointment was not for another 4 hours and I had no appetite for a breakfast.
The cab driver offered to take me to the Sarvana Bhawan for breakfast and I decided it might be unwise to go for the appointment on an empty stomach. So I had a plain dosa and filter coffee for breakfast. It turned out to be a wise decision as most of the time spent in and around the consulate required me to keep standing, testing our endurance for the coveted visa.
The VFS officers outside the consulate asked me to come at 11:30am. After whiling away almost 2 hours, I was in the line outside the fortress-like consulate. The man at the window checked my passport and the appointment letter and let me in. After a security check at the entrance, we were asked to sit down and wait for our turn. After sometime, people with 12:15 appointment were called and we stood in line. The folks on the line were checking (again) if all the papers were in order. They turned away people who had incorrect demand drafts and faulty photographs. Sent some people back to get more documents. My papers were all in order and soon I was fingerprinted.
As I wondered what next, I was told to wait again till we were called. This time there were no seats left and so I stood. After sometime were asked to cross the courtyard and go to the inner sanctum which housed the real-embassy folks. The folks we had met so far were mere clerks. As we stood outside, there were some people who had preference. Senior citizens and folks with infants/kids. I saw a lady manage a 5 month old baby with one hand and her files with her other hand. Thankfully she was done in no time.
We stood there for about an hour, resting on the railing that provided some respite. A lot of people kept going in, but somehow it felt no one was coming out. After what seemed like an eternity, we were let in. There were a number of people seated in there and a long winding queue. We were asked to take a seat and this was a welcome relief from the wait outside. Slowly, the line kept moving up. We could now hear the consulars asking questions. Some of them seemed to be in a good mood and smiled a lot, while there were others who were having a bad day. We joined the line and after sometime were speeded upto the BEP line.
There were 2 lines, side by side, one with a very pleasant looking and sounding middle aged lady and the other one had a young and curt looking lady. I ended up with the young one and she talked as little as possible, not even replying to my hello. Anyway, she straight away refused to hand over my visa that same day and told me the same details that I had already read quite a few times at the VFS site. I was destined to fret away the next 2-3 days.
I flew back to Bangalore. This time things weren't as good. The cab hadn't come to pick me up, so my dear husband had to come. We didn't stop for even a cup of coffee, just went home where I crashed on the bed. Ananya was happy to see me and disappointed to learn that I had not got anything for her, besides the free pens that we had got on the flight.
Today is day 2 and no sign of my passport. The VFS site says it is with BlueDart guys. The Bluedart site says it should be with me today. When I called up the Bangalore office, they told me it was still in Chennai.. eeks. What am I going to do :( Chennai folks assure me that I should get it tomorrow .. the last possible day I have before my flight. I am keeping my fingers (and toes) crossed that it will arrive tomorrow.
I am just hoping my luck holds out. Please pray for me.
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