The US Visa Process

Our US trip is getting closer and closer, woohoo! With only 2 weeks left to go I am glad My US visa application is behind me, but what a process!

Step 1: Fill in the online application form

Which includes questions like, are you a terrorist? Have you ever been involved or plan to be involved in terrorist activities? No jokes! These are real questions on the form! It goes on to say that answering yes to any of these questions does not mean you will be denied a visa. Hmm mm. I believe you. Not.

And my most favourite line of the form:

The applicant must click the ‘Sign Application’ button, even if someone else helped you fill the application out. If someone else clicks the button instead of you, your application may not be accepted.

Step 2: Collect all the required supporting documents

Including but not limited to: bank statements reflecting your income, proof of marriage, copy of spouse's passport, copy of your work contract, signed letter from your employer on official letterhead paper stating that you have paid leave and will be returning to work after your holiday, proof of your address, proof of travel insurance, letter of invitation from people you are staying with in the US as well as copies of their passports, residence permits and proof of residence.

Step 3: Make an appointment

Phone the embassy to make an appointment for which you will be charged €15 which comes directly off your credit card, the details of which are required before they will even speak to you. True story. Also be prepared to call a number of times before actually getting through.

Step 4: Go to the embassy for your 'interview'

After waiting two weeks for your appointment, present yourself at the embassy. Do not take your phone or any other electronic device with you. Be prepared for a bag search and pat down before you are allowed to enter the fortress that is the embassy. Wait outside in the cold for at least 30 min after security before entering the waiting room. Wait a further 45 - 60 min before your number is called. When your number is called, take your passport and appointment confirmation page to the window. Give your fingerprints electronically. Wait for another 45 min before being called to the next window for your 'interview'.

The aim of the interviewer is to verify the claims you have made in your application form and to assess if you have sufficiently proved that you can support yourself whilst in the US and will definitely leave after your intended stay. You then find out straight away if your application was successful or not.

Step 5: Receive visa

If your visa is approved, your passport will be mailed back to you in the regular mail (!!!!!) with a visa sticker in it.

Result and observations:

I apparently passed the 'most stringent screening process in the world' since my US visa was approved. However, I feel process is hugely biased and their 'screening process' is not as uniformly stringent as it should be. During my time at the embassy for my interview, it was very clear that you will either find it very easy or very difficult to get a visa based on your nationality and not on your current circumstances, which I find extremely biased. I heard lots of people being asked for their bank statements and other supporting documents but I was not asked to produce a single document to prove anything I claimed on my application form. I spent a lot of time gathering all these documents and then no-one even wanted to see any of them! My 'interview' was also less than 1 minute with only a couple of questions, whereas some others were more like 5 min with lots of questions. I don't mind that it was a relatively easy process for me, but I do feel that it should be more uniform for everybody.

I also received a 10 year visa which is really long. South Africans obviously have a good reputation in the States. This is an appeal to all South Africans not to do anything stupid in the US!! It will only take one incident to ruin it for the rest of us. Then we will also be refused US visa's like the Russian guy next to me or the Iranian girl at work who only got a 3 month visa and only because she was going on a course there, her husband's visa was refused.

However, the security and other staff were all really friendly and polite and not stuck up and mean just because they can be like most embassy officials I have had the pleasure of meeting. I really hate airport-like security and it is one of the things I am dreading about our trip to the States. These guys were making jokes and being chatty, it was as pleasant as security can be. Well done guys, other embassies could take a tip from you. However, you guys can take a tip from the efficiency of the German embassies and reduce the waiting time! My appointment was for 09:15, but my interview was only at 11:00 or so and I only left the embassy at about 12:00. Took way too long!

So all in all, it was probably less painful than getting a Schengen or UK visa and is valid for much longer =) We are now all set for our trip to the US and are very much looking forward!

In other news it has been a sweltering weekend with temperatures reaching 37ºC! I honestly never thought it would ever get that hot in the Netherlands! But it will probably be the only two really hot days of the Summer. We are trying to enjoy feeling like it is too hot to breathe since it will soon be back to the cold and miserable winter. We can already notice the days getting shorter; the mornings are lighter later and the evenings darker earlier. But we still have a wonderful Summer holiday ahead of us before we have to worry about that!

This weekend was spent soaking up the sunshine on Hoek van Holland beach, with what felt like the whole of the Netherlands. Think Margate Beach during Christmas season! We had a lovely 4 hour walk on the beach layered up in sunblock and the only people on the beach we saw wearing hats and sunglasses! The Dutch have a different view on sun protection. I think there were many sore red bodies today.

And today Justin played his final cricket game of the season. Which the won! Well done Boib! No more sweaty smelly cricket gear until May, yay! =)

In the previous blog we mentioned that Justin’s Gran had had a stroke. Granny was in hospital for just over 2 weeks. While in hospital, she was sometimes very responsive and other times not very responsive; but towards the end of the two weeks she was a lot more responsive and doing well. This past Tuesday she was moved to a rehabilitation centre close to Vincent Pallotti hospital where she will receive speech therapy, OT and physiotherapy. Granny didn’t seem to have enjoyed this move very much but we hope she will settle down there soon. It is still undecided whether Granny will go back to live in her house with full time care or go to a care home. Hopefully which option is better will become clearer during her time in rehab. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks!  

In a week’s time Justin’s parents arrive in the Netherlands. They will spend a week here with us and then we all fly together to Iceland. I hope there will be another blog before we leave but if not we will have lots to tell you after our epic trip!

Until then, be well and have a great week!

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