bmb7jiw
1st Oct 2003, 22:10
I just wanted to vent some anger (and my spleen)..........
I have just had the absolute worst time sorting out my M-1 Visa.
I am a Brit living in Japan, so I applied for my visa from Japan. Im going to Florida in January to do a JAA PPL.
I dont know what its like in the UK or anywhere else, but the US Consulate in Osaka really treated me like s**t.
When you go to the Consulate it is impossible to speak to ANYONE. First of all you have to get past two Japanese Policeman who speak absolutely NO English and just want to throw visa forms at you to get you to leave the building. Once having got past them the staff at the reception behind the glass just stick pieces of paper at the glass saying call "this number" no matter what you ask them. They are very dismissive and tell you that they can't contact the Visa people themselves and that the only way you can contact them is by calling the number on the paper (which is crap, of course she can call the visa section). "I understand your problem but there is nothing I can do about it" is the thing that has been said to me by everyone I have spoken to in the last week!!
So if you call this number you first have to pay 840 yen (4.50 pounds) to listen to a recorded message containing the same visa information that the Policeman threw at me. Then you get the option to speak to someone. This costs you another 840 yen per 6 minute conversation. If you go over 6 mins you get charged another 840 yen!
You have to arrange a visa interview before you put in your application. So you have to go through the same crap as above to speak to someone and THEN you have to pay another 1050 yen. This is the "fee" for arranging an interview!!!
So last Wednesday I arranged my interview for today. They told me that they would post out my visa interview letter. Without the letter of course I get into the consulate at all. So of course for whatever reason my letter never arrived, so after sending loads of faxes and spending more money calling them I finally got my letter yesterday.
So I went today to the Consulate......and it turns out they had sent me an interview letter for the Embassy in Tokyo not the Consulate in Osaka even though it was made very clear that I live in Osaka. So that caused a load of trouble. And of course now the woman behind the glass window could now miraculously call upstairs to the Visa section to sort it out. Believe me it was difficult not to explode at this point.
They finally (grudgingly) let me upstairs. When I got upstairs I found out that instead of people being given graduated appointments throughout the afternoon, 100 people were given an appointment time of 1330!!! So 2 and a half hours later...... I walked out. And they called it an interview! I spent 60 seconds behind another glass screen answering questions that had already been answered in my application forms.
They said my passport would be back in two weeks.........but who knows with their track record if I will ever see it again.
If nothing else this seemed to be a big money making effort by the US Consulate.
Sorry for this ridiculously long moan, I am just really pi**ed off and wanted to tell someone!!
But if this is what it takes to do what I want to do its worth it, as we all know.
James
I have just had the absolute worst time sorting out my M-1 Visa.
I am a Brit living in Japan, so I applied for my visa from Japan. Im going to Florida in January to do a JAA PPL.
I dont know what its like in the UK or anywhere else, but the US Consulate in Osaka really treated me like s**t.
When you go to the Consulate it is impossible to speak to ANYONE. First of all you have to get past two Japanese Policeman who speak absolutely NO English and just want to throw visa forms at you to get you to leave the building. Once having got past them the staff at the reception behind the glass just stick pieces of paper at the glass saying call "this number" no matter what you ask them. They are very dismissive and tell you that they can't contact the Visa people themselves and that the only way you can contact them is by calling the number on the paper (which is crap, of course she can call the visa section). "I understand your problem but there is nothing I can do about it" is the thing that has been said to me by everyone I have spoken to in the last week!!
So if you call this number you first have to pay 840 yen (4.50 pounds) to listen to a recorded message containing the same visa information that the Policeman threw at me. Then you get the option to speak to someone. This costs you another 840 yen per 6 minute conversation. If you go over 6 mins you get charged another 840 yen!
You have to arrange a visa interview before you put in your application. So you have to go through the same crap as above to speak to someone and THEN you have to pay another 1050 yen. This is the "fee" for arranging an interview!!!
So last Wednesday I arranged my interview for today. They told me that they would post out my visa interview letter. Without the letter of course I get into the consulate at all. So of course for whatever reason my letter never arrived, so after sending loads of faxes and spending more money calling them I finally got my letter yesterday.
So I went today to the Consulate......and it turns out they had sent me an interview letter for the Embassy in Tokyo not the Consulate in Osaka even though it was made very clear that I live in Osaka. So that caused a load of trouble. And of course now the woman behind the glass window could now miraculously call upstairs to the Visa section to sort it out. Believe me it was difficult not to explode at this point.
They finally (grudgingly) let me upstairs. When I got upstairs I found out that instead of people being given graduated appointments throughout the afternoon, 100 people were given an appointment time of 1330!!! So 2 and a half hours later...... I walked out. And they called it an interview! I spent 60 seconds behind another glass screen answering questions that had already been answered in my application forms.
They said my passport would be back in two weeks.........but who knows with their track record if I will ever see it again.
If nothing else this seemed to be a big money making effort by the US Consulate.
Sorry for this ridiculously long moan, I am just really pi**ed off and wanted to tell someone!!
But if this is what it takes to do what I want to do its worth it, as we all know.
James