Wendy and I are in the process of (trying) to get our visas for India. Those trying to get to India have had a very difficult time for the past year. Church travel as well as our Mission President have worked with us and strategized where to apply as Vancouver and Toronto have been rejecting applications. They have had a couple apply through Houston and they were successful. So we all agreed to apply through Calgary and see if we are successful.
Here I am standing in line over in the deep North East part of Calgary in -22 degree weather at 7:30am waiting for the office to open at 8am. By the time 8am rolled around there were 20 people in line and many said they were there for the 5th and 6th time trying to get a proper visa application filed. One lady said she has been coming for 6 months to try and get one. They all expressed concern and said that they come and wait for hours to be seen.
We were 4th in line and we were seen right away. The kind lady told us we had filled out the wrong application and that we needed to go away and fill out a different form (which she printed for us). I asked a few questions because the Church has been very careful and diligent in making sure the forms, letters of reference, and applications are done properly. After a few questions she started to actually look at our application and then went away to ask her supervisor some questions. When she came back she said "well it looks like I can adjust a few things on line and this will be ok". She then said "oh you need bank statements", I said "they are attached", Oh great. Then she said" Oh, you need resumes", I said "they are attached", Oh great she said. Well, she said it looks like everything is in order.
She then tried to figure out what to charge us and that became a problem as there was no category for 18 months on the form, so she said we must come back in a few days and stand in line. She said she would call the Consulate in India over the next few days and figure out if we can be approved for a year then renew over in India for another 6 months. Well, we shall see.
We are optimistic that it will be approved. We shall see.
There was a sign in the office that said, please take a seat and be patient - nothing happens fast in India.
Thanks for posting Tom...so fun to hear about the process you're going through!
ReplyDeleteThe "nothing happens fast in India" comment is so true. It does sound hopeful however, because you were able to accomplish so much in the first visit. Good luck.
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