Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with consulate

Visa Problems

The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:23:50 -0800

I'm supposed to be at the Spanish Consulate in Miami getting a student visa tomorrow (appt. at 9:25am), but I don't have all the paperwork I need because some of it hasn't arrived from the school that I'll be studying at next semester(as a visiting student). What do I do? What can I do? Fun complications after the jump. So, i'm studying abroad next semester through Saint Louis University's Madrid campus. They (SLU) were supposed to send me the documents I need to apply for a student visa, but they have not arrived to me in the mail. These documents are (I believe) coming from the Saint Louis campus of SLU. Because of the time difference and the fact that I have an appointment with the consulate at 9:25am tomorrow and that I live in Tampa and i'll be driving to Miami (which takes about 5 hours), there's no way I can wait and call SLU in the morning to see what's up and/or potentially get them faxed to me.
I'm going to call the Madrid office when they open in 2 or 3 hours, and see if they can do anything, but what should I do in the meantime? Is there anything I can do, realistically?
Also, as a sidenote, what do you wear when applying for a visa? Should I put on a shirt with a collar/tie/etc?

Working abroad? Sweet. LDR? Not so much.

azuresunday — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:19:47 -0800

Visafilter: I've been hitting a brick wall with the Japanese consulate regarding same-sex partners and dependent-visa eligibility. Any Mefites have experience with this sort of thing? I'm a guy in my mid-twenties with a same-sex partner about the same age, and we've been together for six years. I've just been hired to teach English in Japan this spring, which I'm really excited about, and my SO has an interview lined up with the same company this weekend. I'm fairly confident he'll be hired as well (he's got much more teaching experience) but just in case, we're applying elsewhere and researching alternatives, including visa options.
I've found several unofficial websites like this one which mention it's now possible for a married same-sex partner to sponsor their accompanying spouse.
I've tried calling the local Japanese Consulate in Seattle to confirm or deny this, but the visa officer was out, and it seemed like no matter how I phrased the question, all I got back from the woman I spoke to was "Japan doesn't have a domestic partnership visa," which felt like a canned answer and didn't actually address my question.
What I want to know is whether a married (or in Washington State, domestic-partnered) couple is eligible to apply for the already-existent dependent visa, or perhaps some other type of visa I'm not aware of.
The SO and I aren't married - we've discussed getting hitched but we've held off due to R-71, and given the general lack of information from the Consulate, we aren't sure whether becoming domestic partners in Washington would do anything for my partner's visa eligibility anyway. Maybe a state offering full-on Marriage would be better?
I'd really appreciate any advice from Mefites who have either Japan-specific experience or those who have successfully negotiated similar problems before. Anything helps, really. Please let me know if you need more information, and thanks in advance.

Any tandem couples out there working for the US Foreign Service?

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:10:21 -0800

Any tandem couples / trailing spouses out there working for the US Foreign Service? So my future wife has taken all the steps to become a Foreign Service Officer - applied, taken the first of a few tests, and so on. I'm in a position where I can ALSO apply for the same or a similar position - we're both of the same age (27), similar education (Bachelor's), expatriate experiences (year-plus in Asia), and so on.

My question is this: in your experience, is it better to be a Tandem Couple (presumably serving together at the same embassy) or a Trailing Spouse (where she works and I try finding other jobs on or around the embassy? We'll enjoy the traveling, the ups and downs - but from a benefits / risks / rewards standpoint is where I'm hoping your experience will come in.

Any pros or cons to applying for a job in tandem with your spouse, or looking for jobs on an adhoc basis?

[Anonymous since I don't want to spoil her/our chances at the job - and their background checks are VERY thorough]

Consulate personnel and dependents registry?

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:28:57 -0800

I am looking for any publicly-available staff-and-dependents records for the British Consulate in Los Angeles, specifically for the period 1965 to 1966. I have some info. In spring 1966 Prince Philip also visited both the country and Los Angeles in particular, so there is plentiful news coverage of associated social events in the Los Angeles area available though various news organizations' online archives. While interesting, this data is ancillary and really only useful to confirm info that would be in the putative data source I seek.

I'm most interested in learning if there is a place that I can find staff lists, something like a registry of Consulate personnel and dependents that would have been provided to the State Department or other US agencies. It would of course be most preferential if this theoretical registry were easily available online.

If only a professional, net-savvy librarian were to read this and make some suggestions! Thanks in advance!

Trouble reaching South African Consulate/New York

bluesky43 — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:34:19 -0800

Any Mefites working at the South African Consulate New York? I know it is a longshot but I have an urgent issue that needs fast resolution. My daughter and I have been trying to reach the South African Consulate in New York since this morning (7/13/09). We get only a busy signal. My daughter is scheduled to leave on an AFS South Africa volunteer assignment on Thursday (yes this THursday) and we have been trying to resolve a problem with the visa application for three weeks without success. We have also emailed and faxed and have not received a reply.

At this point, things are quite urgent as we are about four hours from New York and obviously she can not get on the plane without her visa/passport. If any Mefites have any direct insight/help to offer we would be most grateful. Many thanks! feel free to mefimail if that works better for you.

Last-minute Chinese visa

SpringAquifer — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:02:46 -0800

I have a U.S. passport. Same-day and rush processing for Chinese visas in the U.S. has been suspended as of 4 May 2009, likely because of swine flu fears, leaving everyone with a 6-business-day wait. But I leave sooner than that. I've called a few visa expediting agencies, and while most of them say that rush processing is impossible, a few say that it's still possible, given emergency circumstances. I e-mailed the consulate, who replied, "If you show us a proof which you need an urgent trip to china ,we still offer rush service."

I'd like to ask the consulate to clarify, but there's only two business days remaining until I leave. Their phone lines are open only an hour a day, so it can be hard to get through, and they take a while to respond to e-mails. It's a four-hour drive to the consulate itself.

I don't actually have an emergency I need to attend to in China, but my flight leaves the the U.S. next Wednesday. Would my imminent departure be considered an emergency in itself?

How much US land is controlled by foreign states?

Plutor — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:18:20 -0800

How much US land does not fall under the jurisdiction of US laws? Diplomatic missions such as embassies and consulates enjoy extraterritoriality, as do military bases. Is there any kind of accounting of how much land those places take up? I understand that embassies and the like aren't "foreign land" in the same sense that actual foreign land is, and that the relationship between the jurisdiction of host and guest states is often fuzzy. For the sake of this question, let's pretend it's not.

Followup: How much non-US land falls under the jurisdiction of US laws? Guantanamo, et al.

hey, Ruritania, is that your consulate or are you just happy to see me?

xetere — Tue, 29 May 2007 11:04:44 -0800

Why do some countries have such large consulates in New York? In the near-UN neighborhood where I work, Libya, Nigeria, and Germany all have medium to large size office buildings (approx 30 floors) as consulates. China has a veritable compound on the West side. Other countries of comparable size and economic connectivity to the US (e.g. Great Britain, Canada, Israel, France, and India) have consulates ranging from a few floors in an office building to an ornate townhouse. I have always wondered what countries that have large office buildings as a consulate *do* with that space.

Even factoring in that New York consulates do double duty as New York consulates and UN consulates, are there really that many official diplomatic or trade representatives or who knows what else representatives to justify a whole office building?

Note that these aren't buildings that fly the flag of a country that happens to be a renter. I would know that. The building where I work has at least four separate consulates as tenants. These are buildings that are themselves consulates, judging by the guards, security, and "Consulate of..." on the front part of the building above the entrance.

Libya had this 20 story office building long before the US and Libya had diplomatic relations. There couldn't have been much, or any, trade delegations in that one. Most of it even now looks vacant. Even in an oil-rich country like Nigeria, wouldn't most of the actual business take place in Lagos, Abuja (or Houston) or in the offices of the companies actually refining the oil? I would think a diplomatic mission would be fifty to one hundred people tops. Why would then need a thirty-story office building.

Do they rent out the rest of the space? I can imagine the conversations, "Yeah my dentist he's great, you know Dr. Moskowitz, in the Libyan consulate."

My guess is China's does double duty as dormitory for the entire staff, but still how much staff is necessary at a consulate or an embassy in this day and age? (Save for the US in "independent" Iraq)

My guess for Libya and Nigeria is that there is a lot of padding and under-secretary to the under-secretary type jobs for cronies and supporters.

I can't for the life of me see what Germany would need with a whole office building though.

Any ideas?

Staying in China for a long time without any official reason

jbb7 — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 05:53:44 -0800

Staying in China for 10 months on tourist visas: is it possible? Does the Chinese government impose a limit on the number of tourist visas they'll grant? I am back home after being in China for 2.5 months on a 90-day L (tourist) visa. I'd like to go back for another 2 months this year and for 6 months next year. Can I keep reapplying for tourist visas indefinitely? Or will they turn down my second or third request?

Would my chances be significantly improved at China's visa office in Hong Kong rather than in Chicago? I'll be in HK next month on my way back to China, but if they happen to reject me, I'm stuck in Hong Kong.

Should I go through a visa agency? Should I keep applying for standard 90-day tourist visas, or should I write an explanation letter of what I'll be doing (just a lot of travel and language learning--no working) and hope to get special treatment? Can I apply (but not enroll) in a univ just to get their letter authorizing me to stay?

If it helps, I am 18, American citizen, clean-cut looking, no public safety issues with my last stay, decent and improving Mandarin, and have enough funds already to stay for this duration.

What does it take to become an ambassador or high consular officer?

pwb503 — Tue, 12 Oct 2004 23:29:12 -0800

Say one wanted to one day serve as the US ambassador to (or is it of...) a particular country. Or if that seemed out of reach, maybe the Consulate General / Consulate to (again, or is it of...) a particular country. Or if even that seemed out of reach, and hell just get a job in the embassy or work for the Consulate. So, any chance an everyday average Joe, with a clean record, and a sharp intellect could get such a gig? Or is it just for former senators, congressmen, and big donors to political campaigns?