And The Saga Begins...the Russia Visa Story

I counted back 45 days on the calendar from my scheduled arrival day on Russian soil.  I meticulously indicated on the visa application form my application would be submitted to the consulate on June 21st, exactly 45 days before arriving in Russia.

I painstakingly checked and double and triple checked all the materials to be submitted with the visa application....

Invitation Letter.....................................Check

2 Passport Sized Photos........................Check

Original Passport...................................Check

Signed Visa Application.........................Check

Visa Processing Company Order Form...Check

Duplicate copy of above mentioned items.Check

I called the visa processing company in San Francisco to confirm that yes, in fact I did need to send my application "package" to San Francisco instead of Washington, DC because the San Francisco office issued my invitation letter and their representative happily confirmed, YES, my application should be mailed to the San Francisco office.

I took an early lunch from work at 9am when the local FedEx office opened for business.  I walked through the office door, filled out the shipping form, forked over $37.10 to ensure delivery by the afternoon of June 20th and left with a tracking receipt and a smile on my face.  The arduous visa application process was behind me.  I followed the instructions from the visa processing company to a tee, now all I had to do was wait for my passport with the Russia visa to be returned to me before my early August departure...or so I thought.

The day after shipping the application to San Francisco I consulted the FedEx website to pleasantly find my "package" arrived at it's destination by 9am.  I continued with my morning routine with a bounce in my step knowing the application was received, that is, until 1pm rolled around and the phone on my desk rang.

I wasn't even going to pick up the receiver because I was about to go to lunch, but my responsible self said to pick up the phone.  On the other end was a representative from the visa processing company calling to tell me my visa application package had been received...great I thought...then he said,  "but there was a mistake".

DUM-DUM-DUM...I could hear that foreboding music playing in my ear...

He told me I had sent the application to the wrong office, it should have been sent to their Washington, DC office.  I was flabbergasted, because I had called the San Francisco office, in May when I began to fill out the application, to ask the question...which office to send the application to.  I was not a happy camper.

Then he broke the news that I had 2 items on the application which were incorrect.  The first was the entry and exit dates..silly me, I thought my actual entry and exit dates would be required, but no, apparently on the invitation letter it allows for the entire month of August, not just my specific dates, and the visa application has to match the invitation letter.  It would have been nice if, in the 15 page "application guidance document" the visa processing company issues it said that somewhere!  The second incorrect item was where I had misguidedly entered San Francisco Consulate as the place the application would be submitted and not the Washington, DC office, well, come on here...if I was sending it to San Francisco, why would I put Washington, DC?

So now, the application package is being shipped back to me via overnight mail and I have to go online to my application, correct the 2 items that are wrong, reprint the revised online application, sign it and ship it to the Washington, DC office.  Of course when I contested having to pay more shipping charges the representative said he would include a shipping label I could use to send the application to the Washington, DC office, let's see if I'm not charged for that! 

I could probably buy a plane ticket to DC, and sit on the steps of the Russian consulate waiting for the visa to be processed and it would be less aggravating.

I will admit, this whole incident had me riled up, had I not called before sending the application package I'd be more forgiving of this SNAFU, but really?  I called to confirm the process and followed the directions the visa processing company gave me.

Let's hope I actually do make it to Russia in August, because from where I'm sitting today, it doesn't seem very promising!