Things in comparison
After all this complaining about European bureaucrats I must say that they still have a long way to retard before they match the incompetence of their US brethen. After all, when we needed to extend our visa by 3 days, it took Netherlands only 1 day to process new visa (after we spent only 2 days to resubmit the same mountain of paperwork we gave to the Consulate only few days earlier)
However even after 4 years of correspondence with INS, I still couldn't get them to correct the wrong date they stamped in my Green Card!
The way I see the difference b/n European and US bureaucracy is that, although both have stupid rules, if you play by these rules with Europeans - the things will be done. However when dealing with US INS you can follow every rule in the book and yet your documents will still end up in the middle of Nebraska, without any chance of returning back to New York. Yes, I am speaking from experience.
By the way, isn't it a wonderful example of Gov-t logic that major immigration offices are located in Nebraska and Vermont - the two states that have practically no immigrants? Was it Gov-t's way to ensure that millions of pissed off clients don't show up to smash their windows?
3 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
I'm back defending the bureaucrats:)) You're saying that if the girls at the consulate find their work stupid and degrading, they should just leave. Well, actually, it's not that simple - most of them are in New York because their husbands/boyfriends are here. So they cannot just up and go back to Europe. There are other things to consider here...
But I do agree on the principle - consulate rules are indeed stupid. And they are basically made in order not to encourage people to apply for visas and visit Europe, but to prevent "wrong" people (liable to stay in Europe as illegal immigrants) from getting there. Pretty much the same as in the US - or everywhere, for that matter. C'est la vie:))
Inna, "the insider":))
First I'd like to reply to the previous comment:
I understand the purpose of the visa rules, but I make a distinction b/n the rules themselves and the way they are implemented by bureaucrats. The Schengen requirement that people "without sufficient means of support" should be denied visa makes sense. Yet I read Schengen rules many times and nowhere do they require that applications for "through-Belgium" visa are sent for approval to Brussels! The bureaucratic implementation of Schengen agreement looks to me more like sabotage.
And from my experience the consulates are not so much concerned with the merits of the applications but with the adherence to their self-invented procedures - i.e. which office should be responsible for issuing a visa? Belgium, France or Netherlands? New York or Washington? Is this application brought in by a postman or by a relative? Does passport have 6 months of validity AFTER the person plans to leave their country? etc.
Both times I needed Schengen visa I didn't have any issues with demonstrating my eligibility for visa, yet I had to go though lot's of pain to convince consular officers that I need to apply for visa in their particular consulate and not in the consulate on the other side of Manhattan.
And finally to your defense of the girls - I did partially accept it. But only partially. These girls are the interface of the bureaucratic machine and it is in their power to make this interface more human. I.e. taking the example with the gentlemen from San Francisco who works in New York, they could have simply told him to refile the application with his New York address instead of sending him to Los Angeles.
Post a Comment
<< Home