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Thursday, December 21, 2006

Visa

visa: noun
1. an endorsement made on a passport by the proper authorities denoting that it has been examined and that the bearer may proceed
2. an entirely unnecessary & protracted bureaucratic formality


At least me thinks so. Today I can Google someone's name and find out all kinds of thing about a person. For a few dollars, I can instantly search public government records on the Internet. Why then can't border/customs people do the same for travellers? In this day and age of instant-everything, it's silly to require a tedious, tree-unfriendly, slow process just to ask permission to ask permission to enter a country. No, that's not a typo. Barring few countries like the UK, a visa is merely a permission to ask permission to enter. Why then should one have to photocopy one's whole life story, fill out a four page form, pay a fee and wait in the dark as the mysterious bureaucratic gears turn in eerie slience?

I have spent the last three days in a state of perturbation thanks to the bureaucratic inefficiences of the government of Spain. Nothing ranks lower in a government's list of priorities than issuing visas to travellers. It's very obvious in the customer service, or lack thereof, at consular offices throughout the world. The consulate of España decided to move offices just as I finished printing a whole forest worth of paperwork for my application. So, I hauled a trunk full of paperwork to their new office the day it re-opened and got merely a promise to try to process it on time. A phone call this Monday got me a callous, disheartening response: "I've processed your visa but waiting on approval from the ministry. I don't expect to get it before Christmas". Click.

I digested this fact in horror as months of preparation, not to mention expenses were hanging by a thread. If they didn't get the approval by today, I would not make my flight on the 27th. Lots of frantic emails flew around, potential workarounds were thrown out and I finally decided the sane option would be to stay home if this fell through. I had resigned my fate to the inevitable. My friends responded with party invitation and alternate plans for New Years eve.

Today was D-day. I put on my crappy/happy face, grabbed a latte and somehow, between here & Bloor, managed to pull it together so I wouldn't punch Señora Torre in the face. I carried my sour face up to floor 12 and spelled out my last name to an oldish Spanish lady. "One moment", she said. "Ah - here it is." And right there, just like magic, was my passport with a shiny new visa!!! I conjured up a happyish face, said a polite thank you and walked out staring in disbelief at the document in my hands.

Barcelona - here I come!!!!

6 comments:

Manu said...

Yeah visas suck!!!

karmic said...

If you are a Canadian national, can you also just get a visa on landing at Spain like a lot of countries do if you are an American?

I agree it's a pain though. My experience with other countries has been ok.

BTW Spain is an amazing place ( as per *A* who has been there). It should more than make up for all the stress witht he visa. Enjoy your trip and happy holidays.

Ameet said...

manu: true that.

sanjay: I'm not a Canadian national yet - sigh. Looking forward to Spain - finally!

autogato said...

Awesome! Best wishes on your trip! That sounds lovely! And, of course, I am hoping that you post many beautiful photographs.

I'm looking forward to them. Your photos are also so nice and I really enjoy them.

Dr. Grumbles said...

Hooray for bureaucracy! Have fun on your trip!

Anonymous said...

LOL...that was a funny story...must not have been funny going through it though.

At the end of the first year at my university I realised that one should never underestimate the extent of bureaucratic stupidity. I was stumped when the lady giving out the mark-sheets asked me for the year's final fee reciept. The admission cards for the exams were earlier issued on the basis of final fee reciept. I saw it as absurd and unnecessary and they just didn't see any point in my arguments. I had to search for it and come back with the reciept to get my mark-sheet.