Don't mind me, I just hate paperwork

[afuna]

It is really annoying that one of the things you need to include in your visa application is where you will be staying. I mean yeah I get that they'll want to know your plans so they'll know you aren't going to suddenly turn delinquent on them.

But when the process is so opaque that you can't know when the next available appointment date is unless you pay 32 pesos a minute to call their help line and ask, it's difficult to book hotel + travel because there's no way for you to schedule your travel dates to take the visa delay into account.

It's a good thing that we weren't able to find lodgings in the UK for May, because I just found out that the earliest possible appointment for Germany is in May, so I wouldn't have had time to apply for the appropriate visa anyway. But that was just luck.


The second worst thing about the process is giving them a record of your bank account statements. It's not like I have a lot of money worth stealing, but it just feels really creepy. (And what if I have too little money? Or (ahhahahha) too much and it pings some kind of -- this here person is suspicious let's not let her and her tourism dollars in?)


At least the UK thing is ready. Now I guess I'll just have to start booking hotel + flights with the assumption that I will have a German visa in time.

*grumble grumble*

Comments

[pinesandmaples]

Hear hear!

[rich]

Visa paperwork is indeed a pain in the ass, governments seem to try as hard as possible to put as many catch 22's in them as they can.

I'm curious to know what you had to do for UK; Do we require a visa or is there a waiver agreement? I obviously never experience that part of entering the UK so I'm curious as to what it's like.. whether we're just as annoying as everywhere else or if we've actually gotten something right. I'm guessing it's just as annoying as everywhere else, probably more annoying.

Do they ask stupid questions like "Is there anything we should know which would lead us to believe your not a person of good moral character?".. apparently that's on one of the UK visa papers an old work friend had to fill in.

My favourite visa question of all time was part of my US visa paperwork, "Are you now, or do you plan to become in future, a prostitute?".

[afuna]

It depends on what country you're from! If you're from one of the countries on the list (which I didn't pay much attention to, but I get the impression that it's mostly the richer countries), you don't need a visa, but I did.

It was, hmm. Well there only a few required bits of paperwork -- passport (obv), and an application form, but there was a much longer list of things that were strongly encouraged to get your application processed faster. I didn't submit all of them, but I was lucky because I'd travelled to the USA, Japan, and Australia within the past five years so that put me on the fast track. If I hadn't travelled so much, it might have been harder.

And ahahahha yes I vaguely remember that question! I said yes to good moral character (BUT WHAT IF THEY CATCH ME IN A LIE). My own favorite variation on that question is from the application to Germany, which had a full-page checklist of terrorist/terrorist-ic actions (Are you a member of a non-state armed group. Are you or have you ever been involved in blah illegal (seditious?) acts. Have you ever been to (list of countries including the Philippines). I had to say yes to that last one, d'oh).

Overall the UK was fiddly but not entirely annoying -- at least not compared to say a German visa or a USA visa.

[yvi]

Would my address or something help? I'm not sure what's asked on these applications.

[afuna]

Oooh would you be willing to? I think that might help.

If you're willing to supply some documentation along the lines of #3 on the visitor visa procedure, I think that would help!

(And if that's a bit much, I can apply for the tourism visa no prob)

[yvi]

Hmm, I can certainly do the informal invitation with my residence information, but I am unsure about the "proof of relationship" stuff... Can you make somethinmg of that?

Gosh, this application is a nightmare.

[afuna]

*looks* HUH I thought it was an OR rather than an and. I'm unsure about the proof of relationship, too. I think that if there's nothing we can do about it, then there's nothing we can do about it! (In favor of leaving it blank *g*)

Oh! Do you know what "Formal Obligation" is under #4? I'm guessing that it means something in particular, but I can't figure out what.

[afuna]

Keep forgetting to catch you on in IRC *G* Do you have the time to do an informal invitation by this week? I'm trying to sort out an outgoing flight from Germany so I can do plane tickets, and then I can finally get that visa appointment.

[yvi]

Sure! Should it be in German or English? Also, I'd need both your legal name and the address of the embassy (or whereever that application goes to). I'd then just hack it into my usual LaTeX letter format. Or do you need something signed and scanned? (I can also do that)

[afuna]

Hmm. *thinks* I'm of two minds, but I think that English might be better. I know that embassies usually hire some local staff to do paperwork-type things, and preliminary screening of visas might fall under that.

I will PM you my legal name and the address of the embassy! Unfortunately they're not very clear about the requirements but I suspect a signed letter might go over better than a fully digital, if that's not too much extra trouble! ♥

[ivles]

I hope it's not late or anything.
1. My UK visa is done in 5 working days, and I booked online for appointments. No questions were ever asked. Money is not an important factor for this application, as I know a lady with a lot of money was rejected a visa. :(
2. For Schengen countries, you usually have to have 75 euros per day of your trip.

[afuna]

Yesss I was really happy about the UK visa. They said it would take up to a couple weeks, but they had it ready within half a week which was pretty cool.

A bit... I dunno if I'm happy or sad about the money thing, because if money were a factor that would at least have been one thing that could be controlled or predicted somehow...

Thank you, that's very helpful information :DDD *checks bank account* I think I have enough I HOPE IT IS ENOUGH.