Visa update

[naturallypixie]

So here is what's up with my paperwork. Two days before Bart and I left Baltimore we went to the Italian consulate in Philly and found out that we didn't have all of the necessary paperwork. In addition to everything listed on the consulate site, I also needed a long list of things listed on the embassy website. After chastising me in Italian for wanting to study in Italy without speaking Italian, the consulate worker handed me a list of required documents and said that it was all very clearly written right here. I looked at the papers and agreed with her that it was all very clearly written in Italian. No where on the Italian consulate website does it say to refer to the embassy site for further requirements. Why couldn't these requirements be listed on the consulate's site? Why couldn't the guy who we spoke to when we were at the consulate the FIRST TIME tell us about these requirements?!?!?!?! What is wrong with these people? Do they not want people to come study in their country?

So, what I have been trying to do is get copies of all of my transcripts (three schools) and verification of degree from UCSB and Johns Hopkins. All of these must be notarized then taken to the county clerk's office to receive a verification of notary from the county and then all of these are taken to the Secretary of State's office to receive an official state notarization of the notary called an apostille. All of this takes time and money. I have the best friends in the entire world who helped with this process in California and in Maryland. The only problem was with Hopkins verification of degree. The first document they sent was incomplete. No big deal I thought, I'll call and tell them the mistake and they'll fix it right up. The woman who helped me lied at least three times about sending the documents and then when she finally did send them, they were wrong again!!!!! I was very Zen about the whole thing up until this point. No outbursts or name calling, just some lying on the floor and deep breathing I was livid when I saw this second mess up because at this point, it is almost four weeks after I have left Baltimore and I still don't have the proper document. When I called back I literally told the woman to get a pen and write down what to put in the letter. I was exceptionally calm about the whole thing and Bart told me that he was very proud of the way I handled it :) I got the new document on Saturday (she sent it FedEx Priority Overnight) and it is perfect :) I sent it off to Italy to be translated, because that too, is a requirement of the consulate.

Now we are waiting for all of the translations to be sent back from Italy so that we can submit the whole package to the consulate, at which time, we will begin the wait for approval.

Okay, I have written a ton and my elbows hurt.

Ciao!

Comments

[gustorosso.livejournal.com]

Believe me, I completely understand. One thing to get used to over here is incompetence. Nothing is the way it seems and 5 people will tell you 5 different things to be done. I remember going through that whole mess with us getting our visas to come over. Not fun. Most things here are like that from the driving to the lack of lines to even trash, if you think about it all long enough it will give you a heart attack in a week. They have a saying here il dolce far neinte which means "the sweetness of doing nothing" and they follow that like the bible. You will walk into a store to get something done and have to stand there 10 min so the two employees can finish a converstation about their weekend. But as long as you are Zen about everything and take it like a grain of salt, its a fun place to live.