After a near decade, it was a different experience when I decided to do an early renewal of my visa. Last time, it was my official travel desk that did all the odd job of running around, filling forms and making payments. Since there is no office desk now, the onus came down on me helped admirably by the younger guns at home.
All the activities of filling up forms electronically, making payments and downloading of account statements without a bank visit etc., were done sitting from home, thanks to the Internet era. The websites galore offer tonnes of suggestions and sermons some of which could be grabbed for guidance and others trashed.
The whole process consisted of two parts of collecting your personal identification inputs and a tete-a-tete to round up. To be fair, the official website has done a reasonably good job in guiding the aspirants and that could be safely considered the single source of reference. In addition, any query raised through social networking site is also responded with appreciable speed.
It is to distressing to observe some applicants despite reading all the instructions act opposite and carry exactly those items that are prohibited- be it a mobile phone or a pen drive or a back pack. The security is professional in firmly showing the door to such educated morons.
The activities at the personal id collection center are professional in that there is good guidance, firm adherence to rules and expectations with least wastage of time. If the aspirant understands, complies and co-operates, he could finish this in a matter of ten minutes.
The personal appearance understandably starts with more security driven exercises and after a complete body and baggage search, your are led to the visa consultation room. The rotating support staff are seen everywhere guiding the visitors, expediting interviews for the old and people with infants and are a source of comfort to the tense visa seekers. The pace at which the interviews are conducted is praiseworthy in that the official is extremely polite, gives an impression that he is more inclined to facilitate your visit to their country and at the same time deftly extracts the information that is required.
It is the well oiled process machinery that runs the show with almost near perfection and a honest aspirant need not have any apprehension. People need to adhere to the basic rules of presenting only the truthful information, avoid hidden agenda and more importantly understand their line of questioning. If one could anticipate and briefly live in their shoes, the entire process will be a breeze. It is a question of anticipation and preparedness, which many lack, is turning to be their Achilles' heel. If one is clear about their intentions, aspirations and stay away from incorrect and suspicious statements with all the documents available to support the claim, one could consider the whole exercise as a valuable experience with such understanding and supporting official machinery of the country you are aspiring to visit.
As for me , more than the activities around I was tense about the pregnant cloud hovering over threatening to deliver at any time. While over the years there has been appreciable improvements in the process facilitating the visitors, the authorities could do well to protect them from rain and shine and perhaps borrow the Indian tradition of entertaining the guests of honor with some basic comforts. After all, it is only those who have asked for your appointment, are at your doorsteps at the mutually agreed time to interact with you. As the visitors prepare to adapt themselves to the culture and practice of the country they plan to visit, the authorities could also play a better host in adhering to the culture of our country which accords highest importance to honor any visitor with such courtesies.
While a majority of the visitors ultimately emerge happy with their visa obtained, they could be spared of the initial tension of being exposed to the vagaries of weather and a slight discomfort of waiting at the gates, by providing a cover over the head and more preferably a wait that is away from the public glare. With such wonderful improvements seen, one is confident that this minor but self impacting hurdle is removed so that the whole exercise is made more pleasurable and done with honor.
All the activities of filling up forms electronically, making payments and downloading of account statements without a bank visit etc., were done sitting from home, thanks to the Internet era. The websites galore offer tonnes of suggestions and sermons some of which could be grabbed for guidance and others trashed.
The whole process consisted of two parts of collecting your personal identification inputs and a tete-a-tete to round up. To be fair, the official website has done a reasonably good job in guiding the aspirants and that could be safely considered the single source of reference. In addition, any query raised through social networking site is also responded with appreciable speed.
It is to distressing to observe some applicants despite reading all the instructions act opposite and carry exactly those items that are prohibited- be it a mobile phone or a pen drive or a back pack. The security is professional in firmly showing the door to such educated morons.
The activities at the personal id collection center are professional in that there is good guidance, firm adherence to rules and expectations with least wastage of time. If the aspirant understands, complies and co-operates, he could finish this in a matter of ten minutes.
The personal appearance understandably starts with more security driven exercises and after a complete body and baggage search, your are led to the visa consultation room. The rotating support staff are seen everywhere guiding the visitors, expediting interviews for the old and people with infants and are a source of comfort to the tense visa seekers. The pace at which the interviews are conducted is praiseworthy in that the official is extremely polite, gives an impression that he is more inclined to facilitate your visit to their country and at the same time deftly extracts the information that is required.
It is the well oiled process machinery that runs the show with almost near perfection and a honest aspirant need not have any apprehension. People need to adhere to the basic rules of presenting only the truthful information, avoid hidden agenda and more importantly understand their line of questioning. If one could anticipate and briefly live in their shoes, the entire process will be a breeze. It is a question of anticipation and preparedness, which many lack, is turning to be their Achilles' heel. If one is clear about their intentions, aspirations and stay away from incorrect and suspicious statements with all the documents available to support the claim, one could consider the whole exercise as a valuable experience with such understanding and supporting official machinery of the country you are aspiring to visit.
As for me , more than the activities around I was tense about the pregnant cloud hovering over threatening to deliver at any time. While over the years there has been appreciable improvements in the process facilitating the visitors, the authorities could do well to protect them from rain and shine and perhaps borrow the Indian tradition of entertaining the guests of honor with some basic comforts. After all, it is only those who have asked for your appointment, are at your doorsteps at the mutually agreed time to interact with you. As the visitors prepare to adapt themselves to the culture and practice of the country they plan to visit, the authorities could also play a better host in adhering to the culture of our country which accords highest importance to honor any visitor with such courtesies.
While a majority of the visitors ultimately emerge happy with their visa obtained, they could be spared of the initial tension of being exposed to the vagaries of weather and a slight discomfort of waiting at the gates, by providing a cover over the head and more preferably a wait that is away from the public glare. With such wonderful improvements seen, one is confident that this minor but self impacting hurdle is removed so that the whole exercise is made more pleasurable and done with honor.
