After the craziness in September, we were kind of dreading setting foot in there again, but at least we had a pre-fixed appointment this time. It turned out this time the experience was actually not bad at all. The one clerk we dealt with was remarkably reasonable and helpful. He saw that I had my letter of "successful participation" in the Goethe Institute language course (and was duly impressed that I was "already" at level B2) and then everything went smoothly. After he checked my temporary visa and ID photos, I had to run down the hall to pay 110 Euros, then return with the receipt for the privilege of having my fingerprints taken... It all took less than 20 minutes, and I though we were done.
One shouldn't get one's hopes up too soon, however. Of course I don't have the visa in hand. It will be waiting for me, apparently, in 4 to 6 weeks -- no reminders are sent -- and we need to then come get it (and likely deal with the waiting zones and so forth again). We don't quite understand this, since the permanent visa is supposedly in some sort of electronic form, and for 110 Euro you'd think they could mail it to me anyway. *sigh* So stay tuned for visa quest: part 3.
Oh, interestingly, the clerk suggested that it should be easy enough for me to get German citizenship, if I want! My husband and kids are German, and apparently the language test is at the A2 level, which I should (better) be easily capable of passing.... Hmmmm. Not sure I want to deal with more bureaucracy, but having three citizenships would be quite something, eh?
Slowly but surely! I'm sure that your visa application is doing good. The entire process might take weeks or months, but if you're that sure about all your presented documents, then there's no need for you to worry. Just be patient.
ReplyDelete-Best Law Associates