Visa Interview

I just returned from a visa interview (country unspecified). In general I go to these fairly often and find them extremely annoying. What is annoying is the process: I am supposed to gather various documents, write to which countries I traveled in the past (!) and when (!!), write out my CV, prove that I can stay in a given country, prove that I will return to the current country etc. Luckily (from the point of view of filling out the visa) I am not married yet, so there are chunks that I can leave out blank, but even this will change soon. Also, my professional history is empty so far and this saves me some time.

But worst of all is the anxiety. I am not in control. Whatever I do can be undone by the person behind the glass who has only a few sheets of paper to form an opinion of me and decide whether I am worthy of entry to the promised (or less so) land. And this person may be having a bad day or decide that he/she doesn't particularly like me.

"What if my application gets refused?" - "Well, you won't go there then, is that so bad" - "No, life goes on, but still, why can't I be treated like a normal person" - "Well, they have to keep their jobs for their citizens" - "Yes, I get it, but it's been 9 years that I do this over and over again, I was never refused a visa anywhere, and I still have to treat every time like the first time" - "Well, it's your choice, in the end you are the one that wants to go there - you can always choose not to go" - "But that's not the point" - "So what is the point" - "..." .

There is really no use arguing with myself over this, I always lose.

Anyway, today my visa interview was a good experience, nay a great one. Everything went well, the personnel was friendly and respectful and treated me like a human being (except for the gigantic security guard who screened me again on the way out). And I got my visa. And it is going to be valid for much longer than I applied for. And it will be delivered promptly. Alleluia

Does this mean my faith in the "system" is restored. Not at all. It's still inhuman. There should be a global database that keeps track of all the visa attempts and eases the process as you go for more and more visa interviews. I will be very happy the day I can just pick up my passport and travel wherever I want without planning and gathering documents months in advance. See you in fantasy land...