Bogota Embassy Apathy

[zack]

I am four months into this fiance visa process and things have gone smoothly so far- that is until now. I recently received a letter stating that the Bogota Embassy has mailed my fiance the "packets 3" which are forms to help prepare her for the interview. They were mailed on May 23rd and she still hasn't received them.

I called the embassy to inform them about this.  A guy answered the phone who had this "I don't care" attitude. He transferred me to a recording which had no prompts and stated:

 "The embassy is overwhelmed with calls and therefore any questions must be submitted by email."

O.K. fine. I emailed them and informed them that my fiance did not receive the packets 3 and I got an auto email response which read:

"Any questions that can be answered via our website will not receive a response from us. All other questions will be answered within one business day."

Knowing that my question could not be answered on their site I expected a prompt reply. No response, and that was five days ago. I called the embassy again and spoke with the same dead-beat guy. After explaining everything to him he said "one moment please" and nothing else. I was then thrown into another recording, but this time it said:

"As of now the Embassy is no longer accepting questions via email. All questions must be sent to us either by regular mail or fax."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? My question is a simple matter which can be solved easily and they are turning it into a huge headache. I can't even talk to a human being and when I do, it's like talking to a zombie.

I can tell that this fiance visa process is going to be a looong, drawn out pain in the butt. I faxed them the question several times and I'm still waiting for a response...

[pan de bono]

First - Don't forget you are dealing with the goverment and if anyone can screw something up its the goverment, any goverment. Second - you are dealing with the Post Office and if anyone can screw something up its the post office, any post office, especially the Colombian post office. Good Luck!

[Looking4Wife]

Zack:

Welcome to the "nightmare" phase of finding a foreign wife, otherwise known as "US Immigration".

I don't know what your question is, but if you haven't already, you will do yourself a favor by checking out www.VisaJourney.com.

They have posters from all over the world (including Colombia) who are at various stages of the immigration process.

Its an invaluable tool and online support group for those going thru this process.

Buena suerte y Dios te bendiga.

[william3rd]

Consular officers dont get paid enough to deal with you guys

[utopiacowboy]

My question is why do they use the Colombian postal system? God knows, the Colombians themselves do not.

Packets are regularly lost. My wife never received hers and we finally had to send her sister who lives in Bogota to the embassy with a notarized letter authorizing her to pick up the packet in person. It is possible to dispense with packet 3 entirely - complete instructions are available on the Colombia threads in Visa Journey.

As for the embassy personnel, nearly all of them are Colombians and they provide such lousy customer service that I would be thrilled if the FARC dynamited the place. How did we as US citizens ever arrive at a place where the bureaucrats think we work for them? We need to elect politicians who will squeeze them until they are blue.