Hell Gets Hotter

Welcome to further frustration.

The visa process still hasn't begun, because the Indian Consulate refuses to accept my application. The refuse because I do not have the proper form (what they call a Note Verbal...) from the US Consulate. I do not have this form because the US Consulate refuses to grant such a form.

Let me start from the beginning.

Well, not quite the beginning. We'll ignore, for the time being, the fact that I forgot to start the visa application process when I first arrived in Istanbul. So my travel schedule was already screwed. Now it's only getting worse.

On Monday, December 24th, I went to the Indian consulate here in İstanbul. As I began to fıll out the required application, the Visa Officer came out and asked me what nationality I was. I told her that I was from the US. She told me that I must go the American Consulate and get a Note Verbal (whatever that is) from them. When I didn't understand what a Note Verbal was, she got very fussy with me, somehow communicated that I needed a permission slip of sorts, and walked away leaving me asking her back for more clarification. Her back didn't answer, by the way. She gave me the cold shoulder.

The Indian Consulate closes at 11:30 am, the secretary told me. The US Consulate is about 10 km away. There was no chance of filing my application that day. And upon leaving, I phoned the US Consulate to discover it was closed--Christmas Eve. Neither consulate would be open until December 26th. So I waited.

In the meantime, I filled out my application and admired my shiny new passport photos. Both of which were stolen Christmas Day by The Heartless Shoulder-bag Bandit of Old Constantinople. That's what I've deemed him. Have fun with my camera and my journal, Heartless Bandit!

Actually, if you are said Bandit, and by some random chance you decide to Google me, seeing as you've got my name and photos of me and everything, can I please have my stuff back? Or at least the stuff that's worthless to you. You've got my contact info in the journal. Thanks, abi!

This morning I got up early and arrived at the American Consulate General in İstanbul just after it opened. After a painless (almost pleasant) experience, I left with two items--a letter saying that I intend to travel to India notarized by the American Vice Consul in İstanbul, and an official Diplomatic Note written in 1995 saying that the American Embassy and Consulates in Turkey refuse to grant that note required by the Indian Consulate.

An excerpt:

...The possesion of a United States passport by the individual named therein is proof of that person's citizenship and of the fact that United States Government has no objection to the travel of that citizen outside of the United States. Neither this Embassy nor Consulate in Adana or Consulate General in Istanbul or any other office of the United States Government will provide additional documentation or statements to private American Citizens stating that the United States Government has no objection to travel...

He, the Vice Consul (quite a nice guy), told me that this is the form they will give me, this is what they give to all Americans who come in after attempting to apply for an Indian visa, and that the requirement of the form and sending me all the way across the town was basically just harassment.

So they've seen it before. Like I said, the Dıplomatic Note was written in 1995.

A half hour and $30 lighter, I was back on the street. I got new passport photos taken, took the long bus back to Taksim Square and the Indian Consulate, filled out my application again and waited. At 11:30 they saıd they were closing. But they said this in Turkish, so I played dumb and just kept waiting. She came out to me ten minutes later. She asked me my nationality. I told her American. She said she remembered me and asked if I got the forms. I said yes. She took them and told me they would not be accepted. She handed them back. I told her that this was all the American Consulate would issue and handed it back to her. I pointed to the note, which she didn't read. Granted, she probably knows it by heart. Fınally, after arguing her back into dealing wıth me, she took my passport and the forms and disappeared into the back room. She came back a minute later and said no. I would not be able to apply without the form.

And we had a tiff. Which is rare for me. But I'm pissy right now and she was giving me the run around, sending me to run errands which she knew were useless.

Finally, our argument ended with me (for which I would have been incredibly embarrassed, had I not been irate) saying, "So you are telling me that no American has ever gotten an Indian visa here in İstanbul???" She responded with, "That's right."

This is a good opportunity for a link I came across--some travelers subjected to the same ordeal. They got their visas. Eventually.

So here I am, stuck between two stubborn, bickering consulates. The Indıan Consulate requires what they require, and they do so of everyone. But for twelve years, ıt seems, this has been the reality of the process. I wish that one side would just give me a straight answer of what to do. That the Indıan Vısa officer would have explained it all to begin with instead of sending me all over, knowing that I would return with the wrong document. That the American Consulate would just write me this Note Verbal saying they don't mind if I travel to India. But everyone's stubborn and I'm stuck carrying Mean Notes back and forth between bullies.

I'll return to the Indian Consulate tomorrow and, very politely and with the utmost respect, attempt to find a way around this road block. They travel bloggers in the link took three weeks, start to finish, getting their visas. And, yes, I know that I am here playing the role of naive American, so used to skating easily through every border I could ever dream of. This is not discounting the difficulties of obtaining tourist vısas for the US by vırtually every nation of the world--what I'm going through here is chıld's play in comparison. But damn. My six weeks in India has already begun, and who knows how far away from it I still am.