Hello my faithful readers:
After a couple of action packed days (a.k.a. me running around the city of Manhattan trying to get things together), I am happy to report that I will be picking my approved Belgium Visa up next Tuesday! :) If you have never gone through the Visa application process for any of the Schengen States then I should warn you it isn't for the faint of heart. For me it has been one of the most challenging and patience testing tasks I've had in a long time.
I started my visa application way back in mid-May. At that time I had every intention of heading over to Leuven on August 10th. Little did I know that the universe had other plans for me. The requirements for the visa for Belgium are as follows:
1) Passport, valid for 15 months
2) Two original visa application forms, duly completed, dated and signed.
3) Three recent passport pictures, signed on the back
4) For old people like me (students 21 and over) a nationwide criminal history record (aka FBI Identification Record)
5) Medical certificate (more on this later)
6) A financial support declaration (more on this later)
7) Certification from my school saying that I am accepted/registered as a student
8) Visa application fee (more on this later)
So this list seems relatively harmless right? That's exactly what I thought upon first glance "this is harmless, I can get this done in a couple of weeks." So I dutifully started to work on the things that would take the most time for me to complete like the criminal background check and the medical certificate. Suprisingly the background check was pretty easy - I went to a company called Fidelifacts they were quick, I didn't need an appointment. I sent my fingerprints and paperwork to the FBI the same day and my suggestion to you is if you ever need a background check please make sure you write on the outside of the envelope when you need it back. The FBI got it back nearly a week before I said I needed it (June 30th).
The medical certificate seemed like an easy task and because the Consulate provided a list of two doctors who are approved by their standards to provide medical sign-off. (NOTE: One of my American classmates mentioned that he had gone to his personal doctor and had to make a trip to his attorney general's office (as well as a notary) to get his medical certificate signed off on so I chose to go the route of the recommended doctors to avoid this issue) So I quickly make an appointment with the female doctor listed on the website for my region. On the phone the receptionist mentioned that there would be a $200 fee (gasp) and that they couldn't accept my insurance. I gulped and thought this $200 will mean convenience and saved time for me (JUST DO IT)! I didn't realize how WRONG I was until I got there.
The doctor's office was all the way across town on 47th between 2nd and 3rd Avenues (at the time I worked at 32nd and 7th across from Penn Station). I got there a few minutes early and the doctor wasn't there yet. I sit there for another 30 minutes and there and during this time another man in a suit comes in. We wait for another 15 minutes and a doctor (this one a man, talking on his cell phone) comes in. The receptionist then tells me that the male doctor (not listed on the consulate website, but the husband of the female doctor listed on the website) was examining me; apparently he does these certifications all the time. The doctor ushers me into the examination room and then asks me if it's ok for him to speak to the guy outside in the suit for a few minutes first (apparently he was from the bank and working out some loan scheme for the office).
I sat in the exam room for another 10 minutes waiting. Finally the doctor comes in, starts the exam and 5 minutes later answers his cell phone (in the MIDDLE of examining me)!!! At this point I'm super annoyed and by the end of his 5 minute conversation I was thinking why did I choose this doctor out of the two listed on the website??? (The reason is the other one was up in the Upper East Side (this one seemed more convenient). Once the brief exam was complete (consisted of a few questions, me breathing into his stethoscope and him asking me to take off my rain boot to make sure my foot wasn't swollen), he hands me a sheet and says that I needed to go to my own doctor to have these 4 tests done! I was PISSED because had I known this was going to happen, I probably would have taken my chances on going to the Attorney General's office to get what I needed. FYI -- it took almost another month to get in to my own doctor to get the necessary testing (and then I had to make two separate trips to get it all done).
It took a few weeks for the test results to be completed and faxed to the doctor recommended by the consulate. After a few follow-up calls to my personal doctor I got them to fax it over to the doctor recommended by the Belgian Consulate (thankfully I had signed the proper releases at the time of my appointment). The female doctor was in the office that particular day and reviewed my results and signed off on my release. It took a few days to receive it by mail, but by mid-July I had the medical release form ready to add to my visa application.
So for all of you thinking about getting a visa to another country, I suggest doing a lot more research about the doctors recommended. If you do use them ask them all the questions I did not ask, e.g. can you do all of the testing I need done? What exactly does this fee cover? The good news is yesterday when I submitted all of the paperwork they accepted it with no problems.
I'll share a little bit more about the visa application process tomorrow. Hope that you're having a great week! I have lots of packing, cleaning and selling to do in the next few weeks. I am flying out of NYC on August 12th.
Mwuah,
Georgia Peach
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