My plan to travel in Europe is now kind of hanging in the middle of no where because of the visa. I wrote about how difficult to apply for a visa before, but now I am dealing with it.
My original plan is a 20 days trip to Belgium, then Holland, Germany, Italy and finally back to Belgium for returning to England. So I thought Belgian Embassy is the one I should apply to.
According to their requirements, I need to buy a flight ticket, travel insurance, hotel bookings covering the whole trip. But it doesn’t mean they will give me a visa for sure, there is possibility that they don’t, which also mean all the money I spent is merely just for nothing. But anyway, as they require it, I can do nothing but submit all these tickets and documents.
I spent a few days searching hostels on the net and make a exact travel plan. This is the most difficult part, because I have to know where to go exactly , which city, how long I am going to stay, when to leave and how long does it take to go to next destination. If it’s for a few days trip it’s still easy, but for 20 days and to several countries, it’s must more difficult than it sounds like!
After getting all the things they require, I sent them my application. Since I sent my passport with the special delivery, and also one for them to return, it costs me almost £10. Two days later, they got back to me with a message “your longest stay is not in Belgium, please apply in the embassy of the country where is your main destination”. Just for that, 10 pounds!
Germany is the country where I am going to stay longest, so I guess they should be the one I need to deal with. But they don’t accept postal order and I have to apply in person (said on website), which also mean I have to call up that £1/min automatic appointment booking phone line to make an appointment before going there. So I called. The first minutes is full of rubbish like “welcome to *** embassy appointment booking system”, then after several minutes, it finally tell me the earliest appointment they can give me, which is 16th of September. My plan is 6th of September, there is no way I can go on 16th. I also tried Italian and Dutch Embassy, but none of them can give am an appointment before 6th. And just for the calls, I guess it costs me another £10 already.
It’s impossible to apply other embassies any more, so yesterday I changed my hostel bookings to make Belgium as my main destination, then spent another £10 to post my application. I also wrote them a letter explain my situation and almost begging them to give me a visa.
Up to now, include those tickets I bought plus postal fee and phone calls, I guess I have spent at least 90 pounds already. And this can mean for nothing if they don’t give me the visa.
I really don’t like to write all these down because it makes me feel how different I am as a Chinese citizen here. My other friends don’t need to go through all these troubles just to have a summer holiday. When I told me all I have been through, they were shocked. I can understand this is the way it is and I also optimistically think that this will change future. But right now, it really annoys me a lot!
I really Hope that Belgian Embassy will return my passport with an visa on it.