The hunt for visas #75, #76 and #77

Organizing visas is a big part when you want to travel to every country in the world. While most travelers rarely or never have to apply for a visa, let alone visiting an embassy for a personal interview, the country collector has to deal with these things.

Fortunately, I never got a visa application rejected. According to Henley Passport Index, a Swiss passport gets you access to 185 territories or 158/197 countries without getting a visa in advance. That means that I can enter these 158 countries without a visa or with a visa on arrival. The latter is more a entrance fee than a real visa though. That makes the Swiss passport the fifth most powerful in the world.

However, it still means that I need a visa for 39 countries. 22 of these countries are in Africa, 15 in Asia, Nauru is the only country from Oceania and Russia the only country from Europe. I’ve already visited six of the countries where I need a visa: China, Côte d’Ivoire, India, Nigeria, Russia and Vietnam, and Nigeria was the only of them for which I had to go to the embassy for a personal interview (that was actually the most funny part of the whole trip).

So, why the hell did I choose two of the remaining 33 countries for my next big trip? Because getting the visas for the next three countries turned out to be the most difficult hunt for visas so far.

11 weeks before the trip: getting the visa for Pakistan

The situation was like that:

• e-visa or Visa on Arrival is available for Kuwait
• getting the visa for Pakistan takes 4 weeks
• getting the visa for Afghanistan takes 6 weeks

I had 11 weeks until I would leave the country… But things got ugly soon!

I started to organize all the documents I needed for Pakistan and sent them to its embassy in Bern.

8 weeks before the trip: no answer yet

Unfortunately, I didn’t hear anything in the next three weeks. Therefore, I called the embassy to ask about the status of my visa application.

The man on the phone told me to call again in ten minutes, as he couldn’t find my passport. I did what I was told, but no one answered the phone the next ten times I called. When I called the 11th time, someone answered it and told me to call again in a few hours. Again, four phone calls without getting someone on the line, but finally someone answered the phone. The gentleman said that I have to visit the embassy for a personal interview. This is actually unusual for Pakistan and he didn’t want to tell me why I needed to come.

The good thing is that I can work remotely. I told my boss that I have to travel to Bern the next morning, which is a one hour train ride from where I live and also a one hour train ride from where I work. Anyway, I entered the embassy the next day at 9.30 AM. It was a short and pleasant chat with the consul, and he told me that my visa was going to be approved. I asked if I could wait and take the visa with me right away, but he answered that I shouldn’t worry, as they would send it the next day.

If I had only insisted to wait, because that was when the nightmare started!

7 weeks before the trip: the lost passport

I visited the embassy of Pakistan on a Wednesday and expected to receive the passport the next Monday or Tuesday. It didn’t came on Monday. It neither came on Tuesday. I smelled trouble.

When it didn’t came on Wednesday, one week after my trip to the embassy, I called them and asked about the shipping date. They told me that the letter has been dispatched six days before. Unfortunately, they sent the passport via A-post and the bad thing is that you cannot track A-post letters. The embassy sent me a copy of the stamped envelope, however, there wasn’t a barcode on it and no tracking number.

I called the Swiss post and asked if it theoretically could be that an A-post letter would be delivered after six days. The woman on the phone said that it theoretically can be, but it’s very unusual and I should better worry about my passport. I didn’t loose my hope though. It might come on Thursday – or even on Friday – seven or eight days after the date the letter has been dispatched.

Nevertheless, I knew that a lost passport would be a huge issue! I had only 7 weeks left and I needed two visas! But it was almost sure that the passport wouldn’t come anymore. What happened? Whose fault was that? Was it the fault of the embassy or the Swiss post? I still think that the Swiss post is the one to blame, but I wouldn’t rule it out that someone at the embassy stole it. I will never find out.

However, I couldn’t afford to loose more time. That’s why I called the passport office in my home town Basel and told the man the whole story. I said that I would probably need a new passport and asked about the next possible date for an appointment.

The man answered: in 3.5 weeks!!!

Whaaaaaaat??? He also added that it would take another week until I would receive my new passport. I told him that there is no chance that I would get my two visas in the remaining 2.5 weeks, and asked if there is any chance that I could come earlier. He said no! He only said that I could get an emergency passport. This is a passport that you can use once to leave and once to enter Switzerland. It costs 100 Swiss Francs. He also said that he cannot guarantee that I would get a visa with this emergency passport. Apparently, the United States of America won’t let you enter their country with this document.

The next half day was pure hell. I was thinking about giving up. I already checked out different routes and different countries. The worst case would be that I would loose 1,400 Swiss Francs that I already spent on flights and tours. This afternoon was certainly one of my worst I had this year.

I rejected the idea of giving up soon. This trip was too spectacular, I HAD to visit these three countries. My new plan was to apply for a new passport AND organize an emergency passport. I would need a new passport anyway so why not organize the first visa with this temporary passport? I wasn’t sure if that was possible though so that I call the passport office again.

Another man answered the phone this time. I told him the same story that I told his colleague the day before and asked if I could get both passports, the regular one and the temporary one. His answer absolutely shocked me: “why don’t you pay 20 Swiss Francs for an express appointment? You could come today for your new passport (the regular one).”

Can you believe that???? I asked the other guy the day before if there was ANY chance that I could get my passport earlier. I asked that TWICE and he said no both times! And this gentlemen was not new in his job. I talked to him already two years ago when I needed a second passport. Honestly, this is outrageous and I cannot believe that something like that can happen in Switzerland.

I went to the passport office the same day, paid almost 200 Swiss Francs for a new passport (the fee for the express appointment and a fee for the lost passport were included in this price), and I was told that I would receive the new passport in 4-5 days.

6 weeks before the trip: a glimmer of hope

I had six more weeks to my trip and I still needed two visas.

Fortunately, things soon looked better. I found out that the visa for Afghanistan would only take two weeks and not six. At least, that was the information I got from a visa agency. The embassy of Afghanistan is in Geneva and I really didn’t want to visit the embassy for a personal interview, as Geneva is a three hour train ride from Basel.

Moreover, I arranged that I could revisit the embassy of Pakistan and get the visa on the same day. Everything looked doable again!

This time, I wanted to start with Afghanistan I collected all the documents I need and sent them to the visa agency.

5 weeks before the trip: Geneva calling

Four or five days after I sent the documents to the visa agency, I received a call from them and they told me that the embassy of Afghanistan needed more documents. A registration certificate of my tour operator was needed. Sort of a proof that they are really based in Afghanistan.

The success of getting the visas didn’t only hinged on the embassy but also on my tour operator. My tour operator helped me but I also lost a few days because they were absent or couldn’t send me the documents I needed soon enough. Anyway, they did a fantastic job in the end, but I was worried at some point that the speed of my tour operator would be another risk I had.

The visa agency didn’t only say that I needed to organize more documents. They also told me that I needed to go to Geneva for a personal interview. Damn! The only reason why I didn’t apply directly at the embassy was that I wanted to avoid the trip to Geneva.  I paid double the price and the visa agency basically just forwarded my passport.

Just a few minutes after that phone call I received another call from the Afghan embassy. They repeated what the visa agency already told me and asked me to come to the embassy the next morning. I already had a full schedule that day so that they offered me to come the day after tomorrow in the morning. It didn’t sound like a offer but more like that would be my last chance.

I worked three hours in the train and arrived in Geneva 15 minutes before my appointment. No problem, a tram would take me there in five minutes. I entered the tram… after two stations I just wanted to make sure and checked Google Maps. The tram drove in the wrong direction!! I accidentally entered the wrong tram and headed towards the other end of the city. You never know how embassies react when you’re delayed. Man, I was nervous. Everything could have been for nothing just because I wasn’t careful.

I arrived at the building of the embassy 10 minutes late just to find out that 14 or 15 embassies are in the same building. As you can imagine, it weren’t the embassies of countries like France or Canada but of Gabon, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I didn’t find the floor of my embassy so that I arrived almost 20 minutes late.

 

The consul was a nice guy. So was the consul of the Pakistani embassy. However, he needed more documents. He needed another document of my tour operator and also a copy of my travel insurance. I sent both documents the same day. The consul promised that they would send the visa by the end of the week.

4 weeks before the trip: Hallelujah?

I didn’t hear anything from the embassy of Afghanistan by the end of the week. Therefore, I sent two e-mails asking about the status without getting an answer. The visa agency wasn’t a help either. As they have done nothing except for forwarding my passport to the embassy, I asked them to get in touch with the embassy. I don’t know if they actually tried, but they told me that they couldn’t reach anyone. If you google the Afghan embassy, you find an average rating of 1.6/5 and numerous people complaining that nobody is answering phone calls.

Although they confirmed the visa, I remained nervous. There wasn’t a reason to celebrate until I would hold my passport with the visa in my hands. Finally, I reached someone from the embassy after calling at least 20 times. They confirmed that the passport has been dispatched. Two days later,I was holding the first visa in my hands… wow, what a journey.

3 weeks before the trip: Corruption

I had my first visa, but I still needed to apply again for the Pakistan visa. As I’ve mentioned above, the consul of this country promised me that I would get the visa on the same day on which I would revisit the embassy. He also said that I might (!) need to pay again for the visa, as it would be a new visa for a new passport.

It was a Friday when I visited the embassy for a second time. First, I waited approximately 20 minutes in the waiting room until somebody showed up. I didn’t meet the consul, but it looked like his staff knew about my case. It was an elderly guy who took care of my visa application. His shirt was way too big. Fortunately, it didn’t take an eternity and I got my passport back after 30 minutes. But the story wasn’t over yet.

Embassy employee: “here is your passport and the visa.”
Me: “thank you!”
Embassy employee: “can you pay again?”
Me: “why? I already paid for the visa.”
Embassy employee: “yes, but we didn’t loose your passport. The post did.”

I didn’t want to discuss this for a few minutes, but I wanted to give it one try at least.

Me: “Come on, I thought you would be so kind and give it to me for free.”
Embassy employee: “Okay.”

He just nodded and walked away. He knew exactly what he was doing: he tried to get a “gift” from me. The website of the embassy states that no payment in cash is accepted. And I’m sure that my second payment would have gone directly into his pocket. I tried not too laugh out loud because of that silly negotiation.

Anyway, I had both visa! This is what it took to get them:

• a first visa application including the visa fee of CHF 47, two passport photos worth CHF 5, a stamped envelope worth CHF 1 and the postage that cost CHF 1
• two trips to Bern (4 hours in the train)
• a new passport that cost CHF 190
• a second visa application including the visa fee of CHF 130, two passport photos worth CHF 5, stamps worth CHF 6 and the postage that cost CHF 6
• a trip to Geneva (6 hours in the train)
• about 50 phone calls (most of them unanswered) to the embassies and the visa agency
• total cost of getting these two visas: CHF 391, 10 hours in the train, 3 hours in the embassies and thousands of nerves!

These were the most stressful visa applications ever, but now I have the visa. I hope the trip will be worth all the effort.