usa-visa-imageToday I first time in my life visited the American Embassy to obtain visa. What I like about the process is amount of paper you need to bring. Only two A4 sheets: Confirmation and Appointment. And passport with photos. That’s all! I accustomed, when obtaining EU visas, to bring up to 50 sheets with all pages of national passport, all pages of international passport, bookings, tickets, references from job and other useless papers. I wonder how much trees were cut down for my visas?

All the process takes 2 hours during that you stand in the next queues:

  • Queue to the building when policeman checking your passport
  • Queue to deposit you mobile phone
  • Queue to security post
  • Queue to first registration window
  • Sitting in “electronic queue” to second registration window
  • Standing in “electronic queue” to second registration window
  • Sitting in “electronic queue” to fingerprint identification
  • Standing in “electronic queue” to fingerprint identification
  • Queue to interview window

So much queues in one day I’ve never seen even at Perestroika times. But all is well organized and the only upsetting thing is time. Time which nobody knows now how to fill without electronic device you left on the entrance. So I was calculating embassy income from visa issuing. About 330 persons who paid $160 with greedy rate in roubles. Really it’s $180.
$180 x 330 = $60000 per day x 240 working days = $14 000 000
Good income per year which I will increase soon as a tourist in USA.