It is currently mid-morning in Istanbul. My friend who has just arrived reports that the weather is "pleasant." Though anything beats the air of an airplane. If I were to write the horoscope of this week for myself, I would include "turbulence." For today in Istanbul is March 30, the date of local elections. When locals vote for their mayors, and indirectly, cast their vote on current PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
As I rifle through my stack of papers, inability to obtain a travel visa, through no fault of my own, is covered by my cancellation insurance. Civil commotion is, however, a clear exclusion. A friend has a "theory" about my trips, as I have so far been spared in Syria, Mali, and Tunisia -- but Turkey? Spring is a time of change. However, in the context of Turkey right now, these elections "will possibly be one of the most defining moments of Turkish democracy." We await results. But who knows, there might not be any journalists left there to report anything.
Otherwise, I continue on this my personal mini-K2 of travel administration. Today's cherry on top was a posted letter to the Consulate requesting the return of my visa application documents. This is the sort of correspondence no-one should need to write, but would be a interesting exercise in "Office Procedures 101."
Big brunch for 10 here at home tomorrow, good times. Feta and olives, check!
Saturday, 29 March 2014
Monday, 24 March 2014
An unanticipated inconvenience
Leaving next Friday, and where's that passport?
Why, it's been at the Consulate of X in New York for the past 3 weeks. Country X has no diplomatic representation in Canada, despite that there is an Honorary Consul of Canada in country X.
My travel agent suggested that I pester them with calls and e-mails, and that this is why I should have used a visa agency. I imagine that Consulate X has put all communication devices in a locked, soundproof cabinet.
So I did speak to an agent, who offered to ask the Consulate if she could be authorized to speak on my behalf. She however cannot get through to the Consulate either. Big surprise. Google reviews indicate that paperwork processing can take months, and people have called them "10 times a day" without response. An article suggests that people wait for hours at the Consulate by the trash bins outside. There is no indication that this diplomatic mission expedites service to anyone in the way we tend to expect. It certainly has unlimited potential for improvement.
Other than calls and e-mails to the Consulate requesting that they process my application immediately, I have requested the Embassy of X in Washington and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of X to contact the Consulate to process my application. I have sent an e-mail to Passport Canada asking how I can recover my passport.
Unless I get my passport out of New York this week, I will plan on getting a replacement passport next week, using a money-talks service called "urgent." I'll obtain one visa in Istanbul and another in Tbilisi. A thought is also to fly to Tashkent to obtain a visa at the airport, and then fly to Khiva.
I will keep you updated on this unanticipated inconvenience.
Why, it's been at the Consulate of X in New York for the past 3 weeks. Country X has no diplomatic representation in Canada, despite that there is an Honorary Consul of Canada in country X.
My travel agent suggested that I pester them with calls and e-mails, and that this is why I should have used a visa agency. I imagine that Consulate X has put all communication devices in a locked, soundproof cabinet.
So I did speak to an agent, who offered to ask the Consulate if she could be authorized to speak on my behalf. She however cannot get through to the Consulate either. Big surprise. Google reviews indicate that paperwork processing can take months, and people have called them "10 times a day" without response. An article suggests that people wait for hours at the Consulate by the trash bins outside. There is no indication that this diplomatic mission expedites service to anyone in the way we tend to expect. It certainly has unlimited potential for improvement.
Other than calls and e-mails to the Consulate requesting that they process my application immediately, I have requested the Embassy of X in Washington and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of X to contact the Consulate to process my application. I have sent an e-mail to Passport Canada asking how I can recover my passport.
Unless I get my passport out of New York this week, I will plan on getting a replacement passport next week, using a money-talks service called "urgent." I'll obtain one visa in Istanbul and another in Tbilisi. A thought is also to fly to Tashkent to obtain a visa at the airport, and then fly to Khiva.
I will keep you updated on this unanticipated inconvenience.
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