Discussion: Visa problems

My son, Erik Nyström, is perhaps on his way back to the US. He is supposed to study at North Park University in Chicago for three years and is looking forward to meet all his orienteering friends. But we have some problems with his non-immigrant visa. If you phone the US Embassy Visa department in Stockholm a weekday between 1 PM and 2 PM, you reach an answering machine saying that the Visa departments phone hours are weekdays between 1 PM and 2 PM and we are very welcome to contact them at that time.
If you call the switchboard, you can talk to a human being. She will gladly connect you to the Visa department and after a few seconds you hear the familiar answering machine telling you that the phone hours are between 1 PM and 2 PM.
I would not have been surprised if I had phoned the embassy of North Korea or Burma but this is the country which president has said to the whole world: Yes we can. Apparently not answering a phone call.
All US citizens I have met have been so friendly. What's wrong with the embassy?

I've had the same exact problems with the US embassy in Stockholm. I think I solved the problem by just showing up there in person. I have no idea why they were so difficult to reach. Good luck getting through!

Thanks Boris. Showing up in person could be an idea. But we live in Karlstad, almost 4 hours from Stockholm. If that ride is unsuccessful it would be a spoiled day. On the other hand, it could be worth a college degree.

Same thing in Switzerland, hard to get to the visa offices. They charge for CHF 2.50 per minute to call the line. And everyone needs to have a set appointment made by phone before showing up. Hopefully they are more lenient in Stockholm.

You need to be early since they take their time to process things. If you really can't get through to the visa office, you might need to contact somebody who is familiar with the process (in the US it would be an immigration lawyer. Makes all the difference).
If things don't work out with the visa, contact the school and ask them to help. They usually have a foreign student office who is very familiar with this complicated visa process.

Whatever you submit, make sure everything is perfect, including the proofs that he has the money, the school papers and whatever else they request.

My jurisdiction answers e-mails usually within hours, in more complex cases within 48 hours. People who answer the e-mails are far more knowledgeable than the operators you reach over the fee-based phone system, and have access to individual cases. So, for Stockholm I would suggest stknivinfo at state dot gov .

Thanks, Tundra/desert, Erik has wrote to that mail adress several times not getting any answers.

I have no idea if it's the same in Stockholm, but at the London Embassy they will not see you without an appointment. Is the problem before or after the electronic form has been filled in?

Fiance Visa?

Up the appropriate ladder would be the offices of:

Senator Richard Durbin
Senator Roland Burris
Representative Mike Quigley

A visit in person to the Embassy is almost certain to yield results in less time. Some congresspeople's offices are more likely to help and may respond in less time, and some aren't likely to respond at all. Locals may know which is which (Clark?)

Showing up in person works ok if you are a citizen...

email often results in a reply.

...Locals may know which is which (Clark?)

Wish I could help. But US embassies have long had a different attitude for US citizens than they do for others, unfortunately. So I haven't felt Erik's pain.

Of the three politicians you name, I'd nominate Mike Quigley as being the most approachable. But he is my representative, so maybe I'm biased.

My wife Sari (a Finn) also emigrated to Chicago from Sweden...but not as a student. She too was never successful by telephone; she had to make several visits to the Stockholm embassy, arriving before the opening hour and standing in line.

I'll ask for advice from my friend Carl Larsson, from Malmo, when I speak to him. He lives a couple blocks away here in Chicago. But he works for ABB, and I would guess such things as visas were done automatically for him.

"All US citizens I have met have been so friendly" you obviously haven't been through LAX

I hope you are aware of the waiting times for student visa.

Don't be discouraged by the bureaucratic resistance, that's a universal phenomenon. Prepare well. Also remember, the college has a vested interested in getting your son, since they make good money on foreign students who usually pay full tuition in cash.

I hope you are aware of the waiting times for student visa.

FYI, these can be pushed if the Senator/Representative gets involved.

The electronic form is filled in and he has got an appointment (booked on Internet) August 25. But since he is supposed to be in Chicago by then, we wanted to ask someone at the embassy if he could have his interview earlier. I do not think it is a good idea to travel on tourist visa and then tell the security at O'Hare that he is going to college.
We have also been in contact with the embassy in Oslo (they answer) but they say that a Swedish citizen shall apply for visa in Stockholm.
I guess he has to wait until August 25 and then hoping that the visa arrives in a couple of days.

I do not think it is a good idea to travel on tourist visa and then tell the security at O'Hare that he is going to college.

This would be a terrible idea. It'll most likely result in an offer of "Withdrawal of application for admission", that is, next flight back, come again with the proper papers. Which is an incident he'd then have to mention with every following visa application.

Every Embassy is different but London were very quick - everything returned with 3-4 days of the Visa application. I would imagine that Stockholm are quite similar.

The University may also have an international office who can contact them and try and push things through - Yale does and they are very helpful.

Definitely don't come on a tourist Visa. If the school don't have anything place to help you out, then they will have to understand that your son will arrive a bit late.

At my school here in Sweden we get a lot of foreign students and there´s always a lot of delays when it comes to getting the right papers to/from the right people.

It is quite common that students are delayed for their first semester due to visa problems and that is something the school and the students have to live with...

I don´t know about your contacts with the school in Chicago, but we require applications basically five to six months in advance so that visas and all the paper work can be sorted out in time.

The school in Chicago has a person responsible for the exchange students and we have been in contact with her several times, so she knows the problem.
Perhaps Erik can ask the embassy people, during the interview, to please return the visa quickly. But so far, they have not been very service minded.
My plan is to book a flight September 2. Do I dare?

I would book one that is a little more expensive but flexible - more outset but cheaper than having to buy an entirely new ticket if it doesn't happen.

Sometimes the turn around at the consulate is faster than they say.

Remember, September 6 is Labor Day. So classes resume for real after the long weekend.

What might be smart if your son can sign up for his classes now, maybe via e-mail with his academic adviser. Otherwise the good classes are filled up.

I got a J1 exchange visa from the stockholm embassy back in June. Once you get all the paperwork together and do the three hour queue, it only took a couple of minutes at the desk and I think the passport/visa was posted out the same day. It's usually fast.
IF you have all the necessary papers, I think a week should be ok.

It's all about money versus head ache. Dealing on your own can be very time consuming. I (Swiss citizen) did 3 visas (J1, H1B and Green Card) with an immigration lawyer. They were on top of things and the process was possibly as smooth as the system allows. Contact: Annette Gustafsson, annette@lawgustafsson.com, +1 630 357 5700. Say 'hi' - she will recall me.

I agree with Peter (aka cavadura), for a complex case a lawyer is the way to go. I have submitted my 4 inch pile of paper work to immigration through an experienced immigration lawyer. To be fair, the USCIS has become a little bit faster and their web site is quite good. And the fees have skyrocketed, too.

But Erik's situation is only a matter of timing, usually student visas move smoothly, as long as the paper work is ready.

Thanks to everyone trying to help with good advices. FYI Erik has now been at the embassy and has been promised a visa, which would be sent to him quickly. We have also booked a ticket (flexible) to Chicago September 2. Perhaps some of you will meet him at an o-meet, though I do not know if there are any meets in the Chicago area. Thanks.

Beginning in the 19th century, Chicago set aside some generous natural "forest preserves" ringing the city. And the Chicago Area Orienteering Club has meets in these preserves during the spring and fall.

Although not as varied as the wonderful maps around Karlstad, there are still some interesting erosion features here to relieve the flatness of midwestern terrain.

For instance, on Sept. 12 there will be a meet at Waterfall Glen, which is perched on the massive forested canyon that used to carry all the drainage from the Great Lakes into the Mississippi, before Niagara Falls broke through to the St Lawrence River.

If he wants to voyage further south sometime, there's lots of us on the East Coast and some great forests - he should come say hi sometime! Glad it's worked out okay - I did it myself this spring and it's a very. very stressfull and expensive system. But it will be worth it!

'South'? Well, I suppose Chicago is the same latitude as Boston, so much of the east coast is indeed closer to the equator...

I always think Chicago is further north that it actually is. I will getting better at US geography, promise! At least you have to start the trip by driving south...

Massive forested canyon? I must have somehow missed that at the A-meet I attended there. I remember the waterfall as being about knee-high.

Well...yes. The Great Lakes evolved in a series of stages, most of which involved drainage through that canyon that runs between CAOC's Waterfalll Glen and Swallow Cliff maps. Both maps contain cliffs, which border the ancient shore of that river, on the north and south sides, respectively.

Once Niagara Falls was established, the level of Lake Michigan dropped 35'. However the Waterfall Glen map shows nine 5m contours (145') from the top of the prairie to the bottom of the prehistoric trench, and the Swallow Cliff map shows an equal number on the other side.

The same drainage through which Asian Carp are voraciously spreading towards the Great Lakes...

I remember Erik from Karlstad's Mini 5-Days in 2008 and from his stay here a year ago with the DeWeese's. He's a terrific young man and I am delighted that he will be in the U.S. again. I hope to see him at an event, or two. We'll be heading back to Pawtuckaway next week--I'll never forget his headlamp incident in the "Wicked Hard Night-O". It's one of my favorite O stories to tell. I wish him all the best. There are some really nice and talented orienteers in Chicagoland and I'm sure they'll give him a sincere welcome when he arrives--hopefully soon! Best wishes for a safe and uncomplicated trip.

Yes, great that he will be coming back. Just sorry that he won't be back in the east. Take of him out there.

We will. Finally someone to light a fire under Maricel.
Per, I didn't find Erik on AP but tell him to look us up when he gets here.
Cheers.

I will.

For many years I have been listening to people discuss their experiences in orienteering around Chicago, and I believe this is the first time I have heard anything about vast or even little canyons in that area. Or carp.

There is one subject that usually--well, invariably--comes up. Which is thorns. Orienteering in the Heartland is a special treat, and sometimes a suit of armor would not be wholly inappropriate attire.