Friday, June 15, 2007

The Great Visa Adventure



Well, I finally have my ROC visa, pasted securely in my passport, safe and sound -- but it was quite an ordeal trying to obtain one!! The process was long and complicated, and fraught with complications and miscommunications. The first day spent in the city involved nearly four hours of work at the New York Public Library as Kevin and I desperately worked to obtain hard copies of documents (financial statement, letter of acceptance from medical school, receipt of plane ticket and travel itinerary) we didn't know we needed.

The second day, when our visas were supposed to be ready, brought another surprise -- Kevin and his family, having made the two-hour trek into the city once more, discovered that my visa could not be processed because of a problem with my photograph. A couple of frenzied phone conversations later, the stage was set for day three, in which I woke up at 5:30, traveled to the city solo (love the LIRR) and managed to get the thing processed "same-day," finally putting an end to the exhausting rigmarole.

I'm just thankful there weren't any serious problems with my application, that would actually prevent me from entering Taiwan -- just miles and miles of red tape and hoops to jump through. I'm glad that's done and ready to get going for real!