A visit to the Italian Embassy

Wife and I had to go to the Italian Consulate in SF today to apply for a tourist visa for an upcoming trip.

I thought the Indian Consulate was the poster child for slow, rude and unprofessional service, but today I was proved wrong. The Italians definitely set a higher (or is it lower?) bar.

Set in a house in what looked like the middle of a residential area, the Italian Consulate receives tourist visa applicants on Monday and Thursday from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. only. Why they chose to restrict hours to such a small window in the height of the tourist season, is a question that puzzled me and others who stood in a long line that took more than two hours to move. As we waited patiently on the sidewalk leading upto a side entrance, the only gratifying aspect of our vigil was a sunny day with a pleasant breeze. That combined with a great view of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge, made standing outside a less onerous task.

Around 3 p.m. we reached the door that lead to two counters where two middle aged Italian consul officers accepted applications. Outside we had heard the two ladies shout and holler, and folks around us exchanged tales of previous rude encounters. From the door at close quarters, wife and I saw the two ladies quiz harassed applicants with a bevy of questions. Standing there, I learnt that the only acceptable form of payment of the visa fees was by money order. This nugget of information is expertly hidden in a document deep in the bowels of the Italian consulate website, that is poorly designed and even more difficult to navigate. I work on software for a living, and it took me seven tries to unearth the information that had three levels of indirection. The person who designed the site would have done "Da Vinci Code" proud.

I decided to leave wife standing in the line and drove in search of a bank. At the bank I was directed to a nearby postal office by a helpful officer. I returned with the money order just as D~ was called to the head of the line.

After her papers were accepted, we waited a full hour for a receipt. We'll have to return to collect the passport with the stamped visa at a later date.

I had planned to step out of the office for 3 hours. In stead, this turned out to be an enterprise that took the entire day. Government bureaucracies resemble an 18th century train that yawns and trudges forward at a snails pace. The Italians did nothing to dispel that image.