Murr K

Review of Consulate General of Italy - N...

Surprisingly simple. I had a 10am appointment for ...

Surprisingly simple. I had a 10am appointment for a student visa application. I was there 5 minutes to 9 -- no harm in being early, right? -- and went in armed with copies of every single document imaginable. The door to the visa office is around the corner from the consulate and down a very shady-looking flight of stairs, but it wasn't a big deal. A rather loud lady repeatedly told the few of us that were there that we would need copies of everything. I had all my stuff, so she buzzed me in at a quarter after 9. When it was my time to go up, I was stupidly nervous, but I handed in the documents to the officer that they requested (the lady who buzzes you in gives you a paper detailing what order they want the documents in) and she spent about 5 minutes going over each one before telling me to take a seat. One or two minor hiccups as she went through the papers, but no real issues and nothing that would get my application rejected. After about another 10 minutes of waiting, she called me up, gave me a receipt and said that I would receive my passport with the visa in the mail in about 2 weeks. Best part? I got it two days later. All-in-all, compared to some of the horror stories I've heard, it went pretty well. Always be polite.