MyVoice

MyVoice
Let me grow along with this...

Thursday, January 29, 2004

Finally the "Document has been seen" !!

Are you coming to the US for indulging in any terrorist activities ? Do you want to violate any export control violations ?
Have you traded any controlled substance (e.g.: drug) or been a prostitute or a procurer for prostitutes ?

After answering a bunch of such moron questions (for which even Osama Bin Laden would tick a NO) in the form DS-156, I left for a personal appearance.
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28th Jan, 13:45 IST

Chennai is now having it's hot season (the other seasons being hotter and hottest) and people waiting eagerly for the VISA outcome of their 'loved' ones under bright Sun. I too was waiting for there to enter the Consulate of the United States. "400 people get stamped everyday !" was what I overheard. "So 400x20x12 is almost 1 lakh from Chennai alone !! No wonder export of human resources is a key issue for the next US presidential election", is what I re-affirmed.

My time came and I had gone in through those heavy doors after getting scanned by UV rays, IR rays, X rays and x rays. (The latter x stands for the mathematical variable x)

Now, were a series of queues to be stood in, before the interview.

Three, to be precise. All the three had Indians servicing and so I was not expecting courteousness, pride in service etc. and they met my expectations.

But the counters reflected the thoughtfulness of their designers and the American empathy for disabled (or physically challenged.)

Finally after clearing the maze, I reached the main hall, where personal interviews was taking place.

There were big photo frames of Mr. George Bush, Mr.,. Colin Powell and Mr. Donald Rumsfeld (?) , all of them smiling to their fullest, were hanged on one of the walls. The opposite wall had three flags near it, the stars and stripes, the tricolor and the US consulate flag.

There were 6 counters and six American officers taking the interviews and I started waiting for my turn.

The hall, surprisingly, didn't have a token displayer !! and there was an Indian reading out the numbers for people waiting there. These numbers were again supposed to stand in the Queue before the officer !! "What I disgrace !!", I told myself.

The hall had about four broad categories of people waiting for VISAs. Mom&Dads waiting to visit their vilayati son/daughter, wives waiting to travel with their green/H1 husbands, students and ofcourse people like us. For the first category, there were translators beside the officer waiting to help them. You hear two languages in the hall....easy guess....English and Telugu. (The Mom&Dad category were completely Telugu.)

The officers were pretty rude and un welcoming, which was not expected.

My chance came..and here goes the conversation...
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"Good afternoon, Officer"

"You came for an L1?"

"Yeah"

"So How long have been with Cognizant ?"

"The past seven months"

"Who is your customer ?"

"ADP Dealer Services, Houston, TX"

"How much will you be paid ?"

"Around thirty three hundred USD !!"

"Okay! Pay your DD in counter 1"

"Oh! Thanq and have a nice day"
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and that means that my VISA is stamped.

I was Out and was again on the Annasalai.

posted by Yy | 2:50:00 AM