The end of a tough week

Hi everyone. Tonight should have been my last in the United States for 4 months, but it's not. Instead, I'm hoping Tuesday the 15th will be... until then I continue to email and call anyone I can think of to ask for help with getting my visa. So far, the only answer we can get from anyone is that, according to the Czech immigration police, my application is "still in the process". I've been really stressed out and losing faith and I wrote the following as an account of what I've done for this study abroad program. I emailed a condensed version to people in the Office of Study Abroad and to some of my professors. It's lengthy and detailed, but it's all the truth.

At this point I just really want to be in Central Europe - the place that intrigues me and inspires me when learning about their recent history. I'm so hungry for the classes I'm to take this semester and to meet the people that have been comforting me this week. I'm getting very nervous about getting my visa in time to leave on the 16th. If you have any suggestions for me at all - people to contact, words of encouragement, advice on what to say to people I contact - I really appreciate it. Hopefully soon my posts will be full of more excitement than stress.

            This week was supposed to be one of preparation and excitement for me. I have been looking forward to tomorrow, February 4, since September as the day I would leave for a semester in the Czech Republic. I believe that I completed and have done everything for this study abroad on time and in an exemplary fashion, yet I will not be leaving tomorrow because my visa has yet to be approved by the Czech Immigration Police. Let me tell you how I came to this point…

            I decided I would go to the Czech Republic this spring at the beginning of my sophomore year (Fall 2009), but could not apply until this past fall. I submitted my application on September 10, 2010, well before the deadline, which was, I believe, October 20. I began having meetings with my coordinator on October 14 to which I brought my completed application for Palacky University as well as the resume and other documents they required. It was around that time I also renewed my passport and paid to have it expedited so I could begin the visa application process as soon as possible because I was told it could be quite slow. From that day, I filled out my visa application and waited to receive the letters required from Palacky University. I did not receive these letters until November 23, and the very next day I mailed my application and necessary documents to the Czech consulate in Chicago. Again, I waited to hear about my visa. The instructions were that it would take about 60 days to process my application, and this made me worry since I had only been able to allow around 70 days. I would have loved to have sent in my application earlier than this, but I was prevented from doing so because I was waiting for the necessary letters from Palacky University.

            On January 10, 2011 I emailed the Czech Consulate in Chicago to check on the status of my visa. At that time I was told that my application began the process on November 27 and that it would take up to 60 days to be completed. Hearing this news, I didn’t worry too much because 60 days was the week before I was set to leave on February 4, and I trusted the consulate would give me accurate information. As my departure date approached I began to get nervous, and on Monday, January 31, my passport with my visa still had not arrived. I called the consulate and was told my application had yet to be approved. I was devastated at this news and began to contact everyone I could think of who could help.

            My first reaction was to call the Office of Study Abroad and talk to my coordinator. She suggested I get in contact with Palacky University. I did this by talking with a student I have been in contact with on Facebook. She called her teacher, who then emailed me. The consulate told me I could have my passport back so I could fly to the Czech Republic, but I would have to mail it back to the US to get my passport. This, they told me, would leave me in the country illegally. Palacky University did not want me to do this, so they suggested I change my flight. Either way, I was at a huge disadvantage. I had no idea what to do after the consulate could not even give me a date to expect my visa, so my mom and I began calling and emailing Senator Levin, who directed us to the Czech desk at the State Department. They told us there was little they could do, but it was worth a try. I emailed my coordinator in the OSA, but didn’t hear from her again. Tuesday we learned that not even Palacky University could get an answer from the Czech immigration police for when my visa would be approved, and that there was nothing they could do to speed up the process. So, I sat and waited again, losing hope every minute.

            We kept hoping that my visa would be approved and printed at the consulate by this morning so maybe we could drive to Chicago to get my passport and I could leave as planned tomorrow morning. However, there was a miniscule chance of that happening and we began speaking with our travel agent to change my flight. This is even risky because I still have no idea when my visa will be approved, but school starts at Palacky on February 14^th and I do not want to miss more school than I have to. I’ve picked February 16^th as my new departure date hoping two weeks is enough time to have my visa approved.  I did not choose to reschedule my flight, I was forced to because my visa has not been approved. However, I will have to pay $373 for this, which is not money I have lying around.

            I came into this program with full faith in the Office of Study Abroad, Palacky University, and the American and Czech governments to send me on an incredible study abroad experience. I have lost a little of that faith this week. I knew I would be going on this trip alone, and I did not apply for any scholarships, but I thought I would have a great experience nonetheless. It has been incredibly stressful each day this week not knowing what I could do to insure my departure for the Czech Republic. I am not sure exactly what I am asking for now, because as each person I have spoken this week has said, there is nothing that can be done to help at this point. I just have to continue hoping that I will be able to leave on February 16^th.

            I guess what I can say now is that I ask you to please encourage or require that any students looking to do this program in the Czech Republic apply incredibly early – both to the program and for their visa. Like I said, I believe I did everything in time according to the information I was given and with waiting for the documents I needed. Again, there is nothing I can do now but wait; but I hope future students will not have to experience what I have this week.