Kyle Berg

We lined up outside the embassy this morning about 8:15 for Vanesa’s visa interview. We passed quickly through a line outside, proceeded through the metal detectors, and into the waiting room. In the front there were 12 different plexiglass windowed areas like you might see in a bank in a larger city. We watched for a while as various people were accepted or rejected after their 3-5 minute interview. Today, all of the workers were American. Almost all of them had embarrassingly bad accents but were friendly enough.

Vanesa had the bad fortune of being called to one of the two serious, less congenial federal workers. First he asked where she would be going and why. She replied, “North Dakota. My boyfriend is living in Buenos Aires and invited me to visit his family. We’re also going to California to visit Hollywood since I’m studying cinema.” This appeared to set a bad tone for the interview as he asked if I was working, how long I’d been here, and how we met. Rather than the focus being on her, it was on me, and thus more suspicious. While the other workers had been asking questions about the others’ lives in BA, their intentions, etc., this guy stopped asking questions after finishing his questions about me. Vanesa showed him her work and school papers, but it didn’t matter. She was turned down and will have to visit the U.S. another time.

Whether it was our fault for a poor strategy, luck of the draw, will of God, or all of the above, nobody knows. Some people told us not to say anything about a boyfriend. I guess we could have omitted this. But the form asks how you will pay for the trip and Vanesa had no intention of lying if she had been questioned about this. In retrospect, concerns over payment should have been secondary and maybe we should have taken the chance of not being questioned about her finances. Last Friday I went in to pay my $97 and replace the passport I had accidentally washed with a pair of jeans. The agent helping me had worked on visas for a year and I asked him about the process. He said if people are engaged it’s a bit more suspicious. I told him she was my girlfriend for now, was a student, had a job, and I had a paid contract for my apartment proving I also had a reason to return to Argentina. He seemed optimistic and said we should be fine. Who knows? It seems like this is more of art than a science. Much of it depends on the person and their mood.

So, I will be visiting home by myself in July. We’re both obviously disappointed, but okay at the same time. Maybe I’ll analyze all the possible scenarios/whys later. For now, the situation is what it is. Such is life. It will be good to be home nonetheless.