First visit to the American Consulate in Johannesburg.

I called the consulate as soon as I arrived in RSA and after 3 days got through to someone live to whom I related the story of my Dad, who during a visit to South Africa in May, 1999 suffered multiple strokes, as a consequence of which could not return to the States until now. She asked if I had any medical reports, which would validate my story. I indicated that I could obtain them and she told me to get a police clearance started. We then went the second week to get the police clearance report started. I have since been calling them every second day to see if we can get the process rolling while waiting the 6 to 8 weeks for the police clearance. On Tuesday afternoon, I finally managed to get a live person, Erika, on the phone and she told me to come in at 9am on Wednesday morning and that the application fee was $360 per person. I prepared for the event by collecting all the documents I could get my hands on here and also took with me all my American dollars and R4500 figuring at the exchange rate of under 6 to 1, I should have sufficient funds for all eventualities.

The next morning, we started just before 8am figuring that it would take me about 25 minutes to get to the consulate. Well, I had not taken into account the traffic conditions in Johannesburg. The M1 freeway was packed and it took me just over an hour to get there. I was warned by Bridget not to drive anywhere near the driveways at the consulate because one of her friends drove into the driveway to make a three point turn and had her car impaled by spikes coming out of the ground, causing extensive damage. I parked the car at the mall across the street and then slowly walked Mom and Dad across the busy street to the consulate. This process took about 20 minutes and by the time we got to the entrance of the consulate, it was 9:20am and joined a long line of people waiting to get in. Mom started a conversation with the woman in front of us and brought her two children to have their fingerprints taken and interview for their visitor’s visas. This was her second trip in two days to get visa for her kids. As we neared the front after waiting for about 20 minutes, she told me to go ahead of her because she could see that Dad was having trouble with standing and waiting. She figured that by going ahead of her, he would save about 10 minutes of standing. I thanked her and went ahead. The process of getting into the consulate is to first wait in line for an entry pass, the wait in line for security screening. At the entry pass window, the people in front of me took forever (like 2 or 3 minutes per person) to get a green pass. So I walked up thinking another 6 minutes for us. When I told her that I came for immigration visa for my parents, she immediately gave me three red passes and we proceeded to the security screening line. Only one person is allowed into the screening process at a time, so I told Mom to go in first and wait for me at the corridor, she went right through without any trouble, then Dad went in and he to passed without a hitch. So confidently, I marched in and they asked for all electronic stuff. I had in my backpack not only lots of papers, but also a cell phone, a camera, a recorder and my American cell phone, which I used as a Palm Pilot to keep all my information some of which I needed for the immigration process. They wanted all devices to be switched off and left with them to collect when I leave. All the devices can be switched off without any problem except my cell phone with Palm Pilot. On this device, only the phone section can be switched off and the only way to get a blank screen is to remove the battery! Then started a 10-minute process of my trying to convince two security guards that the device is off even though one could read things on the screen. They were not convinced. Eventually in desperation, I told them that they could play with the buttons and that there was an off button and if they pressed it, it would switch on the device and after that if they held it down for more than a second, it would switch off. They did this and a message came on that said powering off, but the screen then switched to the palm functions and stayed on. I told them to repeat the process and as soon as they saw the message that said powering off, to close the clamshell. They did that and were satisfied that the device was finally off. On the other side of the door, I could see that Mom and Dad were getting anxious wondering what was keeping me. At the other end, people standing in line were getting pissed because I was taking soo long.

When the three of us got to the waiting/processing hall, I saw a big room filled with lots of people and numbered windows along one side of the room. Hanging from the ceiling were some confusing signs (all signs in RSA are confusing, especially on freeways where the sign indicating the off ramp is on the off ramp!). Eventually, I decoded the signs and figured out that of the 10 windows, 2 were for citizens and immigrants, one for the cashier and two for citizen services. I got Mom and Dad to be seated and went to one of the immigration windows and waited and the guy standing behind the window smiled and indicated to me to press the bell. In bewilderment, I pressed the bell and he then proceeded to walk away from the window! Having pressed the bell, I stood in front of an empty window for about 3 minutes figuring that the guy that walked away would eventually come back. Eventually, a woman turn up and asked if I had an appointment to which I answered yes. She then asked for my appointment papers and I told her I had none. She smiled and shook her head and said that without appointment papers I should not be here! She was about to send me away when I said "but Erika told me to come". I have apparently uttered the magic words because she said "then just wait here" and went off. Another 10 minutes of waiting at an empty window. It must have seemed strange to the people waiting there because I was the only one standing in front of an empty window, everyone else only went up top a window when they are called by name and there was always someone at the window processing them. Then two women came to the window, the original person and a blond woman who then introduced herself as Erika. I greet her with enthusiasm and repeated my story to her for the third time (twice over the phone). She asked to see Mom and Dad and waited for them to walk up to the window. She gave them the once over and dismissed them. They went back tot find a seat and I dug into my backpack and gave her documents that I thought were relevant. She was only interested in the medical report that Dr. Ernest had produced. She then told me that she had to go and consult an officer and went off. She came back and handed me two forms and told me to go somewhere and fill them in, then come back and ring for her. The reason she said somewhere is because there are no writing surfaces in the room. The cashier window had a ledge and there was nobody lined up for the cashier, so I made a bee-line for it and started with the forms. Mom and Dad saw that and immediately decided to join me. This completely blocked the cashier’s window and as I was busy filling in the forms, I did not notice that a line had formed behind Mom and Dad. I asked them to go and sit down, as they could not really contribute to the forms at that moment. In a huff, they went off to sit again. The line became pretty long and me using the ledge was no longer viable. So I went off walking around the room looking for a horizontal surface. I spotted the guard desk and as I approached, he went off with all his stuff. I now had a desk and chair all to myself! The paper work then became a breeze as I could spread the contents of my backpack all over the desk. Happiness!!!!

With paperwork completed, I then signaled Mom and Dad to come over and go through the papers carefully to make sure that I had gotten all the fact correct. They then signed the papers and I proceeded to the window to call for attention while they went looking for a seat again. It took Erika only about 3 minutes to get to the window. She looked at the papers, the medical report and asked for the passports and green-cards. She then went off to talk to the ‘officer’ and came back to tell me that it is possible, because they had been out of the country for so long, for me to make a 'new filing' instead of a 'filing for re-admittance'. The paperwork would be identical and the time to grant would be the same. I would have to fill in another longer application, but that I would save about $20 for the filing fee. Faced with the prospect of having to do additional paperwork for a saving of $20, I told her that I would prefer to use the paperwork that I had already handed in. she then contemplated for a while and said that we should first go with what we had and if a road-block should appear, then we can change it to the new application. I accepted her decision graciously and she returned the passports and issued me with a payment request for the two applications and sent me off to see the cashier.

The line at the cahier’s window was mercifully short and soon it was my turn. The first thing I noticed was a big notice that indicated that the dollar-rand conversion rate was 6.6 instead of the of the 5.9 that the rest of the world used! I gave her the paperwork and she went to her calculator and came back asking for R4752. I collected all my money and had only R4500, being short R250. I asked if I could make up the rest in US$ and she answered ‘definitely no’. I went to Mom and Dad and see if they had any money and came up with only R150. So near yet so far. Going to the bank outside the consulate was out of the question as I would have to make another appointment and they had a slot scheduled for us today. In desperation, I asked if I could pay half in US$ and half in Rands and she said that everything had to be paid in one currency. Creativity kicked in and I asked if I was paying the fee for one or two people. She answered that it was obviously for two, so I asked if I could pay for each of the two separately, one in Rands and the other in US$. I finally got a smile from her face and she went back to her trusty calculator and came back with a Rand figure of R2376. I immediately counted out US$360.00 and I had already given her the R4500 previously. She then examined each of the dollar bills and gave one back to me to change for another one. Fortunately, I had one extra and could make the exchange. Not sure what was wrong with the one she gave back to me. She then gave me the change in Rands and told me to and sit and wait for the interview.

I then paced the room looking for a place to sit and eventually found one and started to nod off to sleep. About 40 minutes later, a call was made for the “Kong family to window 3” and I darted to the appropriate window. This time Erika was waiting and she was accompanied by “an officer” whose name was not disclosed. I started giving them as much papers as I could get out of my backpack while Mom and Dad came up to the window. When they got to the window, I gave them each a phone to use to talk to the officer. She asked them if I was the son in South Africa and I told her no, I was the one making the application for them and that the South African son was not here presently. She then addressed all her questions to me. I immediately wrestled the phone form Mom’s hand (she could not hear anyway) and answered he questions. The crux of the questioning was to ascertain that I was aware that I would be responsible, as the sponsor, for their financial welfare and that the State would not be responsible, especially for medical expenses. When I satisfied her that I understood it all and that my daughter would, if necessary, be the co-sponsor and that she too was fully aware of her responsibilities as a co-sponsor. I was then given two packages and told to call Erika for an appointment when I had complied with all the instructions in the packages. I thanked them both profusely and went to collect Mom and Dad to leave the consulate.

This visit had taken the better part of half a day. The trip from the consulate to the car was uneventful!!! Thanks god for small mercies.