Vivek's Blog

I recently applied for a Schengen visa (Greece embassy, Chicago) and wanted to share the experience with answers to some questions I could not find online. Here is the process: Book an appointment!! - This should be the first thing you should do as you might have to wait for a month to get the next available appointment. Everything else could be prepared in the meanwhile you're waiting for your date so book the appointment first! For Greece embassy Chicago, you'd have to call and take an appointment. They (the visa department) are only available between 2 pm to 4 pm on weekdays. I've read numerous posts online about people complaining they don't pick up their phones but that could be because you're calling outside these hours (the embassy opens at 9:30 am). I called exactly at 2 pm and they picked up the phone and booked my appointment (for me and my wife together). They do confirm verbally if your main country of travel is indeed Greece! On a side note, they&#

Just wanted to share my experience about applying for a UK standard visitor visa from Chicago. This post does not start with the usual stuff every other website has (check if you're eligible for a visa on arrival, check if you even need a visa etc etc). It is just an 'express' post that just answers some basic questions. If you're a non-resident salaried employee in the US and you'd like to travel to the United Kingdom as a tourist (or to visit a friend) with you yourself funding your visit, this post is for you. There are 4 steps to follow: Complete your application online - Fill a separate application for each of your family members. As part of the application itself, it'll take your payment and schedule your biometric appointment with a USCIS Application Support Center. ( Edit 1/23/20: Some readers have commented that these days they also require you to upload soft copies of your supporting documents on the VFS site after filling up this application).