Thursday, August 28, 2008

How to extend a visa

I just spent all afternoon trying to extend my visa. I went to the official passport and visa administration building at 2:30. Of course, I didn't now that the whole building shut down from 2-3 for lunch. So, I waited a half an hour while the Armenians around kept trying to cut in line and enter the building when the guards weren't looking. As soon as they removed the sign that said break, it was a mad mob into the building, which consisted of three (or more) floors of numbered shut doors. I asked someone where I need to go and was told the second floor. I got to the second floor and was given a room number, I entered a small office and told the man inside that I needed to extend my visa. Using a calendar, a pencil, his fingers, and a calculator he determined that I needed three days (a fact I already knew), we settled on 4, just in case. Then he wrote how much I owed on a tiny slip of paper and told me to go to a bank and pay the amount and bring back the receipt along with a photocopy of my passport. So, off I went to a photocopy shop where they charged me 3 times the going rate, and then to a bank where I had to stand in one line to give my information, including phone number, address and passport, and then in another line to pay. Then, I went back to the little office where I filled out a visa application and then I was told to make another photocopy and come back. So, I left the building again, got my photocopy and went back to stand in line again for the little office. The man took the photocopy, put everything together in a stack and told me to take it to another room in the building. I did, and then had to go back to the original office again (and stand in line again) to give the man my passport, which he still has. I have been told to come back next week...I hope they let me out of the country!

I obviously have a lot of catching up to do on this visit. I hope to publish some more by the end of the week :)