Applying for an American visa

On June 20th it was time to complete another big step to get to the USA:
I had an appointment at the American embassy in Berlin to get my visa!

It took us quiet a while until we finally got an appointment but in the end me and 7 other
dear fellow CBYX participants were supposed to be at the embassy on June 20th at 8 o’clock.
Before this date I had to collect many papers and forms which were necessary to get the
visa. This took quiet a while, but oh well… it’s all worth it, right?

Since people aren’t allowed to take anything inside the embassy and they also don’t have
lockers, I decided to go by car, so everyone could store bags and backpacks in there.
We met at 7:30 and the queue was quiet short at that point (compared to what we saw 1 hour later!) We waited outside for about 10 minutes and then 5 of us were sent into a room to get through the security procedure. It felt like we are at an airport and we all made it through without any problems.
The embassy looks quiet fancy and impressive from the inside and we all felt a little bit nervous and under pressure. We received a guideline how to put all our documents in the right order and had to stand in another queue to register. Another 10 minutes later I handed in all my (very neat and accurate ordered) forms to a lovely lady and she checked it. Everything seemed to be correct and most of the actual necessary documents where all of a sudden not necessary anymore. Oh well. She asked me to sit down and wait until an officer calls my
name.
So the 8 of us where sitting there, chatting away and getting more nervous about this interview with an American officer. We didn’t have to wait too long. After 25 minutes I heard my name (pronounced quiet good, considering that an English speaking person said it). The
officer had my passport and all the documents in front of him and asked me 3 questions (in German):

Where in the USA will you be staying?
What will you be doing in the USA?
What do you study?

I answered these questions simply and quickly. He said: ‘Okay, thank you, your visa is approved we will send it to you via mail within the next week.’
I was quiet surprised how fast and easy it went. Also we were all a little bit disappointed that they didn’t want to see all our documents that we collect over the last weeks. But in the end we were more than happy that we all got our visa – one step closer to cross the American border and stay there legally for one year.

I am the only participant from Berlin, all the other guys travelled from the Bremen and
Hanover area to Berlin to get their visa. Since we haven’t seen each other since April, we
decided to spend the day together until they had to leave again.
Since we already left the embassy at around 8:45, we decided to get some breakfast. We went to Prenzlauer Berg where we found a very cute little café called ‘Café Stockholm’. It was located in a sou-terrain and therefore extra cosy. We had some delicious coffee, croissants and fruits in a lovely Swedish atmosphere.
Afterwards we went to Berlin’s Central Station. Next to it there is a great bar / restaurant
directly at the river Spree. To celebrate our visa the guys got some beer and the girls a
typical Berlin drink called ‘Berliner Weisse’ basically beer with colourful and sweet
flavouring.

My lovely group, celebrating our visa!

To finish our day off we had some dinner, of course some typical Berlin Currywurst. Then it was already time to say goodbye. It was lovely seeing them all and spending a lovely day together. It is always great hanging around with people who are going through the same with having the same expectations, worries and thoughts.
But one question was around the WHOLE time: WHERE IN THE USA WILL WE BE PLACED??? Only one of the 8 had an answer to this questions. The rest of us still has to be patient and wait, wait, wait !!!!

An American visa for 12 months and quality time with great people – what a successful and beautiful day it was.

Anneke