May 25 , Tuesday – Marj and Henri meet the consul at the French Embassy to discuss Marj’s fiancee visa and wedding requirements without us. The objective was for Marj to file her visa and then ask all questions related to the wedding, including our visa application. We meet at Marj’s bridal shower later that night; Henri tells us we’re okay to go on the scheduled interview on May 27.
May 27, Thursday – Marj’s mom, Marj’s bro, and I go to our scheduled appointment at 8 am. Lots of people. We were number 13. French old guy at Counter 4 calls us but after checking our documents, says our hotel vouchers are just hotel reservations and therefore unacceptable. I explain that it was a voucher the travel agent gave us. He stands his ground; asks us to secure hotel vouchers. He gets up and pulls something out from behind him — shows us an example of a voucher from the glass window. I scrutinize it so I’ll know what to do. “Return tomorrow at 8 am, no appointment needed,” he said. Henri, who was behind us, talks to Counter 4 guy in French but oldie won’t budge. I call the travel agent outside for this kind of voucher he wants. By 8 pm, I secure the vouchers. We were ready.
May 26, Friday - The three of us return at 8 am. Woman behind me in the line says it was her 3rd time to go back because her hotel vouchers weren’t acceptable to Counter 4 guy. She got her new one straight from Holiday Inn in Paris and invested in overseas calls to the said hotel. While listening to her, I was thinking about the new vouchers we had…but I was confident. The thing is, Henri and Marj were coming in at a later time so it was an uneasy feeling meeting Counter 4 guy again, just the 3 of us.
“Fifteen! One five,” called Counter 4. The sound of his voice was like remembering what happened the day before. He still looked the same — devoid of emotions, with the little hair he had left in his head sliding down front. At first, all seemed well as he flipped through our documents. I held my breath when he checked the vouchers… but he passed through them so I was relieved. But then he raises his hand a little later saying the vouchers for the certain days we were there were okay but what about the duration of the wedding? We showed Henri’s letter of invitation and documents but he stopped us.
“Attestation d’accueil’.”
I froze.
I knew this document, pronounced ates-tas-yoh ak-yu-wei. It’s like an affidavit of support. Counter 4 kept saying it over and over because Tita (Marj’s mom) kept explaining we would be staying with Henri’s family. But just like yesterday, he wouldn’t budge.
Marj’s mom kept pushing for him to look at Henri’s letter and I could see it was a stalemate. I tell Tita we need to back down. And at that moment, Henri and Marj came. I signaled a thumbs down sign to him. Henri rushes to Counter 4. Henri explains that the guy he talked to earlier said the attestation wasn’t needed that’s why he made the letters. Counter 4 suggests we go to the guy he talked to.
We move to another part of the embassy. This one had sofas (the one we were in earlier had those plastic seats seen in airports). The consul there was nice and confirmed that yes, Henri’s letter was enough and he could give us the visa but explained that recently a guy with really good documents traveling on a business visa was stopped at the border and immigration demanded an attestation d’accueil’. Since he didn’t have that, just hotel vouchers, his visa was refused. So this kind consul suggested we get it. But before letting us go, he checks our passports and looked at our visas. I thought it was nice so he would remember us, just in case we would need his help in the future.
From now to June – We will wait for Henri’s attestation d’accueil’ and arrange another appointment with the Embassy. And yes, we will see Counter 4 guy again. (sigh) Apparently everyone goes to this old guy. But I think he’ll be happy to see that we have everything he needs! At least everything is clear now.
By the way, for those who want to know what the voucher Counter 4 guy showed me — it looked exactly like this:
Happy weekend!
M
