November 27, 2006

Monday, November 27, 2006

Filing I-600

Mr. Singh picked us up at Himmat's place at 8am. We got to the Embassy by 8:45am. We went to the head of the line and got right inside. Then we were taken to a waiting room by an escort. When Sujata called the other day, she mentioned that she and her family only had to wait there for 15 minutes for Manoj Mahay. During our wait, we learned from someone else that the office didn't open until 10am that morning, so we waited well over an hour before the escort came again. Samedh was miserable from time-to-time, and there was a sign in the waiting room that said, "Silence Please." He was not silent at all. When it was our turn for our I-600 appointment, we discovered that Mr. Mahay was not in today. We met with Terry DeMaegd instead, who appeared to be Mr. Mahay's boss. He said he doesn't do I-600's very often, so he was not exactly sure what to do after our meeting. (He explained that Mr. Mahay has been doing this for 15 years and is a pro.)

Afterward, we went to window #17 and inquired about the visa application. The man directed us to our medical appointment, so we went there first. However, we discovered that Dr. Chowla's office requires the visa photo to be taken first. They need a copy of the photo for their paperwork. So we went for Samedh's photo next, back in the direction of the Embassy. Samedh didn't cooperate at first. It took about 30 minutes to calm him down, but the photo turned out great! We got only three photos at the time, and Sujata suggested we get six. We took the three photos to Dr. Chowla's office, and had Samedh's medical appointment before they closed for lunch at 1pm. (Their evening hours are 4-6pm, so we were lucky to get in when we did.) Then we went back to the Embassy at 2pm and turned in our 1-864 papers, etc. for the visa. They set Samedh's visa appointment for Tuesday at 11am.

At 3pm, Mr. Singh dropped us for lunch at a local restaurant. We had two fresh lime sodas (my favorite!), butter chicken, a paneer dish (for Pankaj), and both garlic and plain naan. Samedh slept most of the lunch hour.