Rendezvous with the Swiss Embassy

Last week, I went to the Swiss Embassy for my scheduled interview. As you all know, it is very hard to secure appointments with the embassy at the time most convenient to you. Without any questions asked, you will be given your appointment date... and you have to be there. I called the last week of June and got an appointment for July 13 at 10:30 AM, which was okay since I'm planning on leaving for Sweden by August 8th.


For those wondering why I have my appointment with the Swiss Embassy when I am going to Sweden, well, there is no Swedish Embassy here in Manila and Swiss Embassy handles all consular affairs for Sweden.


I got to the Swiss Embassy at 8 AM and the embassy does not open until 8:30. I went to McDonald's and got myself pancakes since I didn't really feel like eating when I left the house.


So 8:30, I waited in line outside the embassy, making sure that I had all the documents needed for the nth time. When I got in, I checked my documents again. All good.


It took about an hour and a half before I was called to Window Number 2, which was not really a window and more of like a room. I was confident because I had all the documents with me that it would be easy paneasy.
So while Ms. Window Number 2 was checking on my documents, I was feeling a little queasy and felt like something just ain't right. And I am right.


So, my documents are complete. My host's documents arrived on time. However, the invitation letter from my host is not what they are looking for. See. when you apply for a visa in the Swedish Embassy, your host needs to fill out an invitation form... and that is exactly what my host did.


Except that it was not what the Swiss Embassy was looking for.


Nope, they don't want that form. They wanted something that resembles a formal letter. So basically, all the contents of the form are correct, my host just needs to incorporate it into a formal letter.


Because of that, I was rescheduled. No way I could give it in an hour or 2. I needed to wait for more than a week to have my papers processed yet again.


So, tomorrow is the day. Swiss Embassy and I will meet once again. I do hope everything pans out well.
For those of you interested in applying for a Swedish Visa, follow this link to the requirements for a Schengen Visa.


Wish me luck!