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******
Thursday July 19, 2018
Happy 21st Birthday to my grandson Dawson!!
If I could get any more frustrated, I don't know how...........
Before coming to Colombia we had a list of the documents needed to apply for a "Colombian spousal" Visa. I won't go into all of those but one, the infamous Marriage Certificate. And I quote, right from the Government website: "
General instructions for submitting a visa application:
- Have a valid passport or travel document, in good condition and with free space for visas.
- Fill out the electronic visa application form.
- All required documents, other than identity documents or travel documents, must have an issue date not later than three months from the date of application registration.
- All documents from abroad must have apostille or legalization and official translation into Spanish when it is not in this language. The official translation must be legalized or apostilled according to the case.
- In the event of requiring submittal of bank statements, these may be without apostille or legalization and without translation into Spanish, if the content can be clearly established by the visa officer.
- If the filing of criminal records is required, when the application for this visa is submitted to a Colombian consulate based in the country of origin of the foreigner, the criminal background certification according to the established procedures in that country will be sufficient. When the application is submitted to the Internal Visa and Immigration Working Group, it can include the criminal records certified by the consulate of the country of origin accredited in Colombia or apostilled and legalized as the case may be.
When I went to Registro Civil to get a fresh copy of the Marriage Certificate, it was given to me with "legalizacion", and I said that I need it apostilled. He said this is all they do (not that it could also be apostilled elsewhere).
So all my documents have been accepted except the Marriage Certificate, which is legalized, but not apostilled.. All efforts to get the "legalizacion" accepted have failed.
So I sent a copy with a letter of permission to Gustavo in Cuenca to see if they would give him an apostilled copy... No they wouldn't, you have to go to the Foreign Relations dept in Azogues for that and I would need fancy powers-of attorney and more to accomplish that.
Gustavo calls me back with the information, received from a buddy of his at Registro Civil, that I can go to the Consulate of Ecuador in Cali and they will apostille the document.. He gives me the address and telephone numbers which I confirm online and try to call many times, getting only busy signals.
So, this morning, after walking the dogs, we jump on a bus to meet our niece in Cali and taxi over to the address. The man at the desk downstairs says that the consulate has been closed for 4 years, and the nearest offices are in Bogota or Ipiales (at the border). While I had only about 50% confidence in this trip I must admit I was absolutely floored at the stupidity of still having websites claiming a consulate in Cali, and supposedly knowledgeable Ecuadorian functionaries not knowing any better. I call to tell Gustavo this great news and he is shocked as well. We taxi and bus back to home before noon, having wasted half a day and countless more dollars on wasted efforts.
I am so frustrated and worried that I am beginning to think that somebody upstairs is mad at me and that I should cancel the house and the car and just get out of Dodge... I am so low that it is scary.
Gustavo calls again to say that , if I know someone in Bogota, they can get a copy of the Marriage Certificate apostilled at the Ecuadorian Embassy there, no questions asked.... Then Cristina comes up here to tell me that that is exactly what our Facilitator is doing at this very moment.... Surprise, surprise... So my only question is why she didn't think of this days ago instead of putting us through all this worry?????
We don't know the results yet but, this being the Gong Show of Latin America, I am not going to believe it until it happens... If it doesn't happen, then I may have to negate everything done with the Facilitator and bloody well go do it myself in Bogota. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....
So, this morning, after walking the dogs, we jump on a bus to meet our niece in Cali and taxi over to the address. The man at the desk downstairs says that the consulate has been closed for 4 years, and the nearest offices are in Bogota or Ipiales (at the border). While I had only about 50% confidence in this trip I must admit I was absolutely floored at the stupidity of still having websites claiming a consulate in Cali, and supposedly knowledgeable Ecuadorian functionaries not knowing any better. I call to tell Gustavo this great news and he is shocked as well. We taxi and bus back to home before noon, having wasted half a day and countless more dollars on wasted efforts.
I am so frustrated and worried that I am beginning to think that somebody upstairs is mad at me and that I should cancel the house and the car and just get out of Dodge... I am so low that it is scary.
Gustavo calls again to say that , if I know someone in Bogota, they can get a copy of the Marriage Certificate apostilled at the Ecuadorian Embassy there, no questions asked.... Then Cristina comes up here to tell me that that is exactly what our Facilitator is doing at this very moment.... Surprise, surprise... So my only question is why she didn't think of this days ago instead of putting us through all this worry?????
We don't know the results yet but, this being the Gong Show of Latin America, I am not going to believe it until it happens... If it doesn't happen, then I may have to negate everything done with the Facilitator and bloody well go do it myself in Bogota. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....
No pictures. The only thing I feel like shooting are idiots in Government, everywhere. That was the day’s excitement.
Al
******
