...Visa interview...is it actually possible to get in Naples?

[Karen_L 1]

My fiance' recently faxed the consulate in Naples the second of the two forms you have to fax in prior to getting an interview date and I sent them an e-mail asking how you'd now go about getting an interview/medical appointment and they told me "When we can give you a date, we'll let you know." Of course, I wasn't satisfied with that response because it's... you know... not actually a response lol. So I looked on the consulate's website and it says there that if you complete the electronic DS-156 you can call the consulate (for $1.50/minute) and give them the number generated by that form to get an interview date. So, this morning my fiance calls -- the first time he called, his cellphone's sim card ran out of money (he was put on hold for five minutes (as the money was steadily depleted) and eventually his phone turned off. So, he ran down and bought a card for 25euro and called again. This time he got a different person who told him he has to wait ... SIX MONTHS to get an interview date! OMG! So, he tells them "It says here on the forms you sent me that it'd take 1 month." That one month, btw, is very unclear whether they mean 1 month to have the interview or 1 month to be given the date to come in 6 years later for the interview. So, then they guy tells him he has to wait 7 weeks. 7 weeks? For what? And then he says "Well, maybe you can try contacting the Naples consulate directly and thanks for calling the Embassies of Rome, Naples, florence, etc". So, apparently, it wasn't the direct number it claims to be on the website. And now I don't know what to do -- do we wait silently for anywhere from 7 - 25 weeks or do we keep bugging them?

[noemij 0]

Karen you should go into the Italia thread....all of us went through Naples and you will find great advice there regarding how to contact the embassy. Fortunately for my husband and I, our process was pretty quick so there was no need for us to contact the embassy other than to schedule the appointment. My husband's appointment letter was lost in the mail, and he had to call again to set up another interview.

[Kaalyx 0]

Hi Karen,

I would suggest continuing to contact the embassy. Don't use the toll number, but call the regular line to the Naples embassy. I'm pasting below what I wrote in another thread about contacting them. I was persistent, but eventually got through. Maybe this will help you? Best of luck!!

-------------------------------------

"As for contacting Naples, I called between 2:00 and 3:00pm (Naples time). ... I spoke in English the entire time. The 1st time I called, the operator told me that it was impossible to speak with someone in the visa department, even when I insisted that I had spoken with someone the day before. He just kept saying "That's impossible!", then hung up on me.

The 2nd time (which was immediately after the 1st time), I got him again and asked him not to hang up again before hearing me out. He did, then gave me the 899 number. I told him I didn't want to speak with anyone at that number; I wanted to speak with someone at the consulate who processes applications, but he just sighed and hung up on me. LOL!

The 3rd time (again, just after the 2nd time), I got him again, but I asked to speak with someone whom he said no longer worked there. Then he hung up on me. The 4th time, the phone rang for 5.5 minutes and no one picked up. At this point, I asked my husband to call and speak with the Italian operator. He did, but that person would not allow him to speak with anyone either.

The 5th time, I connected with the procurement dept (I think) and requested the person who answered there to transfer me to the visa unit because "I had accidentally keyed the wrong extension", and he did. Once I reached the visa department, everything was hunky-dory. The woman was sympathetic and efficient and did the name check on the phone while I waited (I requested that she process the application while I wait)."

[Karen_L 1]

Hi Karen,

I would suggest continuing to contact the embassy. Don't use the toll number, but call the regular line to the Naples embassy. I'm pasting below what I wrote in another thread about contacting them. I was persistent, but eventually got through. Maybe this will help you? Best of luck!!

-------------------------------------

"As for contacting Naples, I called between 2:00 and 3:00pm (Naples time). ... I spoke in English the entire time. The 1st time I called, the operator told me that it was impossible to speak with someone in the visa department, even when I insisted that I had spoken with someone the day before. He just kept saying "That's impossible!", then hung up on me.

The 2nd time (which was immediately after the 1st time), I got him again and asked him not to hang up again before hearing me out. He did, then gave me the 899 number. I told him I didn't want to speak with anyone at that number; I wanted to speak with someone at the consulate who processes applications, but he just sighed and hung up on me. LOL!

The 3rd time (again, just after the 2nd time), I got him again, but I asked to speak with someone whom he said no longer worked there. Then he hung up on me. The 4th time, the phone rang for 5.5 minutes and no one picked up. At this point, I asked my husband to call and speak with the Italian operator. He did, but that person would not allow him to speak with anyone either.

The 5th time, I connected with the procurement dept (I think) and requested the person who answered there to transfer me to the visa unit because "I had accidentally keyed the wrong extension", and he did. Once I reached the visa department, everything was hunky-dory. The woman was sympathetic and efficient and did the name check on the phone while I waited (I requested that she process the application while I wait)."

LOL -- Omg you got hung up on! My fiance' tried to call and was put on hold for such a long time that his phone's SIM card ran out of money. Then *I* called the number if you're dialing from overseas and spoke to a nice guy (who didn't ask me for my credit card information - -which was unexpected) and he told me that the consulate would have to contact us when they were ready to give us an interview date. so -- that doesn't really resolve anything. I think we may have been getting ahead of ourselves by calling as soon as we did, but my fiance' is going to try calling in a week. We figure we can allow them SOME time before we start the bombardment of phone calls and e-mails. *sigh*

LOL -- thank you for your replies though. I'll go search the Italia thread more thoroughly.

[annabelle1 0]

I definitely suggest you keep calling them until you reach someone more helpful! I don't remember the specifics, (I have blocked out most of the visa application process now), but I do remember that calling them frequently was an effective strategy. I remember that they kept telling me they couldn't give him an interview date yet, but I kept calling every day and finally they asked what day at the beginning of the next month would be best for him! My hunch is that they only book one month at a time and don't make appointments for the following month until the last week of the current month...but it's just a hunch! Anyway, calling frequently definitely worked well for us.

Hang in there! According to my husband, once you actually get there for the interview they are very nice. Everything went very smoothly for him. Just make sure you bring all of the required documents with you.

Edited May 23, 2006 by annabelle1

[Karen_L 1]

I definitely suggest you keep calling them until you reach someone more helpful! I don't remember the specifics, (I have blocked out most of the visa application process now), but I do remember that calling them frequently was an effective strategy. I remember that they kept telling me they couldn't give him an interview date yet, but I kept calling every day and finally they asked what day at the beginning of the next month would be best for him! My hunch is that they only book one month at a time and don't make appointments for the following month until the last week of the current month...but it's just a hunch! Anyway, calling frequently definitely worked well for us.

Hang in there! According to my husband, once you actually get there for the interview they are very nice. Everything went very smoothly for him. Just make sure you bring all of the required documents with you.

Hi. Thank you for replying! It's kinda of difficult because (I think) of everyone currently going through Naples in the forum, I'm the furthest along, so it's hard to find specific questions or advice for Italy from people presently applying there -- whereas there's so much specific stuff posted for Russia, the Phillipines, the UK and Canada, etc. Anyway, I called today and the woman on the phone told me my fiance' would have to fax in ALL the Packet 3 documents (not just the two they say to send in the instructions). She also told me it will be "a few months" before his interview. (A FEW MONTHS!? OMG! ) She wouldn't tell me exactly how many months though -- but when i think of "a few" I think of more than 2 and fewer than 8.

He's going to fax in these additional documents tomorrow and HOPEFULLY something will happen and we can get an interview date sometime soon. She said they're very busy -- I dunno -- not for nothing, but even if they had 500 interviews to do (and I really doubt it's so many) if they worked at a steady clip they could probably do them all in 2 months.