Quick tips about the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador

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QUICK TIPS El Salvador Embassy

Try to research way in advance the answer to your questions.

If you are a U.S. citizen filing in El Salvador they can answer your DCF questions Mondays and Wednesday 7:30-9:30am according to website. (Might start serving you as early as 7 am and might stop serving at 9 am, no one will give you a clear answer in person)

If you have to buy that VISA USA card ($15 for 8 min) about a minute is wasted just with them introducing themselves, and another minute when they try to say good-bye. They didn't help me, and good-bye $15 dollars. (If you must though, they sell them at Telefonica kiosks, at malls and such)

If you have to visit the embassy try to expedite your entry through security. Don't bring a belt if possible or any metal objects you will have to remove.

DO NOT BRING Cell Phones, and I might suggest no USB memory, I was not allowed to bring one in when I visited the U.S. citizens services. And of course don't bring obvious stuff as food or guns =)

Bring the minimum amount of stuff you need. Think of it as going to an airport. Because all the stuff you bring will be examined by a guard.

If you bring a purse (for ladies) or bag, before entering either U.S. citizen services you are told to place your stuff on a little table and then go around the other side of the table. Depending on what you have you will be told to try each item, to ensure it is not a potentially harmful substance. You will have to drink water if you brought some, try on lip balm if you have it, apply hand cream if you bring it etc. and I had a pen the guard looked at like it was a james bond weapon.

Bring something to read, it is a long wait.

Obvious but bring all documents or they will send you back home. =(

Try to be as clear as posible when asking someone questions, every person will give you a different answer and 3 out of 4 of those might be wrong. There is no Information area in the embassy so you will bounce around before you strike gold and find what you want to know.

And use honey instead of vinegar, since most people don't know anything because the embassy doesn't tell them anything. Instead of getting mad at the guard for giving me the wrong info I remained calm and courteous. Now we are a bit like friends since he recognizes me and tries to help out when he can. I am not sure this would be the case if I had been an angry and spiteful person.

Also obvious but take all the documents for your process to the appropiate places. Not all photo labs know how to take photos, the U.S. embassy has places approved by them. And I would verify things are translated properly by whoever you hired.

Also check documents taken to or picked up from city halls or like government places since there might be clerical errors which might cause you pain later on. We had an error with my husband's birth certificate that was an old error with his mom's name. We had to run around trying to rectify it so all later documents would be OK.