And again, with the visa...

In all of this visa mess I've had a lot of driving/thinking time.

I am so thankful for
~ my boss for being flexible with time and allowing me to make all of these drives
~ my friends for being supportive with whatever happens with this whole process
~ my reliable car (and it's ability to just go when I needed it to)
~ the fact that I DID NOT get any speeding tickets. Which is probably a miracle, considering every time I drove someplace to take care of something, someone mentioned how quickly I arrived.
~ a little extra money from my side job to pay for all of this
~ my family, for everything

I drove down to Emporia this morning, picked up my transcript, drove back to KC and straight to the FedEx office. Everything is off. Hopefully it will be taken care of. I am at the point in this process that if it doesn't work out, it wasn't meant to be.

How to get a Korean Visa....or not?

Did you know that getting a Korean visa is more complicated than filling out your taxes? For those of you who might be interested...here are the steps.

Here are the steps to get a C-4 Visa to Korea:
1. Apply for an FBI Background check (For me, this was done in the middle of March). This will take at least 2 months...if you are lucky. Cost: $18
2. While you are waiting, get a passport photo taken for your visa. Cost: $9
3. Fill out visa application. Keep waiting for background check.
4. Background check arrives. Drive to Topeka to get your background check apostilled (that's a super fancy official notarization). Cost: Gas - $20, Apostille - $7.50
5. Call the Consulate and check to make sure you have everything that you need. You are told you also need to have your diploma's apostilled.
6. Get a money order from the bank for the application fee. Cost $47.50
7. Drive back to Topeka. Cost: Gas - $20, Apostille (2) - $15
8. Check to make sure you have everything (including passport). Head to the post office. Spend 20 minutes working with the nice lady at the BS post office to get everything paid for, and in the correct envelope. Cost: $28.50
9. Get a surprise phone call from the consulate. You need to send in the correct visa application form, a special form from the University in Korea, and your official transcript.
10. Send in the correct visa application via email.
11. Email Korea asking about the special form.
12. Fax ESU to try to get transcript. Transcript must be Fed-Ex'd to Chicago. Cost: $28
13. Realize that your fax won't be read until May 31st. You are screwed since you were to leave for Korea on June 12th.
14. Freak out because you don't have a passport or a visa.
15. Realize that you can't do anything about the situation and let it go, and drink some beer. Cost: $3.50

So, here I am almost three months after I started the process, without a visa. And unsure if I'll actually be going on this fantastic trip. So far I'm out $197.00

Here's to you Korean Consulate.