$14 More For A U.S. Visa; New Appointment Process Announced
The United States Consulate has announced changes to the process of obtaining a U.S. visa that are in effect as of today. Nick Marning, manager of consular services at the U.S. Embassy in San José made the announcement yesterday in San José.

With the changes, those who are desiring a visa to the U.S. now have to obtain an appointment by placing a call to a "call centre" that is located in Mexico, which has been operated by the State Department for the last five years.

The process starts with a deposit of us$14 made at any Banco Nacional. Once the deposit is made, an access PIN is given that will be required for use when placing the call or an appointment. The operator at the call centre will then take the persons information and provide an appointment date and time for the interview at the Embassy.

The upside is that in one call, a person can ask for an interview appointment for up to five family members.

But, here is the clinker. The call has to be completed within eight - yes, eight - minutes, of the entire process, including another us$14 deposit, has to be initiated.

The us$14 applies only to the Costa Rican Embassy. The fee for an appointment to the U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua and Guatemala is us$15. for example. For an appointment to the embassy in Venezuela the fee is us$25.

Marning assures that the new mechanism is advantageous to those desiring an appointment and that the staff of the call centre is fully capable of answering any and all questions of the requirements for obtaining a U.S. visa.

"With the changes we can better services and allow us flexibility in setting appointments, reducing wait time and the call can be made from anywhere, including the U.S. to ask for an appointment", said Marning.

Marning added that the Embassy will have more consular services available on its internet website, including filling out the required form that will cut down the time spent at the consular window.

To be clear, the us$14 is in addition to the us$100 fee for a U.S. visa.

Since 2004, 123.000 Costa Ricans have applied for a visa to the United States. According to the Consul, 80% of those requests have been approved.

Marning added that the increase in the demand for visas has meant a waiting period of up 80 days for an interview.

For those interested in obtaining a U.S. Visa, the number to call is 0-800-0521465 (the call is free from Costa Rica).

The caller should, on placing the call, have available personal information including the cedula and passport numbers and the access PIN purchased by making a payment at any branch of the Banco Nacional.

The important part is that the access PIN is only good for a period of 24 hours from making the deposit at the bank and the access PIN is good only for an 8 minute call to the call centre.