4.23.10 – Visa = DENIED ☹

Before you all freak out just read my blog post, and hopefully I’ll explain everything.

Last night (Thursday), I received an email that my passport was ready for pick up at the British Embassy. I was really excited and planned my day accordingly, which included leaving my second class early. I was able to get a good night sleep, got some homework completed in the morning (quiet the accomplishment for a Friday morning), headed into town, and had my one and a half classes. I then made my way to the British Embassy with a mixed bag of thoughts. The email did give any reference as to whether my visa had been approved and since I had difficulty in submitting it, I was a little worried.

Well I apparently had reason to be worried because my visa clearance was denied. Trust me my heart dropped. Thankfully, they included a reason as to why my visa was denied, which I now have complete understanding of. After asking a couple of questions to the guard at the gate for clarification, I headed back to DIS to regroup and figure things out. [I know I am presenting all rather rationally, and that’s because I have had a day to think about it, but believe me I was very stressed and worked up at this point. I was even starting to get really hot because my blood was pumping so much.]

Back at DIS, I went online to a website that I was directed to through my refusal notice where I could print a form to request an administrative review of my application. This pretty much allows me to say why I think a mistake was made in reviewing my application and therefore why it should be rectified. After reading up on this and reviewing my refusal notice again, I called my host institute in London to get further clarification. She seemed to understand what was going on, or at least why there was confusion. Overall, it is a technicality that is normally understood in the US because they are used to processing applications like mine, however this technicality is unknown to reviewers in Copenhagen (I simply wish I knew this before my application was submitted). Anyways, the woman in London told me I should proceed with asking for the administrative review (the tricky thing is that it could take up to 28 days after I submit the form and I will only have about 20 left in Copenhagen by the time I submit the form on Monday). She also suggested trying to look into expediting the process once I return to the states as an additional plan, which also seems feasible. I was grateful though that she helped clarify the situation at least for me. She also provided me with a reason to list as to why I think the mistake was made. Overall, the process has simply gotten more complicated, and it is stressful because I though I would have all this completed by this point and be ready to go (although I guess things don’t always work out that easily).

Clearly this put a dent into my day, but once I prepared as much as I could and talked to both mom and dad about it, I realized that it would work itself out in one way or another. I’m staying optimistic about the whole thing (and I ask that everyone else does too).

On a positive note though, once I got home I went ahead and ordered my plane ticket for London. Coincidentally, I got a fare update (which I signed up for online) for my London plane ticket, which showed that the fares had dropped from about $1050 to $800! I figured I couldn’t pass this deal up. Although technically it didn’t really matter since mom and I planned to pay for the ticket with AMEX points that she had saved up. This is becoming my go to payment for getting to London I guess (its how we paid for my trip to London a year ago to visit Natalie).

Initially, I was going to try to be productive this evening (I am going rock climbing on Sunday, so I am losing a study day), however I was in no mindset to do so. Instead, I headed over to the hojskole to have a girls night with my friends there. It included chocolate, ice cream, wine, champagne, Mamma Mia, and John Tucker Must Die. It was the perfect way to recover from the day. Oh! and before we started the movies, my friend Kasandra did a tarot card reading for me in relation to how my summer was going to turn out, and it looks positive. In my interpretation of her interpretation, I simply have to stay positive and persevere, and I will get my visa and not only have a great time in London but also have a great summer overall!