Where's your visa?

Less than two weeks until I fly to Istanbul and thence, after a couple of days to regain my composure, onward to Dushanbe (the capital of Tajikistan) (no, don't pretend you already knew that).

I wrote a few weeks ago of my joy in receiving my necessary visas.  Although one's always uncertain, I'm sure I conveyed my confidence that, whatever the delay, the visas would in good time be duly issued and stamped securely into my passport.  I never really worried that a tourist visa would not be issued.

But such, apparently, is not always the case.

Maeve, a fellow trekker I met four years ago while trekking in Nepal, is signed up for the same trek.  In fact, it was her recommendation that finally tipped me into choosing the Tajikistan trek rather than another one I had almost decided on, headed for Kyrgyzstan.  I've been looking forward to having a familiar face greet me amongst the ten other hikers.

I applied for my two visas (to Tajikistan and then Uzbekistan) in late May and mid-June.  She applied for hers shortly thereafter.  I had my visas within weeks.  She is still waiting.

She writes today that her passport isn't even in the hands of the local consulate, but has been referred back to the Motherland for review.  She some time ago submitted supplemental information requested by the consulate.  Both the trekking company and the American visa service that she uses have been attempting to push matters along.  She understands that the consulates, here in the U.S., will not accept an expedited processing fee because she travels on an Irish, not an American, passport.

So, nothing is certain in life.  Even bureaucratic red tape that one considers merely time- and effort-consuming can sometimes jump up in front of you and force life to grind to a complete stop.  When a government wants to look things over again, the fact that you are about to lose non-refundable airline fares and trekking company cancellation fees is quite immaterial to that government.

These are the complaints that non-Americans have made about travel to the United States for decades.  The refusal to hurry, the refusal to explain, the denial of visas without further comment -- these are experiences with American bureacracy of which most Americans may be unaware, but are all too familiar to tourists, students, and businessmen from other nations.  So, it's difficult to protest when another country adopts the same modus operandi in deciding whether to permit travel to their nation. 

To a Tajik official, protection of Tajik security no doubt looms as high in priority as do similar concerns to American State Department officals facing an application from a Tajik citizen.

It's simply too bad that it's an Irish citizen who's been chosen to show us how it feels.  The trekking company says not to panic.  Things may all fall into place at the last minute.  It's harrowing, but I hope they're right.