I’M OFF TO THE SENEGAL CONSULATE TODAY

Senegal is one of my headache visas I need to tackle while I am in London. 

There isn’t a Senegal Consulate in Kenya at all.  The closest one to me is Ethiopia and if I was in Australia then our passports get sent to the Senegal Consulate in Malaysia, which really both are not ideal as a trip to KL or Addis in the hunt for a visa is not preferable and today I was going to throw myself onto the mercy of the embassy in London and hope and plead that they will issue me a visa.

The complication, which there are a few consulates that do this, is that they are only allowed to issue visas for residents of the where the consulate is located.  I tried on my world odyssey to apply for a Brazil visa when I was in Paris, Nairobi and Ireland and they were not allowed to issue a non-resident a visa.  It was very frustrating and each consulate is different and ended up getting my BraziI visa in Argentina 5 days before I was to head into the country.  Now that was super stressful let me tell you and I am hoping to avoid that on my West Africa trip.  It does make it difficult if when you are living in Kenya on an Australian passport and need a visa for Senegal and currently not a resident of any country at the moment.  Even though I am living in Kenya I am not a resident (lawful) and I am no longer living in Australia so I guess I am in some kind of limbo and doesn’t help with my visa applications for some countries.  I had been trying to ring the Senegal consulate in Addis Ababa for 2 weeks prior to me leaving for London and the buggers never pick up their phone no matter what time of day I seemed to call.  So in desperation I called the office here in London and he referred me back to Addis (and to Malaysia) but he did say at the end of the call to come back to him if I have problems. 

So I thought I would do one step better than phone back and I was going to rock up to the consulate here in London and present myself in person and hope I look desperate enough that they would feel sorry for me and give me the elusive visa for their country.  I made sure I had all the correct paper work which involved a copy of my yellow fever certificate, 2 application forms, a guarantee letter from Dragoman which I had organised before I left Kenya, a copy of my flight ticket and the pre-required 2 passport photos.  Yes I had everything I needed and with the overland and Tube trains all worked out I headed to the Senegal Consulate on Tuesday.  The office opened at 10.30am and closed for visa submissions at 1pm.  I didn’t want to seem too keen and also catch them as soon as they opened, everyone hates that, so I had arranged my arrival time for around 11.30am and was rewarded with only one man waiting in the small waiting room and when I approached the reception desk and told them that I was an Australian passport holder hoping to get a visa, she didn’t even bat an eye lid and told me to take a seat.  This was a good sign that I wasn’t turned away straight away.  I was so nervous as my whole trip and stress levels depended on this visit.

The other man was dealt with quickly in the waiting room and when he left the Consulate man turned to me and asked what could he do for me.  I knew it was going to be a BIG ask.  Not only did I need them to issue me a visa as a non-resident of the UK, but it had to be a multiple entry visa and I also needed the visa to be extended from their usual 3 month validity to a 6 month validity or they post-date the visa otherwise it would expire before I actually arrived into their country in November.  Yes there were a lot of variables and it wasn’t just going to be a simple favour of a simple visa.  So I explained my story and my attempt to ring their consulate in Ethiopia and that I had rung London, the gentleman said that it was him that I had spoken to and that they should be able to do the visa for me!  I clapped my hands like a little kid, and he must have thought I was a fruit cake, but I didn’t care as he looked over all my documents and said that I had filled in an old application form, so he handed me a new one which I filled in post haste and when I had completed it he handed me a receipt for 14GBP, which I paid immediately and he told me that my visa would be ready on Monday next week!!!  I nearly choked on the cost; I think that it has to be the cheapest visa I have ever paid for-14GBP is just phenomenal!!!!  It was that easy and I was so grateful I think I really did look like a crazy woman but I can tell you I just about skipped (no I think I actually did) and add an air punch when I was back on the street and out of sight of the consulate, I was on cloud nine as I realised I had just applied for the hardest visa of my whole West Africa trip and it was all done with ease, professionalism and speed that I think that also took me a little by surprised.  You always go into situations like that with a million scenarios and plans and offensive plans that when it really as easy as walking in with all the right documents it can be not as painful as all the thoughts that run through your head and to be easier than you would ever dream it to be!!

I went back a week later and my Consulate man was there again with his big, bright Senegalese smile and handed over my passport, photocopied my receipt and then wished me luck on my trip and to enjoy his country.  THANK-YOU Senegal Consulate in London for being so understanding and co-operative.  If only all high commissions and consulates were that easy to deal with, then the whole obtaining visas wouldn’t be such a stressful thing!  So that is one visa down and I have 4 more to obtain-which 3 of them I can do in Nairobi and I am making a phone call to the Ghana High Commission during the week to see if there is a way I can get that visa while I am here.

BUT not a bad start.

I have my Senegal visa people-and that is just an amazing feeling!!!!