Schengen Visa

I am on the edge of being thwarted in acquiring this Visa. Original plan of departure from Manila is on March 22, 2011. But because of some miscalculation made our documents were sent back to us by Italian Embassy with an annotation "French Embassy" meaning we have to apply the Schengen Visa to French Embassy because we are staying longer in Paris.While on the other hand, my brother and his wife were granted 6mos multiple entry. Take Note: we got exactly the same itinerary... when I asked the call center how it happened. They said "ma'am bka po overlook" WTF!!! It sounds so unprofessional. Oh well, we have no choice but to follow. I called French Embassy but to my dismay available date for interview is on April 12, 2011. That's too way behind our schedule.

So to make my story short. We changed our dates and itinerary. We will stay longer in Italy (4days in Venice, 6days in Rome, 5 days in Paris). We wrote a letter to the Italian Embassy. Asking for a earlier appointment with them. After 3 attempts (email, fax, call) finally they replied. Apparently, the earliest date that they could give us is on March 25. And visa processing takes around 7 working days. If ever our Schengen Visa will be released on April 5. Our new departure date is on March 29. How can this be happening? I am so tired of changing all the bookings! All we want is to see Venice, Rome, Paris. I did not realize until now that it's going to be this hard to get that Visa.

Michelle will call again tom. Hopefully this time they will reconsider our request to expedite our Visa Application. For the mean time.... I am considering JAPAN as my alternative destination. hhhhmmmm.... not bad, it's cherry blossom's season!