If the pandemic has taught me anything, it’s that the time we spend with the people we love is precious, because life is fleeting. There is a finite amount of time in which we get the opportunity to make the kind of memories that last a lifetime.
This is why I have cleaned out the savings account and taken out a loan to pay for a €15,000 one-time-only trip to Mexico for myself, himself, my three kids and my mum to meet up with my brother, sisters and little nephew who live in the US.
This is no small amount for people like us. As himself likes to point out repeatedly, it is more than the deposit on our first house. My counter-argument is that we are on the tail-end (hopefully) of a global pandemic, the planet is on fire and Vladamir Putin is having some sort of psychotic episode. If not now, when?
Plus, I turned 50 this year, something I am not at all happy about. While my friends were throwing parties, I decided instead to tick off the only thing on my bucket list – flying first class.
This evening, the 10 most important people in my life will be hugging each other and laughing together in Mexico. I will not be there. I will be here in Dublin, on my couch, most likely sobbing because I cannot get a visa from the US embassy for a stopover of three hours and 38 minutes at Atlanta Airport.
Why do I need a visa. Am I a terrorist? No. Am I a threat to national security? No. Do I have a criminal record? No. Am I planning on legging it out of Terminal 3 at Atlanta and starting a new life in America? No. The reason is that I overstayed a three-month visitor’s visa by eight days 26 years ago because I had an ear infection and could not fly – the change in air pressure would most likely have ruptured my ear drum.
The problem only came to light about 10 years ago when I was turned away at US Immigration at Dublin Airport. I immediately applied for a 10-year visa. US Customs and Border Protection investigated the overstay, decided it wasn’t a big issue and gave me the 10-year visa, which, as luck would have it, expired in January.
I cried the whole day. I spoke to some poor guy on the visa information line who listened to me sob for about 20 minutes
I had no idea I would need a visa for the 218 minutes that I would have spent sitting in Atlanta Airport, but rules are rules, so I immediately applied for a transit visa. At the time of applying on July 20, the waiting time for an ‘interview’ at the embassy for this visa was two to three days. When I did the interview for my previous visa, it involved an administrative officer confirming that I was who my passport said I was. It took less than a minute.
Five days after submitting the application form, the waiting time for interview jumped to 23 days. That was 24 days ago. The only way to book an appointment is to wait for a slot to become available on the website. I have checked on availability several times a day since. So far, the earliest appointment I have been offered is November 9.
Since July 20, I have sent 71 emails to 37 different email addresses and made 25 phone calls begging for permission to sit down in Terminal 3 of Atlanta Airport for 218 minutes. I have contacted the Dublin US visa information service, the visa service in Washington, Customs and Border Protection in the US, the Department of Homeland Security, our own Department of Foreign Affairs, the Irish consulate in Atlanta and several local politicians who have also pleaded on my behalf.
The response is that I have to wait for an appointment to become available. I can’t ask for an expedited appointment until I have an appointment. I can’t speak to anyone until I have an appointment. I even tried going down to the embassy to sit there all day in case there was a cancellation or no-show. But guess what? Yep, I couldn’t get through the gates because I didn’t have an appointment.
Dawn O'Shea faces missing out. Picture: Arthur Carron
This situation happens to coincide with a sad loss in the family. With the grief on top of all the stress of trying to get the visa, on Wednesday I had a meltdown. I cried the whole day. I spoke to some poor guy on the visa information line who listened to me sob for about 20 minutes.
I hadn’t slept for over 40 hours. I couldn’t eat because of the anxiety. I was so distressed that my GP prescribed me relaxing tablets.
It’s beyond lunacy. It’s a 218-minute stop. I will not be leaving the terminal, let alone the airport
I have offered to wait at the embassy and show my return flights, the accommodation confirmation, the confirmation for the bus transfer from the airport, my employment contract to show I’m returning, my bank statement to show the fee for the visa has already been paid and anything else that might be needed to reassure them.
It’s beyond lunacy. It’s a 218-minute stop. I will not be leaving the terminal, let alone the airport.
The issue is an overstay of eight days 26 years ago for a genuine reason that was investigated and verified by the embassy 10 years ago when I received a 10-year visa.
This visa expired only a few months ago, and the situation between then and now has not changed, so there is no need for a second investigation. I have been to the US at least half-a-dozen times since and have never stayed beyond three weeks.
The whole thing is surreal and needlessly distressing. I have been shocked beyond belief at how dedicated the US ambassador and her team have been in not helping me, and I have come to the conclusion that in these difficult days we live in, bureaucracy has erased humanity.
Rules and regulations, policies and procedures and other bureaucratic excuses should not absolve us of our responsibility to treat each other with decency and some morsel of compassion.
A spokesperson for the US embassy said they could not comment on individual cases.
However, they added: “We remain committed to facilitating travel to the United States and to assisting applicants in navigating the visa process. We have detailed instructions on the application process on our website and correspond directly with applicants through our customer care centre.
“After the easing of Covid restrictions in Ireland, we increased our appointment capacity and have among the shortest wait times in Europe, and we continue to look for ways to further increase our capacity.
“However, demand for visa appointments at times exceeds our capacity and, while we extend to each request for an expedited appointment full and fair consideration, we are not always in a position to accommodate every expedite request.
“We encourage applicants to monitor our online scheduling system, as earlier appointments may become available due to cancellations, and we advise applicants not to book non-refundable travel unless they are in possession of a valid US visa.”
