NOLA for a VISA

     For me to go and live in the country of Ecuador for the next nine months, I am required to have one very important (and expensive) piece of paper - a visa. Actually, it’s a whole page in the back of my passport and two typed, stamped, signed, and sealed documents. This is no easily acquired thing - just ask my soon-to-be roommate Laura. I only had such a smooth go of this process because she went first and hit all the bumps for me.

     To get the kind of visa I need, I had to provide: two application forms from the Ecuadorian government, a police report and background check, a notarized document saying I am not going to Ecuador to work for a paycheck, a copy of my passport, two photos for the application, and about five different pieces of highly legal documentation from Ecuadorian officials provided by my sponsors.
     Oh, and the $180 application fee.

     Once you have all these things in hand, you must make a trip to your nearest Ecuadorian Consulate General to sign all these documents in person. I called and got an appointment (something I learned was a must from a mishap of Laura’s) with Senor Consul for the morning of Tuesday, July 26th.

     Tuesday morning came along, and me and Dad woke up early so we could get ready in plenty of time for our meeting. From Laura’s bad experiences, I had planned for at least a half hour leeway before my actual meeting, just in case anything happened. And boy, was I so glad I did! The address on Google and even on the Ecuadorian government’s directory page told us to go to New Orleans’ World Trade Center Building. We found and paid for parking, went in, and discovered that the Ecuadorian Consulate was no longer there. A man behind their front desk sent us down the road to a large office building at 400 Poydras St.
     We leave and find the next building with a little difficulty (they have no numbers on their buildings). Again we negotiate and pay for parking, go in, and the nice doorman informs us that the Ecuadorian Consulate doesn’t have an office there, but that Venezuela does. While I attempt to find another phone number to call (the one listed had been disconnected, and directory assistance didn’t even have a listing for the Ecuadorian Consulate), Dad went up to the Venezuelan Consulate to see if they might have a new address for Ecuador. Luckily they did, and we set off again.
     Third time was the charm, and after paying for parking AGAIN (you’re welcome New Orleans), we go up to the Consulate office. Consul Quinones was a very different person from the guy I had been picturing! I had talked to him on the phone, and he is as Hispanic as it gets. I had been expecting a middle aged, be-suited Latino man (yes I know, stereotypes will get me in trouble one day)…and out of the office walks a very tall African-Ecuadorian man, with shoulder length dreadlocks! I hope my face didn’t show the surprise I felt!

     Whatever his looks, Senor Quinones was very nice. He read through all of my paperwork, page by page. The translator lady was not in that day, but apparently everything was in order and between his English and my Spanish we managed to get everything done. He only had one or two questions for me, and at the end of his reading all I lacked were the two photos and a different type of police report. They wanted one on official police dept. letterhead, and the one I had had been done by a private company Global uses.

     While they processed my paperwork, I ran down to Walgreens and got my photos, and Dad called Pontotoc PD and fixed my police report drama. We returned, and I signed and received papers that were signed, stamped three times each, sealed, and had special stickers on them. My passport page has a special label stamped on it, and is also signed, stamped, sealed, and stickered. Funny enough, the fee I paid bought the stickers, not the visa. They actually say ‘30’, ‘50’, and ‘100’. All I have to do after returning home is fax the Consulate a copy of my plane ticket, and I’m free to travel to Ecuador!

     Laura, Senor Quinones remembered that there was another ‘Mississippi girl’ going to Ecuador just like me. You must have made a big impression on them!
     He also found it humorous that, while flipping through my passport, he didn’t find any Ecuador stamps. He says ‘You’ve never been to Ecuador?’ When I said ‘No, this is my first time!’ he just gives me this strange look, half rolls his eyes, and goes back to filling out paperwork! haha