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[totoro]

It seems like the US is the most bureaucratic country on Earth. My wife is filling out a US visa application online so that she can attend a conference in the US. She is a PRC citizen. They are even asking what high school she went to. I just applied for an Indian visa for a conference, which I thought was fairly bureaucratic. But it didn't get to that level.

[theblondeassassin]

It seems like the US is the most bureaucratic country on Earth. My wife is filling out a US visa application online so that she can attend a conference in the US. She is a PRC citizen. They are even asking what high school she went to. I just applied for an Indian visa for a conference, which I thought was fairly bureaucratic. But it didn't get to that level.

All of those unemployed bureaucrats had to go somewhere when the Iron Curtain fell, and HR departments were just not big enough.

[totoro]

Apparently, she needs to be interviewed, just for a conference visa, in Sydney, 200 miles away. There is a US embassy here in Canberra but they don't interview people there. Neither India nor China require an interview. I don't think Britain or the EU do either.

[dolljepopp]

It's another symptom of security performance art: everyone is a terrorist until proven otherwise.

[watermarkup]

And citizens get caught in it, too. I'm embarrassed for my own country when I return to the U.S., compared to the experience I have flying into European airports.

[totoro]

I should note, that my wife is a permanent resident of Australia and will be applying for citizenship here shortly, but they don't care about that. I can certainly understand about needing to verify that she is employed etc. but the interview and a form that digs back to high school seems crazy.