As most people know, you need a visa to study in another country. I obtained my first student visa in 2017 when I was preparing to move to the US. From what I had heard, the US was pretty much the hardest country to get a visa from. The immigration policies and importance they place on homeland security make it a difficult process to ensure people aren’t abusing the system. I had to fly to Sydney (2hrs) in order to go to a consulate office. Once I was there I figured I’d have my appointment and be on my way. Except at least 20 other people had the same appointment time. It was a scary and confusing experience but a couple weeks later I received my passport with my visa in the mail.
When I made the decision to study abroad I realised that meant getting another visa, but it couldn’t possibly be harder than the US right?
WRONG.
Turns out that getting a student visa to Greece is actually quite a hard process. You need medical forms signed by a doctor, an FBI background check, statements of income, letters from the host institution and more. I can’t exactly remember what I needed for my US visa but I definitely didn’t get a background check or need a medical form. To make this process even harder, the consulate was unsure whether to treat me as a US resident or not. I contacted four Greek consulates in the US as well as one in Australia hoping someone could give me answers as to what I needed. I couldn’t get an FBI check because legally I am not a citizen or resident of the US. The funniest part of this is that every consulate gave me a different answer (except the one in Australia who never got back to me which is kind of rude). One told me that I had to have the FBI check, one said I had to go back to Australia to get my visa and another said an Australia Federal Police check might suffice. You can see why this was a frustrating process. To add onto all of this, I didn’t have a doctor to sign my medical forms and had to get my parents income statements from back home. The most difficult part by far was not having my parents here to help me. I can honestly say this was the worst part of preparing for study abroad but I will also say that it made me feel accomplished the day I finally received my visa.
extremely happy to see my passport again