Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany (Houston) — Attraction in Houston

I wish there are negative stars in this review. The worst government/federal office you will ever come across in your life. I have been 20 of similar consular in the U.S., high and mighty German one is by far the queen of worst human qualities. I guess they like to shadow these mean-ways by doing 1% to the world. I have attempted to get hold of someone from the German Consulate twice in my life. Once in 2008 when my maternal uncle passed away. We are citizens from the "third world" or "under developed" country, but my uncle a citizen of Germany, passed away of a sudden heart attack. I was then H-1B visa holder again a citizen from "special list" of countries. Yes penalize all the good citizens for few bad apples. These people did not even acknowledge the calls or emails. Emailed them so many times, called them so many times. My aunt buried the man of her life alone, my cousins were devastated. I promised myself I will never go to Germany, made peace that all you have to see Monuments of death- which is depressing anyway. Fast forward, I am now a green card holder (hard work through employment) and now I am forced to go to this country through work. Emergency work visit. I begged asking not to send me as how much our company values does not meet the values of this country. Well I cannot say no when I am the CIO now can I? Yes I had to go. I needed to be in Germany in four weeks for 6 days. All I had was three weeks to get the visa needed, get a flight, book hotels and depart. It took these people 4 days to get back to me to say, no appointments. check for cancellations. Right, I am supposed to sit in front of the computer every day/hour every min for cancellations? How is that even humane? Sit in front of a computer check for cancellations. Oh don't forget the mysterious caption they want you to type in every screen, because they cannot figure out if you are a robot or a human. I do have better things to do than to sit in front of the PC for days typing in these random digits because they cannot get the computer software to program accurately. My field. But no STEM person wants to go to Germany, because STEMers are mainly from "the special passport category" countries. I emailed again and again. Nothing. They do not care. Not sure if they understand their Mission of existence. It is laughable when other consulates try to imitate the U.S. immigration portal and fail miserably. When others complain about how hard the U.S. visa is, I will remind them to take a step in to the German consulate. I have traveled to over 20 countries, in my "special-not so important" passport. Not a single country have ever made me feel this cheap and low.

You know, you can be a country listed as the top 10 (maybe), but their actions tells me that they have qualities like the bottom 10. My aunty who is so very close to me, my cousins who are in Germany are sole bearer of my kids if anything happened to me, but I have never stepped foot in Germany.

They treat the "underdeveloped" countries so low and cheap. They may think they are so powerful, but their paper work process is worst than an underdeveloped country. I am so glad that I selected the U.S. to study, when my aunty begged me to come to Germany. This is one country that even if I decide to be a U.S citizen that I will never ever go to. They have long ways to go. They may laugh at U.S for Trumps actions, but even with Trump U.S. still far more humane than Germany. I am praying and hoping that no life event will ever take me to Germany. In the end, through work I cancelled my visit the Germany. Not worth the hazel, not worth the pain and you are deeply frustrated by the time you have all figured out you are so frustrated that you do not want to go anymore. Advise, if you need paper work done, plan 90-days before, say good-bye to any emergency situations to go Germany, they are nasty, and mean. If you are not a citizen from the 20 "popular countries" even thought you have PR/Green Card you are doomed and prepare to be treated...

Background - I am writing this review in public interest as I want to make sure people are not wasting their time and money going to this consulate unless absolutely necessary. Please keep in mind, that I have travelled to over 10 countries and have experience with visa applications and several consulates (France, UK, China, Egypt etc.) but never had such a horrible experience especially due to no fault of our own. We planned an early trip to Europe and Frankfurt happened to be our port of entry. Hence we prepared put Schengen visa application for German consulate in Houston and took an appointment. We prepared everything exactly as per website requirements. Not a single document was missing. They didn't accept our application as it was more than 5 months before our trip, despite the requirements not listing that criteria.

Experience - Location is easy to find and has visitor parking. At the entrance, minimal security, no issues. I asked about payment and the security officer told me they accept cash and money order only. I rushed downstairs and got cash. However, later I did hear people in other widows paying with credit cards. Oh well! I even heard the security guard (who was American) shouting at entering people for trying to get in before the door auto closed.

Interview- We waited at the window for about 5-7 mins. An old German visa officer approached. She looked at our bank statements, application and photos. Immediately she said, "are these photos per three months old?" We said no. Then she asked me, I said they are recent. Then she shouted, "are they or are they not? I am not an idiot here" I said no. We were taken aback by her rudeness especially since nowhere on their website did it say, photos need to be less than three months old. We had just gotten a Schengen from France with the same photos four months ago. They gave us the nearest Walgreens address to get new photos. Moving on. Then she looked at our tickets, and said you are going in 6 months, we cannot give you visa in less than three months before your trip - and simply shoved our docs back and left. I requested to talk to her again. We said that we were traveling from Austin, had booked hotels and the requirements website doesn't say anything about three month clause. She checked the website herself and couldn't find it. She said, my supervisor will talk to you and asked me to leave. I waited and them a supervisor (didn't look like one) came to the window. He simply said, "our website is controlled by Washington, we don't have any influence (which was bs). Legally we're not allowed to process visa six months in advance" keep in mind, it's their mistake and I am getting no apologies. I requested making an exception, since we took a day of work, booked hotels and drive 4hrs. He said no. I complained about their mistake, rudeness and how the visa officer humiliated us. The supervisor didn't even show an ounce of empathy. We walked away. I hate to say this, but I think they were rude, racist people there. I will go out of my way to change my itinerary and avoid Germany and go to some other country in Europe for...

The actual paperwork process is extremely smooth, if you bring all the necessary paperwork as listed on the website. (The listed counts can be unclear, but I brought 3 of each to be safe; the clerk took 2.) I received a "your passport is ready for pickup" email 2 days after my visit.

Note: NOWHERE on the website is it stated that your passport photo must be within the past 3 months. I answered truthfully when the clerk asked when mine were taken: last year, during another visit to Germany. Neither my face nor hairstyle has changed. Wish I'd just said I'd taken them that morning; they made me go to a nearby Walgreens, where getting new copies cost $15. When you do go to pick up your passport, you're expected to have a paper receipt from your initial visit. There is no such instruction either on the website or the notification email. When you go in for your initial visit, make sure you have the printout of your appointment confirmation. This is included in the instructions, but it's easy to miss, especially if you have different expectations of an office in 2017, that already has a digital booking system.

My biggest grievance: The security guard was horrendous. I wish I could attach a photo of her just to warn folks to avoid her, but no phones are allowed in the consulate. This woman yelled at me (and my mother on a previous visit), and she complained about me loudly and publicly to another client in the waiting area, claiming that I "didn't have respect" and that she "has a bigger [attitude]" than me. They discussed how military service was good for his character, implying I lacked moral substance simply because I didn't beg at her feet to be admitted to an administrative matter she has no hand in. This woman, who also yelled at my mother, mentioned her age multiple times (65 or 69, if I remember correctly); seniority seems to be so important to her, since she was very confident in condescending to me so aggressively, referencing age. (The aforementioned military serviceman was 40-something, he said.) I look younger than I am, but she is no more than 15 years my mother's senior; nothing warrants the kind of treatment my mother received. This degree of disdain and disrespect, this degree of dehumanizing public humiliation was inconceivable for someone we only interacted with for a sum of fewer than 10 minutes. (She's American, mind you, so national differences are not what's at play. I've lived in Germany previously, and this was entirely distinct from German "curtness." In any case, no one on the German-speaking staff I interacted with, either on the phone or at the office, treated me with anything other than cool professionalism.)

Absurd. An unnecessarily poor reflection of an otherwise very functional office. I left shaking in anger. That shouldn't be the case.

(9 November 2017: Originally reviewed in July 2017. Just reposting, as the account I originally reviewed under expired! They ignored my emails and it took a Facebook message to finally be acknowledged, though I bet the guard's still...