Consulate General of the Czech Republic — Local services in Los Angeles

The Consulate General of the Czech Republic

Positives: Very thorough and efficient Visa Application process Negatives: First-come-first-serve basis -- Waiting at ungodly hours

As a Consulate General, I believe that they were quite accommodating and very efficient. I was applying for a short-term visa to visit Prague.

First-Come First-Serve - This could be considered a positive or a negative. For me it was a positive given that I applied for my Visa 16 days before my actual flight. Most other embassies or Consulate Generals in the states have an electronic appointment system which is booked out 3 months in advance. Down side to this is having to wait outside the Consulate General 5 to 6 hours before opening to ensure you will be accommodated. I flew in from San Francisco on the Monday Night and showed up to the Consulate at 4:00 AM. I was surprised to see 3 people already waiting before me. -- If you want a 100% chance of getting an appointment as a walk-in. I suggest you show up latest 5:00 AM.

The Lobby opens up at 7 AM for applicants where you will sign a list as a walk-in. After this, you will have to wait again till 9 AM to be admitted up to the Consulate General on the 11th floor. Once at teh Consulate General waiting area, you will be called based on the order of your sign up on the list.

Application Process - Their website outlines several requirements that you should have on hand before the application (approximately 17). There were people that I had seen get rejected due to missing up to two different items. if you are missing one item, They were more than accommodating, asking you to email it to them. I suggest if you have to email something, email them on the same day of your application so you don't face any delays.

Your Application and documents will thoroughly be checked, after which, they will proceed to scan your fingers and request for payment. NOTE: They will only accept U.S. Dollars, not Euros. Try to bring exact change.

CONCLUSION:

1. Make sure all your documents are prepared - double or triple-check your requirements based on their list. Missing items could cost you delays.
2. Make sure you show up EARLY. I would suggest 4AM and download some movies to keep you busy.

Overall a...

Incompetent, inapt, irrational, illogical! This is how I would describe the employee who my wife had interview with today. Let alone her patronizing, rude attitude and poor English! All our documents were absolutely IMPECCABLE!!! The only thing we didn’t buy was the flight tickets, because they were non refundable. (My wife been all over Europe MULTIPLE times!) The employee says she can’t give visa for that reason. My wife said she can’t lose $3-4000, cuz no guarantee you will not pick on something (although quite unlikely, but who knows, right?) and deny. My wife said, ok, give me 10 minutes I’ll book a flight right now. That’s a piece of cake. Will you give visa then? Silence! She says “how do I know your country of first entry would not be Germany”. My wife says, if that’s the case that would be only a transit flight (through Germany)! Again, “give me 10 minutes I’ll book a flight”! “No, you have to reschedule”! Really?! Again, take a day off, do all the arrangements, lose money and drove another 10 hours both ways with no guarantee! Come one guys, who do you think you are! I mean, what’s the deal? I can rent a car in another European country and travel through all the Europe! Nobody asks anything. My wife took her staff and went away. As for me I didn’t even show up! Although we drove for 5 hours and book a hotel in LA we are not coming back. We will enjoy our time in LA and go back and go to another embassy! As for Czech Republic thanks to you, we canceled all our itinerary: health resort in Karlovy Vary and all that jazz! We were about to spend a lot of money there. But will spend that money in another country and book a better resort, and will strongly recommend our wealthy friends not to go there, and we have many...

If you are going there to get Czech visa (which is only available on Tuesdays 9am onwards, on first come first serve basis only), here are things to note:

Parking is $$$. The garages around cost $30. Most are closed if you arrive before 6. The one on Gayley Ave is open all night. Consulate opens at 9am sharp, not before. It’s on 11th floor. the Building itself opens at 7am. The guard will not let you in before that. Visa applicants start lining up at 4-5am. We got there at 3:50am and one guy was already camping out (he had driven from Phoenix for the visa) the guard will call you in at 7a, ask you to sign a sheet inside, in the order of your arrival times then you can take off and come back around 8:50am. Then the guard will lead you to the elevators around 8:55. Embassy folks take the signup sheet and start calling you in order. the staff is nice and friendly. But they will need all the paperwork. Look for the doc with the 17...