Consulate General of Republic of Austria — Local services in New York

I went there for a conference visa application. Their online booking system was full when I was checking well in advance but after a few times calling them, they were kind enough to give me an emergency appointment.

The person at the counter was clearly an intern, not knowing much of even what is required for a visa. In contrast to what is suggested at their website, they asked for my flight ticket to Austria which I have yet purchased at the time, due to obvious reasons regarding to the time that the visa will be issued and is ready. Although I have had my savings account statement with me, he asked for checking account statement as written in his checklist, which seemed odd to me. He had a strong accent when speaking English and the room was noisy, so I had difficulties understanding him. Regardless, he was not much concerned about this. I remembered calling their office before and talking to this person to ask for the appointment. He mentioned that there is no way to do so at that time and I have to wait until one opens up in their system. Although I was able to get one when calling later and talking to a more senior person. Practically, he was not helpful at all! I was frustrated and asked to show them their own weblink, also asked if they can talk to me not using a microphone so that I understand. He refused and said “thats the way it is”, I guess trying to look/sound like being German! At the end, he asked me to send some additional documents but forgot to give me the document request form and I did not know how it worked. I was lucky to double check and he noticed that I don’t have the form.

My insight; unfortunately, poor customer service, hopefully not because of racism but just inadequate experience, which is not...

We flew from MN to NYC to apply for my son's visa to study in Austria 6 1/2 weeks before his departure date. (Which is a huge commitment and frustration to begin with.) The consulate states on their web site: "Visa applications are advised to be submitted at least 3-4 weeks prior departure." So - of course we thought we had plenty of time.

After 4 weeks we inquired about the status and received this response: "the time to process a visa is 14 business days once your application is complete and all documents are submitted. Please email us again in urgent cases only (4 days prior your departure only)!"

My son waited a week and inquired again with no response for 2 days. Finally they said that they would ship it that day (This was a Wednesday and his flight was Monday - so YES this was URGENT). Finally 2 days later we had tracking on the shipment and found it was in Memphis and the expected arrival was the day AFTER his flight. The consulate LIED because they didn't ship it until Thursday. We had to call FedEx and ask them to overnight it - but at this time they could not guarantee it. After working with FedEx and some very helpful employees we were luckily able to pick it up at a FedEx facility near our home on Saturday. This was a VERY frustrating experience and I recommend anyone who goes to apply for a Visa ask questions regarding the process before they leave the consulate offices. They do not answer phones and are not helpful via email either. (On a side note, a friend who applied the same day with us received her visa 2 weeks...

This consulate is inflexible, racist and overall terrible. I work for a big corporation with good standing financially, and showed clear intent of wanting to visit Vienna for tourism however my application was declined without any reason. They sent me a statement in German, asking me to provide additional information as to why I want to visit Vienna. They asked that I respond to their statement IN German. MATE, you are based out of New York City primarily catering to applicants applying for tourist visas - how do you expect people to understand German??! Additionally, I provided a full itinerary of what I would be doing daily, what else can I provide to show I want to visit for tourism? I asked this of the people at the consulate and they told me that nothing I do or say will make them change their mind. Don’t go to this consulate, they are a bunch of racists and...