A Slovenian in need for a South African visa in Germany.

Today I visited 2 authorities that could potentially help me with my visa issue. First, the Consulate of Republic Slovenia in München. After reading through all the tourist catalogues about Bled, Terme Olimija and Postonjska jama, it was my turn to describe – with real tears in my eyes – my miserable situation and desperately ask for help. Guess what, didn’t work. Instead I was explained that they’re not responsible for such stuff; they are only there (read: in Müchen) to assist Sri-Lankans with a wish to apply for Erasmus exchange studies in Slovenia. I didn’t quite get that but also didn’t want to waste more time there so I simply left.

Next stop, South African Embassy, just around the corner. A sweet guy behind the glass seemed very compassionate towards me and made my eyes dry. Sadly, he was not in charge of these matters, merely a secretary. The real guy, the counsellor, was stone-hearted, with a mocking smile on his face and ice cold words coming out of his mouth: “I don’t know why you Slovenians think you don’t need a visa. Happens repeatedly and we can do absolutely nothing for you.” Fine. Bye.

So I started considering my options. The best one seemed to be requesting a Canadian passport (I was born in Montreal, fyi), checking in faster than the airport assistant can say “a visa” and smiling hysterically while receiving a stamp in my passport at JNB International, like the rest of the world does (except the Slovenians).

However, before radically changing my identity forever, I made a call to SA Embassy in Vienna (the responsible authority for issuing visas to Slovenians). Turned out to be my lucky day after all! The nice guy on the other side of the wire didn’t see any problem with my over-90-days stay in SA and immediately sent me all the instructions for a visa application (apparently they’re really used to Slovenians forgetting about that). Just need to prove that I’m loaded and doing a badass research project. No problemos!

Though, I might still get a Canadian passport…just in case.