Is there a forum to bitch about the US Embassy?

[rjcampbe]

Every time I deal with the embassy it's another round of idiotic bureaucratic nonsense with their appointment system... I should be used to it.

 

Just went to their website to make an appointment to register the birth of my daughter and the next available appointment is in <deleted> NOVEMBER!

 

Really? 7 MONTHS FROM NOW they will grant me the privilege of walking into the embassy of my own country to pay them to register my daughters birth. How god-damned kind of them, but I kinda had a plan to be back in the states working a new job by then, WITH my daughter.

 

And there isn't even a way to contact anyone to get any help...  they are just a bunch of faceless bureaucrats hiding behind an impenetrable tangle of websites, automatic responses, and bullet proof glass... And that is how they treat citizens!  So much for "send me your huddled masses".

 

God Bless America.

 

 

[poanoi]

on the bright side of things, you could be sleeping on a foam mattress in cambodia

trying to feed on dishes with no meat on the plate, no hope of eating caviar, or anything else you fancy in this your only life.

 

i think i would just walk into the embassy with all the paperwork and the daughter,

and ask them to register, and tell them you have a plane to catch for your work

Edited April 18, 2018 by poanoi

[TerryLH]

Have you tried to make an appointment at both Bangkok and in Chiang Mai?

[Jingthing]

Actually, there IS a subforum where a topic like yours could fit better. We have a HOME COUNTRY subforum there. I'm not sure if it would best to label it an embassy bitch fest literally, but topical information about issues there would be very on point.

 

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/197-home-country-forum/

 

I have heard there have been serious budget cuts and short staffing to the state department internationally. I would assume such far out appointments are probably related to that. 

Edited April 18, 2018 by Jingthing

[vaultdweller0013]

Did you try calling them at +66-2-205-4000?

[observer90210]

This would seem like a good place to rant it all on paper :

 

Attn. the Honorable Secretary of State

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE

2201 C St NW, Washington, DC 20520, USA

 

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, observer90210 said:

This would seem like a good place to rant it all on paper :

 

Attn. the Honorable Secretary of State

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE

2201 C St NW, Washington, DC 20520, USA

 

There is no Secretary of State at the moment. 

[PoorSucker]

2 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

There is no Secretary of State at the moment. 

But the mail goes to there anyway. 

[Jingthing]

5 minutes ago, PoorSucker said:

But the mail goes to there anyway. 

Yeah. In a black hole. 

Actually I think it would be better to contact a congressperson of the district where last lived in the U.S. 

That would be a better hope of pressuring to staff up the state department embassy staffs. 

Not much hope. But better. 

Can anyone even imagine any other reason for such a long delay than being very SHORT STAFFED? I can't.

Not much hope. But better. 

Edited April 18, 2018 by Jingthing

[steeltownguy]

Have you checked their schedule of outreach visits?  One of them might be close enough to you to get this done.  Not sure if they register births during outreaches.

[yankee99]

Very easy to contact just email them. In the past they have always answered quickly 

 

[email protected]

[alex8912]

Did you know your daughter was coming 6 months ago? You could of made an appointment  back then and registered her today. 

[ubonjoe]

10 hours ago, rjcampbe said:

Just went to their website to make an appointment to register the birth of my daughter and the next available appointment is in <deleted> NOVEMBER!

I think there may be a glitch in the appointment system causing that.

As said you should send them an email to ask about the problem.

[gjoo888]

I just made an appointment yesterday and there's plenty of available appointments this week, next week and in the foreseeable future. I first used the Chrome browser, but it would not allow me to submit my requested appointment. I then tried the Edge browser and it worked fine. Try a different browser, Internet Explorer or Edge seems to work, for me at least. 

[ubonjoe]

9 minutes ago, gjoo888 said:

I just made an appointment yesterday and there's plenty of available appointments this week, next week and in the foreseeable future.

But was that to register a birth? I found there were appointments for passports and notary services available but none for that until November.

[Srikcir]

Checked US Embassy appointments in Bangkok and Chiang Mai for May - many open dates.

https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/acsappointment/

[Srikcir]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

But was that to register a birth? I found there were appointments for passports and notary services available but none for that until November.

I can confirm to register a birth many dates available in May in Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

 

[gjoo888]

5 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

But was that to register a birth? I found there were appointments for passports and notary services available but none for that until November.

I made the appt. for notarial services. 

[ubonjoe]

28 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

I can confirm to register a birth many dates available in May in Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

 

I can find appointments for Chiang Mai but not Bangkok. Edge and Chrome show the same.

 

[ubonjoe]

Some abusive inflammatory posts have been removed. Also some trying to bring politics into the discussion.

[GinBoy2]

I saw the same; availability in CM, but none in BKK.

Interesting to note though. It does say 'Date already passed or not yet open for appointments'

I don't know, never been an issue for me since I've only ever made appoints for notary & passport stuff, but maybe for the more specialist appointments they don't open them up that far in advance.

I'd probably monitor it for a couple of days and see if they open anything up

[bobonzo]

try tweeting at them. i have gotten answers using this method before

 

https://twitter.com/USEmbassyBKK

[watcharacters]

 

Things evolve and not always for the best for everybody.

 

At the time I, and probably many other TVF members were born and raised, it was possible to go to an embassy and actually meet the ambassador.    Now it'd require at least a security pass.

And there was a time when one could make an appointment with one's Senator or Congressperson.    Those are times long past.

 

I've found personal hand written  letters still hold some weight.

[ubonjoe]

14 minutes ago, GinBoy2 said:

Interesting to note though. It does say 'Date already passed or not yet open for appointments'

The other 2 types of appointments show them available in May. None are show available for this month for birth registration.

The message about them not being open makes me think it is a glitch. Strange for it to show availability in November also since normally it is only one month in advance.

[likeke]

I've used my chrome browser (chromebook) for 3 years in dealing with the US embassy in Bangkok and never had a problem making an appointment.

Edited April 19, 2018 by likeke
Not finished.

[newnative]

    My experience with the BKK embassy?  Horrible to deal with--and I am an American citizen.  

[sammieuk1]

Try a tweet you can start a war with one of them.

[elgenon]

13 hours ago, poanoi said:

on the bright side of things, you could be sleeping on a foam mattress in cambodia

trying to feed on dishes with no meat on the plate, no hope of eating caviar, or anything else you fancy in this your only life.

 

i think i would just walk into the embassy with all the paperwork and the daughter,

and ask them to register, and tell them you have a plane to catch for your work

You can't walk in without an appointment. I tried it.

 

In the glorious past you could.

[taxout]

Writing Washington would be a waste of time. It was Washington that required the embassy to adopt the booking system and Washington that slammed the embassy when it didn't make appointments mandatory.

 

Here's the relevant section from the the 2010 Inspection Report:

 

Bangkok’s ACS unit does not require appointments for routine services.

The wording on the embassy’s Web site and in its other public messages is not strict about the

need to make appointments even though it makes them available. Consequently, it is

difficult to manage the daily work flow in the busy ACS unit.

 

Informal Recommendation 13: Embassy Bangkok should amend its Web site and

other outreach to require appointments for routine passport and notarial services.

 

Bangkok’s ACS unit receives non-stop telephone calls throughout the day, and staff

members take turns picking up calls in between serving the public at the counter and

handling emergency cases. Many of these calls are visa calls, and others are routine

inquiries that could be handled by an automatic response.

 

Informal Recommendation 14: Embassy Bangkok should adapt its existing consular

telephone system or procure an alternate system, to redirect routine American

citizens services queries to automated response scripts and to refer visa phone calls

to the call center or to a case-specific public inquiry number.

 

https://oig.state.gov/system/files/152595.pdf

 

(This is a very long document, but it provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the embassy and consulate. For example, the Inspector was unhappy that the residential swimming pools didn't meet State Department safety standards.)

[MyFriend You]

13 hours ago, vaultdweller0013 said:

Did you try calling them at +66-2-205-4000?

worked for me..............had my appointment in 3 weeks from calling.