Is there a forum to bitch about the US Embassy?

[JRUSA]

41 minutes ago, elgenon said:

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

 

In the glorious past you could.

I had no problem walking into the US embassy in Vietnam..I don't know why Thailand would be different

[MyFriend You]

From Poster:  God Bless America.

 

Did you contact American Citizen Services??

 

Go on-line and find who your Congressman is and write him/her explaining what you need.........and the 7 month wait for registration a birth overseas of  US Citizen.   Nothing moves the clerks in American Citizen Services........BTW it's not the Consular Officers, its the clerks, and the assinine policy that each person is blocked off for an hour - so only nine appointments a day, five days a week.......I wouldn't want a Consular Officer's job for Love nor Money - standing at a window all day to look thru paper with an already possed off person on the other side.  Have a little compassion, they are human too.

 

 

 

 

[ubonjoe]

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

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

And now some more that includes a off topic post.

[DJ54]

Just checked there are appointments for April checked a few minutes ago. Did you go to citizenservices see attached as well

a phone number. Once I couldn’t get through on phone to Bangkok. 

Emailed CM they put in me contact with BKK email resolved easily enough. 

[AgMech Cowboy]

15 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!

rjcampbe, I certainly understand your frustration. However, I suspect the embassy staff has not opened the schedule in May, etc. rather than them being booked full up until November. After all, why would they just have 3 days in November? I've had my own frustrations with them, but don't pop a blood vessel just yet. They could be having a  personnel issue and are waiting until that is resolved.

 

Never would have believed that I'd be defending them. They can be a real PITA. Good Luck.

Edited April 19, 2018 by AgMech Cowboy
repeat words

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, DJ54 said:

Just checked there are appointments for April checked a few minutes ago.

I don't see any available appointments.

[DJ54]

Yes your right no appointments didn’t look a color chart

[DJ54]

I just sent email to the consular in BKK asking if problem. If they reply will let you know 

[holy cow cm]

I just checked CM consulate. May has many openings. What are you talking about? 

[holy cow cm]

1 minute ago, holy cow cm said:

I just checked CM consulate. May has many openings. What are you talking about? 

As does June - July etc. 

[holy cow cm]

Actually I love this consulate so your bashing it was odd for me to hear, so I checked it for you. I have been all through the registering kids with them. 

 

Good luck, calm down it is ok.

[holy cow cm]

OH, BTW. Only on Tues and Thursdays.

[ubonjoe]

24 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

I just checked CM consulate. May has many openings. What are you talking about? 

You need to read the OP again and more of the topic. It is about the embassy in Bangkok not the consulate in CM.

[dunque]

4 hours 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.

Maybe book one of those and once you have your foot in the door say 'Oh, by the way...'

[TGIR]

2 hours ago, newnative said:

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

I've been dealing with the Bangkok Embassy for over twelve years without any kind of problem at all.  They assisted me and my wife when we wanted to get married in 1988, both with her fiance fisa and in 2006 when we moved here permanently after I retired.  Notary signings and my annual income affidavit have always been done easily and with no problems getting appointments.

 

In light of my experiences I walked through the Embassy site and found a section for registering a newborn.  This is partially what I found:

 

"Starting May 1, 2018, all appointments for Consular Reports of Birth Abroad (CRBA) at U.S. Embassy Bangkok will be made only after receiving the application by mail. After a determination is made that all required documents are complete will we contact you to schedule an appointment with parents and child at the Embassy. Please note that the scheduling of the interview does not necessarily mean the application will be approved. Please follow the steps on how to apply for your child’s CRBA."

 

There are, indeed, few appointments if you just look at the appointment calendar.......but reading the above one could come to the conclusion that an application has to be submitted before an appointment will be scheduled by Embassy personnel.

 

I don't see anything requiring a rant........there appear to be detailed instructions and assistance with the requirements of an application.

 

 

[Grumpy Duck]

15 hours ago, Jingthing said:

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. 

Yes, especially since trumpalumpa was appointed. Many career state department officials have chosen to retire. Even his own appointee (Tillerson) had issues 

[IraqRon]

did u try the consular section and not the embassy?  I know it is cool to reference the Embassy but I had no probs with doing this at the consulate in CM.

[bumofdabeach]

Email ACS(American Citizens Services) they were most helpful to me and made an appointment within days.

Sent from my Lenovo A1000 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[TerryLH]

7 hours ago, steeltownguy said:

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.

Pretty sure you can't register births at the outreach visits.  I believe that is always included in their posted info giving dates for the visits.

[DJ54]

To: Rcampbe

 

I emailed the consulate and they sent a reply asking you to

contact them directly. See below. Hope it works out for you. 

 

Hello Don,

 

Will you please inform the person to contact us: [email protected]

We will work with him directly.

Thank you.

 

Marianne
Consular Associate
American Citizen Services

[TerryLH]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

You need to read the OP again and more of the topic. It is about the embassy in Bangkok not the consulate in CM.

Maybe the OP wasn't aware there is a consulate in CM. 

 

Does anyone know if the birth registration has to be done in the country of birth?

If not, the USA consulate in Laos might be worth a look.

 

Several years ago a friend and his Thai wife  got her a tourist visa to the USA there.

[holy cow cm]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

You need to read the OP again and more of the topic. It is about the embassy in Bangkok not the consulate in CM.

Yes it says embassy not consulate. Any of the matter for BKK it could be a glitch as you thought or another system to mail in the applications first for prescreening as another poster stated. If that is the case then many of US foreigners are in BKK getting their gals pregnant and having kids straining the system. 

[newnative]

39 minutes ago, TGIR said:

I've been dealing with the Bangkok Embassy for over twelve years without any kind of problem at all.  They assisted me and my wife when we wanted to get married in 1988, both with her fiance fisa and in 2006 when we moved here permanently after I retired.  Notary signings and my annual income affidavit have always been done easily and with no problems getting appointments.

 

In light of my experiences I walked through the Embassy site and found a section for registering a newborn.  This is partially what I found:

 

"Starting May 1, 2018, all appointments for Consular Reports of Birth Abroad (CRBA) at U.S. Embassy Bangkok will be made only after receiving the application by mail. After a determination is made that all required documents are complete will we contact you to schedule an appointment with parents and child at the Embassy. Please note that the scheduling of the interview does not necessarily mean the application will be approved. Please follow the steps on how to apply for your child’s CRBA."

 

There are, indeed, few appointments if you just look at the appointment calendar.......but reading the above one could come to the conclusion that an application has to be submitted before an appointment will be scheduled by Embassy personnel.

 

I don't see anything requiring a rant........there appear to be detailed instructions and assistance with the requirements of an application.

 

 

   Nice that you had a good experience in 1988 with your fiancé's visa.  I can tell you that things are quite a bit different now regarding visas--at least in my and my Thai spouse's experience.  And, we are already legally married with a USA marriage.  Homeland Security staff were ok but the embassy staff we have dealt with have been terrible.

[mlmcleod]

I went through many hoops to get my wife's tax ID.  She is a Russian and we could not provide all of the various forms of ID required so that I can pay taxes.  We mailed documents regularly and many were lost in the mails.  After about 6 months of this nonsense I ran across an old friend who said to just contact my local congressman.  He said they had aides who are experts in getting things through the bureaucracy.

 

Sure enough, I contacted my congressman at my last legal address and was treated like royalty.  Within 30 days I had a tax ID.  The process was smooth and painless.

 

So, my suggestion is to contact any congressman at your current or last legal address and ask for help.  You will probably not talk to the congressman but their aides are all top notch.

[Pib]

4 hours ago, TGIR said:

I've been dealing with the Bangkok Embassy for over twelve years without any kind of problem at all.  They assisted me and my wife when we wanted to get married in 1988, both with her fiance fisa and in 2006 when we moved here permanently after I retired.  Notary signings and my annual income affidavit have always been done easily and with no problems getting appointments.

 

In light of my experiences I walked through the Embassy site and found a section for registering a newborn.  This is partially what I found:

 

"Starting May 1, 2018, all appointments for Consular Reports of Birth Abroad (CRBA) at U.S. Embassy Bangkok will be made only after receiving the application by mail. After a determination is made that all required documents are complete will we contact you to schedule an appointment with parents and child at the Embassy. Please note that the scheduling of the interview does not necessarily mean the application will be approved. Please follow the steps on how to apply for your child’s CRBA."

 

There are, indeed, few appointments if you just look at the appointment calendar.......but reading the above one could come to the conclusion that an application has to be submitted before an appointment will be scheduled by Embassy personnel.

 

I don't see anything requiring a rant........there appear to be detailed instructions and assistance with the requirements of an application.

 

 

Seems above answers the OP's question.   ACS Bangkok link below with full info.  Quite a lot of work/paperwork in registering a birth...definitely takes a lot more than just showing up and filling out one form.

https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/child-family-matters/

 

[elgenon]

20 hours ago, TunnelRat69 said:

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

Are you saying you called the country code while in Thailand? Can this be done?

[5633572526]

I got on line yesterday and made an appointment for Tuesday.

the system is great. No waiting in lines or having to come back the next day.

I wish Thai immigration would adopt it.

[MyFriend You]

17 hours ago, elgenon said:

Are you saying you called the country code while in Thailand? Can this be done?

I was home in Vietnam when i called, but to answer your question, I hve a lot of numbers in my Iphone that have +66 in them that connect just fine.........I think the telephone witch just ignores the +66.

[elgenon]

7 hours ago, TunnelRat69 said:

I was home in Vietnam when i called, but to answer your question, I hve a lot of numbers in my Iphone that have +66 in them that connect just fine.........I think the telephone witch just ignores the +66.

Nice to know. Thanks. I see a lot of times the international number is given so I was wondering.

I think I may have done it by accident in the past.

[geriatrickid]

On 4/18/2018 at 11:10 AM, TerryLH said:

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

Yes. Many open dates for May. Every week in May several open slots.

 

People don't get it, but the US embassy in Bangkok is exceptionally busy. It's not as if the thousands of people it serves generate the revenues or taxes to even cover the costs of the delivery of services, but that's a whole different discussion. It's easy to bash US embassy  personnel, but based upon my own personal interactions/observations they deliver services that beat the quality and service levels of many other western countries.