Appointments at the US Consulate

Budman1 wrote:

For more information here's the link, The guidelines are on the right side of the page:

http://hochiminh.usconsulate.gov/service.html

Looks like they're trying to get organized.  Several years ago, I did the appointment thing...only to find out when I got to the door, it was a walk-in type environment, even though I had an appointment slip.  So I basically pulled a number and waited to be served.  Maybe the walk-in just got too much and they want to meter people in by using the excuse...I'm sorry Sir/Maam, but you need to register for an appointment through the website.

THD they've been doing the appointment thing up in Hanoi now for a few years. I was wondering when they would start it down here. If you haven't been there recently it is really getting busy. I picked up our new passports a few weeks ago and at 1100 there where still at least 40 more people waiting to be seen. Glad we didn't have to wait in line just to do the pick-up. My wife's been up there every month and she told it it's like that all the time.

They do the appointments to limit the total number of people who can come in on any given day. Even if you have an appointment, you still have to take a number and wait your turn, unless you are picking up a passport, in which case you can just go straight to the last window and ask for it.  The appointments also serve to group categories of people to come in on certain days, such as those of us with new babies who had to go apply for the CRBA, passport, and SS card. It's much less stressful to have a baby with you when everyone else in there that day has their baby with them also. I enjoyed looking at all the cute babies and comparing them to mine.