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I have returned from Chicago (yesterday, actually, but who cares?) with no visa.
Turns out I was applying for the wrong one. They don't give tourist visas to American citizens - we don't need them. And since the tourist visa expires after ninety days and I'm staying almost twice that amount of time, I need a student visa. I need a list of every address I am staying at, a letter from the German counterpart to the company running this program inviting me to come to Germany, three months' worth of bank statements from my mother (since she's financially responsible for me), three brand new passport photos, and a police report on myself. That's right, I need to get the police to do a background check on me. The good news is that they've marked the new application to show that I've already come in to the consulate, so all I have to do is mail them the application.
After that, Mom took us to the Chicago Art Institute, and then we went home. The traffic actually wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, and we made it home in two and a half hours.
And now, work. UUUUGH.
Turns out I was applying for the wrong one. They don't give tourist visas to American citizens - we don't need them. And since the tourist visa expires after ninety days and I'm staying almost twice that amount of time, I need a student visa. I need a list of every address I am staying at, a letter from the German counterpart to the company running this program inviting me to come to Germany, three months' worth of bank statements from my mother (since she's financially responsible for me), three brand new passport photos, and a police report on myself. That's right, I need to get the police to do a background check on me. The good news is that they've marked the new application to show that I've already come in to the consulate, so all I have to do is mail them the application.
After that, Mom took us to the Chicago Art Institute, and then we went home. The traffic actually wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, and we made it home in two and a half hours.
And now, work. UUUUGH.