VISA INFORMATION SYSTEM

Frequently Asked Questions

1. WHO IS AFFECTED BY THE APPOINTMENT SYSTEM?

All persons who need to apply in person for a non-immigrant visa need to first make an appointment. NIV applicants will not be admitted to the consulate without an appointment. Immigrant visa applicants and US citizen services do not need appointments.

Dutch citizens who are applying for student visas (F or M visas) or exchange visitor visas (J visas) may apply without an appointment any Monday or Wednesday afternoon between 2:00 and 3:00.

2. HOW DO I MAKE AN APPOINTMENT?

Effective on March 4, 2004, The Netherlands Visa Information Service will provide visa information and make appointments at 020-794-0808. Operators are available Monday-Friday, 0800-1700. They speak Dutch and English. The cost is 15 Euros per call. Callers must provide a Visa or Mastercard number to pay for the call.

3. WHAT IF I AM NOT IN THE NETHERLANDS AND NEED TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT?

The Visa Information number (020-794-0808) can be called from anywhere in the world. Operators are available Monday-Friday, 0800-1700.

4. HOW FAR IN ADVANCE CAN I MAKE AN APPOINTMENT?

Up to fifteen working days (three weeks) in advance. If all appointments are full for the next fifteen working days, the operators will work with you to arrange a later appointment at a date and time convenient to you. In a significant improvement over the old, automated system, the operators may also be able to give you an earlier appointment if someone else has called to cancel his appointment.

5. CAN I CHOOSE THE DAY AND TIME?

Yes, you can work with the operator to select an available date and time convenient to you. The time of the appointment given will be between the hours of 09:00 and 11:00. Applicants should arrive at least 15 minutes before the scheduled appointment time. If you do not arrive on time for your appointment you may have to call to schedule a new date.

6. WHAT DO I NEED TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT?

You will be asked for a credit card number (Visa or Mastercard) to which the 15 Euro fee can be charged, and your passport number.

  1. WHAT IF I DO NOT HAVE A CREDIT CARD?

You will have to ask a friend or relative to allow you to use his or her card.

8. HOW DO I CANCEL AN APPOINTMENT?

If you are not able to show up at the scheduled appointment time and date, call again to make another appointment.

9. I AM TRAVELLING WITH MY FAMILY, OR IN A GROUP. DO WE ALL NEED APPOINTMENTS?

Groups or families traveling together and applying at the same time, up to six persons, need only make one appointment.

10. I HAVE TO RETURN TO THE CONSULATE BECAUSE THEY ASKED FOR ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS. DO I HAVE TO MAKE ANOTHER APPOINTMENT?

No. The stamp in the back of your passport (date and "221g") is indication that you have an application in process. The date must not be older than one year.

11. MY CHILDREN ARE YOUNG. DO THEY NEED TO APPEAR FOR AN INTERVIEW?

Children younger than 14 do not need to appear for an interview. But each traveler needs a visa, so you must pay the application fee and submit an application (DS-156) and a photo for each child.

12. IF MY APPOINTMENT IS FOR 10, AM I GUARANTEED TO BE SEEN BY A CONSULAR OFFICER AT 10?

Not necessarily. The first preliminary process of accepting the application and asking for information occurs at window 1. Applicants will be attended to in the order in which they are admitted, and only persons with an appointment will be admitted. Late arrivals will not be admitted. Applicants who submit an electronic application form (downloadable from our Web site) will be processed more quickly.

13. I URGENTLY NEED A VISA. WHAT CAN I DO?

Call the Visa Information Service at 020-794-0808 and explain the situation to the operator. Operators are available Monday to Friday, 0800 to 1700.

14. I DO NOT NEED TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT BUT I HAVE A VISA QUESTION. I HAVE SEARCHED YOUR WEB SITE AND CANNOT FIND THE ANSWER. IS THERE ANY WAY I CAN ASK MY QUESTION WITHOUT CALLING THE VISAINFORMATION SERVICE?

You may send a fax to 020 673 8854 explaining what you need to know. We will try to respond as quickly as possible. Be sure to provide your fax and phone numbers so we can respond to you.

  1. WHY DOES THIS COST 15 EUROS?

It is obviously more expensive to make bi-lingual operators available than to make a tape-recording available. It is important to remember that up to now applicants have also been paying to make their appointments and get information. Now, for a little bit more, they can feel confident that they have fully understood what they need to bring with them to the interview, and how the process works. Coming to Amsterdam for a visa interview, and then finding out your application is incomplete and you have to come back a second time, costs a lot more than 15 Euros.

  1. IN WHAT SPECIFIC WAYS IS THIS SYSTEM BETTER THAN THE AUTOMATED SYSTEM?

The new system will provide multiple advantage for our visa applicants, compared to the current system of using an automated system to make visa appointments. For example:

  • Under the current system, applicants who plan to apply for their visa in Amsterdam but are outside of The Netherlands cannot call to make an appointment. They have to ask someone here to do that for them, or wait until they have come to The Netherlands to call and make their appointment. The new system can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
  • Under the current system, it is impossible to register the fact that someone has decided to cancel his appointment. So the fact that that time is now available for someone else is lost. Under the new system, when an individual calls to change his appointment, the operator will know that the old appt time is now available for someone else, and can offer that earlier appointment to another caller.
  • Under the current system, an applicant must call an 0900 number and listen to our tape recording in order to make an appointment. Although we have done our best to make the tape recording "user friendly" (and the information is also provided on our web site), many applicants find it confusing to try to get the specific information they need via the tape recording.
  • Obviously, the 0900 number is not free. Many applicants are irritated at having to pay for a phone call which left them still with unanswered questions, and we are not satisfied with that situation, either. With the new system, the applicant can ask the operator as many questions as necessary. We can tell the operators to remind applicants about specific requirements that are often overlooked by applicants, causing delays in processing their visas. (For example, correct size of the photo, remember that you need an application for each of your children, bring a stamped envelope so we can mail the passport back to you, and so on.)
  • Using the automated system, applicants could select the date of their interview (if available) but not the time. Working with the operator to agree on a convenient date and time will make the process more flexible for applicants.
  • Under the current system, it is very difficult for an applicant to get in touch with us if he has (or thinks he has) an emergency need to get a visa right away. We instruct applicants who urgently need a visa to send us a fax describing their particular circumstances -- but we get about 4-5 dozen such faxes each day and it is often difficult to identify the true emergencies. Many of those who send us faxes are doing so based on false information. (For example, they may assume it takes weeks or months to get an appointment with us, when in fact, at the moment, it takes three days.) Under the new system they can call our operator and describe their situation. The operators are under instructions to be as helpful and creative as possible -- often the caller may not need a visa at all for the trip he is planning to make, and the operator can explain why.