My Experience with the Italian Consulate

Spring of second year I decided I was going to study in Milan, Italy for Fall Semester 2019.  Preparing for my journey, I needed an Italian Student Visa. I assumed this would be no problem, I had 3 months to make it happen. Turns out Italy is one of few European countries that requires an in person interview to obtain a student visa. So, the UVa study abroad office explained to me that there were four ways to get my visa:

1. Visit the Italian Consulate in Washington DC. Easy enough. I gave them a call to set up an appointment but unfortunately they only grant visas to DC or adjoining county residents. 
2. Visit the Italian Consulate in Philadelphia. I figured I could make a trip out of it, I've never been to Philadelphia. They said they would be glad to meet me but the next available appointment is in 4 months.
3. Visit the honorary Italian Consulate in Virginia Beach. I called to make an appointment- "sorry I’m very busy and don’t know when I can meet you- call back next week". 
4. Visit the honorary Italian Consulate in Charlotte, NC. I called to make an appointment but they can only meet with North Carolina residents or students.

After a couple more calls to the honorary consulate in Virginia Beach (my only option) he agreed to meet with me. I drove 5 hours just to meet with him and have him sign my application. The total meeting time was less than 5 minutes and provided me with no benefit that the other consulates could not have- but rules are rules. This reminded me of our class lesson on bureaucracy. These requirements and hoops I had to jump through to get a visa did not appear to add any value. They are a monopoly supplier- there is no competition for efficiency and no alternative source of information. I had to follow their rules and how they enforce them even though there are much more efficient ways to get this process done. Also, they were the only people I could contact to gain information on the process. Overall, this has lead to slack in the system with no incentive to fix- the consulate is going to get paid no matter what.