Hubby and I are in the process of getting his visa to move to the U.S. The embassy signed him up for his visa interview before we sent in the form saying we had all the documents ready, so we are not prepared for the interview yet.

We're trying to cancel the interview by phone, but we can't get a live person at all. We've tried all of the numbers on the site and they all just have a robot.

Does anyone know how to contact them by phone or possibly have a number that you'd be willing to share with me?

Thanks!!
Naomi

hey nomi.

when i got my passport renewed last month the guy at the window gave me a card with phone numbers on it for their services.

i tried them for the fun of it and no deal, all machines.

i threw it away.

go in and cancel it in person.

saludos,
jer...

Hi, I have a number for American Citizen Services section of the Embassy. I don´t know if this number will help you, but I was able to get through to talk to the people. I was given this number after my passport was stolen and I was waiting for the new one to arrive. The number is 91-587-2240. They will try to talk to you in Spanish, and I found it is better to speak to them in English. And if they give you a hard time, just ask to speak to the supervisor. When I did that, I was able to speak to an American. Most of the people who work in the embassy will try to speak Spanish with you. I don´t know if they are Spanish or if they are American, but when I spoke English with them I got better treatment. When I spoke Spanish with them, I got really bad treatment (the lady argued with me and blamed me, it´s a long story I don´t want to relate here).

Then I asked asked to speak to the supervisor, and I got better treatment. When I talked to the supervisor, the conversation was in English. I really don´t want to make any comments about the embassy personnel, I am only relating my personal experience that I had with them and how I was able to get better treatment and have a rational conversation with them. (without arguing and blaming).

CalifoniaGirl,

I remember going to the Embassy in 2005 to renew my passport and the person at the front window only wanted to speak to me in English. I guess that she just assumed that everyone who holds a US passport doesn't speak Spanish.

Once on the inside, I found people to be pleasant, but then again, I was face to face and not on the phone. I think this was the difference with my experience.

Shawn

i personally had a great experience at the u.s. embassy when i renewed my passport. the guy at the window spoke to me in spanish (he was from madrid) since i spoke to him in spanish from the get go.

he was very nice and when we discovered we were nearly neighbors, we had a good laugh.

contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of the u.s. embassy employees here are spaniards.

saludos,
jer...

quote:

contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of the u.s. embassy employees here are spaniards.

So, true, Jer. And what else is true is that they really do have to work. I have a friend who knows several people who work in the embassy and even they have to pull some long days and nights when the need arises.

Shawn

Thanks everyone for the help! We don't want to go to the embassy just to cancel if we can avoid it because we'll have to take buses all day to get there and back and take a whole day off of work.

We're going to try this number from CaliforniaGirl and if that doesn't work send a certified mail and then as a last resort go there to cancel.

When I had to get the papers for getting married, the treatment was good. When I first went in for information, the lady acted like I was doing something wrong and was unhelpful. She basically looked at me suspiciously and then just handed me brochures and wouldn't answer my questions helpfully. So, I left and came back and got another number and talked to another guy who was really really helpful. He explained everything to me one by one and was very nice.

I think the service really just depends on who you get like anywhere else. But I'll still put it in general above regular customer service in Spain.

Ok, we got a live person with that number. Thanks CaliforniaGirl! We didn't get to the right place, but she gave us a number to call between 3 & 5pm and if that doesn't work, we can send a letter by mail.

Hey, Nomi,
Glad to be of help. I was a bit suprised to find so many Spaniards working in the US embassy but I guess it´s standard for American embassies around the world to hire locals to work in the embassies. Either which way, I didn´t have a good experience there anytime I have gone there in person or have called. But I am glad to hear other people have had positive experiences. So I hope you are able achieve what you want.

quote:

I think the service really just depends on who you get like anywhere else. But I'll still put it in general above regular customer service in Spain.

This is becoming true no matter where you go in the world. I see it all the time in the US now. Very hard to find good customer service here.

Shawn