From CIEE:
" Hi Bimbola,
I received the message from customer service. I will contact the consulate as well, but unfortunately I have heard from other students who use the Chicago consulate that they were running into the same issue – we’re not sure why the Chicago consulate is requiring the VITEM4 instead, as their requirements for the 1 are clearly for exchange students and all of the other consulates are processing it as such. There’s not much I can do – we have been appealing to them since they have done this to a few students and we’ve been trying to have them process it.
At this point there’s 1 of 2 options:
1) Fly to Chicago to have the visa processed
2) Contact your airline now to see if you’re unable to make the flight if you can use the credit towards a later flight. Explain the situation (that you’re waiting for your visa) and will be flying to Sao Paulo just at a later date – most airlines will allow you to use the credit for the flight as long as you tell them in advance that you won’t be able to make it. If you need to arrive a bit late to the program because of your visa this is something that I will talk to the resident staff about, it shouldn’t be a problem. "
I'm tempted to write back,
"Dear CIEE,
You are unhelpful and send e-mails that take up room in my inbox and make me sad."
Love,
Bimbola
....So I'm flying to Chicago tomorrow morning to take care of business. Wish me luck!
