An exercise in capitalism

I recently had the experience for a great exercise in capitalism. I needed a US visa for a conference that I will be attending in March. It's very exciting, the conference is "47th Annual Drosophila Research Conference"

But that's beside the point.

First of all, I needed to schedule an appointment, on a premium line number. So 5 minutes later at £1.50 a minute, I managed to get an appointment for the next week.

Not that bad.

Then I had to get the form online, with a recent passport photograph. Not just any old passport photograph, but one which according the their website, be "2 inches (50mm) square, with the head centered in the frame. The head (measured from the top of the hair to the bottom of the chin) should measure between 1 & 1 3/8 inches (25mm to 35mm) with the eye level between 1 & 1/8 inch to 1 & 1 3/8 inches (28mm and 35 mm) from the bottom of the photograph".

Wow, and I thought I was perfectionist.

Then, the visa application fee, £63. It's non-refundable whether or not you get the visa, the fee just lets you walk through the front door. Nice.

And then you wait for your turn.

To get your passport returned to you with your visa in it, you then pay a courier service £9.50 as you leave. And of course, you'll get the option to upgrade your delivery, for a fee. Of course.

Thankfully, I got the visa. It still cost a small fortune to obtain it though.

Welcome to America, home of the capitalist, how would you like to pay, m'am?

xx