Consulate General of Pakistan Chicago
By Syed Kamran Hashmi
Westfield, IN

If asked about the worst day of your life, you would almost always recount the time you were humiliated at a government office while applying for a passport, filing a complaint at the police station, getting the electricity bill fixed, or updating the address in NADRA.

To cope with the psychological trauma inflicted by the clerical staff, people go through the same five stages of grief as they would upon the diagnosis of, let us say, terminal cancer. First, there is the denial phase. “How could he (the clerk) delay such a simple process?” the victim complains.

It is quickly followed by anger when the applicant tries to intimidate the official by screaming at the top of his voice, or by threatening to take up the matter to the senior executives, or by warning the staff of the consequences. But, the truth is: these hollow warnings never work. People give vent to their anger in these offices every day. The employees know the routine well and just ignore them. So after the wave of anger has receded, while the file has not moved an inch forward, reality sets in and people cover the next three stages - depression, bargaining and acceptance - fairly quickly.

You know very well what I mean by bargaining. In simple terms, you negotiate a price that will satisfy everyone from the peon to the director to get the ball rolling. It does not matter to them if you took a day off from work, wasted hours on public transport, and spent hundreds of Rupees to file your application. If the ‘surcharge’ is not paid, your request will be denied with a strange objection. For example, he might say the backside of the copy of your National Identity Card is not attested even though the front has been signed off; the picture looks too dark while it is not any different from other documents; four copies of your passport are required while you have submitted just three.

The only way to avoid this embarrassment or paying the ‘premium’ is to by-pass them altogether by approaching a senior officer in the same department through personal connections. Sometime you are lucky and know the person. But, mostly you don’t, which means you are at the mercy of the staff waiting to pounce on your vulnerability.

The worst part is that their notoriety extends beyond the physical boundaries of Pakistan. Stories circulate about how people were ignored or mistreated by the staff in embassies and consulates. Even for simple tasks like the renewal of a passport, Pakistanis look for a ‘source’ to circumvent the procedure and avoid unnecessary delays and humiliation.

We expected the same treatment at the Chicago Consulate of Pakistan when a few weeks ago we applied for the Pakistani visa for the kids. The process, according to the Consulate, takes four to five weeks. The problem was not that we did not have a few weeks. We did, but we did not have a few months at our disposal. A single objection could push the application back by a fortnight easily to ruin our plans. We apprehended they would tell us how we forgot to sign the first page of the form or did not get the sixth page notarized. Should we call the Consulate General and ask for help or take our chances? That was our dilemma.

After brooding for a couple of days, we decided to take a chance and mailed the application. As an extra cautionary step we called the consulate to say we would appreciate if the application could be processed quickly. Five days later, a knock on the door by a Fedex staffer surprised us. He delivered our passports: visas stamped, no ‘surcharge’ paid, no ‘source’ required. It was unbelievable!

Impressed both by the courtesy and the efficiency of the office, I called the Consulate General of Pakistan in Chicago, Faisal Trimizi, a career diplomat and a gentleman, to share my experience. “People call me all the time to expedite their application. I tell them you don’t need my help,” he said. “Just let me know if you encounter any trouble.” He sounded confident that his staff would not delay or turn down the application without a good reason.

“People from all over the US want to apply through our consulate,” he informed. I do not doubt that because every Pakistani I have met in the last few months, who had to deal with Chicago, was happy about their experience. “The staff was respectful and friendly,” a friend of mine told me who had applied for a new passport in 24 hours. “I got it and flew the following morning.”

I know growing up in Pakistan, we develop a keen eye to detect the negative aspect of almost everything. Over time, we sharpen this trait so much that even the positives look negative. Probably, it is our way of giving back to the community what we get from it: stubborn unhealthy skepticism and paranoia. It is understandable that we find it hard to appreciate if a government office performs its duties well. Don’t get me wrong: we are very good at sycophancy but I am not talking about that. I am talking about the admiration the whole team deserves, like the Chicago Consulate of Pakistan, when they take extra care to bring ease in your life.