The Belgian consulate in Los Angeles received my application at 12:35pm today. The long road paved with red tape finally ends - I hope. It was such a pain in the neck to jump through all the required hoops, that I really believe the government uses this convoluted process to weed out the stupid people who want to study in Belgium. I sincerely hope I did everything right! This is what I had to do:
1. Two student visa applications, signed and notarized.
2. Two passport pictures, signed on the back, as well as my actual passport.
3. $60 application fee.
Then, one set of originals, one set of copies, appropriately collated and stapled:
4. Background check by my local police department going back five years. (A bit of a conundrum since I've lived in Florida, California and Arizona during that time.)
5. Medical certificate signed and notarized by a physician which says I do not have syphillis, leprosy or psychological disorders (!). In addition to the notarization of the doc's signature, he was also required to sign his name three times on letterhead and fax it to the consulate before I mailed it in.
6. A notarized letter of financial support declaring that I would be given enough money to be able to pay a year's worth of Belgian bills. The arbitrary magic number being $6000.
7. Bank statements verifying the availability of the requisite $6000, signed by a bank official.
8. A notarized letter promising that I will register with my local municipal authorities within three days of arrival in Brussels. But I can't register until I have proof of an address, so we better apartment-hunt really quick. (Proof of medical insurance, college diplomas, a letter of reference indicating my good character, copies of all the above documents and the apartment lease will also be necessary at this point.)
9. An official letter of acceptance from my university.
All of the above will then be counter-signed and notarized at the consulate, for $6.50 each. Then, if everything is ship-shape, the consul general will stamp my passport with a small 'Student Visa' stamp and Fed Ex it back to me.

This all seems a bit extreme to me. I just want to study, not join the Belgian equivalent of the CIA. Its Belgium, for heaven's sake! Not cold-war Russia. But, whatever. I'm done for the moment. Please, please let everything go through!
~K