Getting a Tanzanian Visa in the US

This remark is for the information of U.S. citizens who plan on getting their visa from the Tanzania Embassy in Washington DC. The following quote is taken from the Visa instructions at www.tanzaniaembassy-us.org:

(posted by one of out clients)

"2. APPLICATION FORMS SHOULD BE ACCOMPANIED BY ONE (1) RECENTLY TAKEN
PASSPORT SIZE PHOTOGRAPH AND A SUFFICIENTLY STAMPED SELF-ADDRESSED
ENVELOPE TO FACILITATE RETURN OF PASSPORT BY THE MOST SECURE MAIL."

Unfortunately, this instruction assumes that the embasssy employee processing your passport understands the U.S. postal system and is willing to use it as you direct, an assumption which is sadly unwarrented.

After receiving guidance from the USPS that Registered Mail was "the most secure" method for mailing a passport, I sent the Tanzania Embassy my passport with the self addressed envelope as requested, complete with enough postage to have the passport returned by Registered Mail ($8.53).

I also included a written request with the passport that it be returned by Registered Mail.
When the passport arrived back in my hands, it had been sent by regular mail, not registered, not certified, not insured, and not even with a confirmation number so that it could have been tracked down had it gone missing.

so I got to thinking: If this is the efficiency demonstrated by people who are hand selected for embassy duty, one wonders what one will find in the country of Tanzania itself.
russmayers@juno.com