Our passports were confiscated

Our passports were confiscated

From Kompas

In February 2002, my mother and I applied for two visas to the
U.S. at the U.S. Consulate General in Surabaya. We were
interviewed by Juaquin, who, without looking at the documents,
which were all original and met the requirements, rejected them
outright, without giving us any clear reasons.

On March 20, we tried to apply for visas through the U.S.
Embassy in Jakarta. After having been interviewed, our visa
applications were approved, and we were told that we could
receive them on April 22. As we live in Surabaya, I called the
embassy to ask whether or not someone else could pick up the
documents. The officer who answered my call told me that they
could be picked up without an authorization letter from us, just
with the tickets for obtaining the passports.

On April 22, my friend told me that my mother and I had to
come to the embassy again on April 29 at 2 p.m. We fulfilled the
request. After meeting us, the officer kept us waiting for about
three hours and then started to interrogate us. My passport and
all our documents were said to be fake. Our passports and my
mother's original identification card were confiscated. Even the
yellow cards to fetch the passports were also taken. How could
the embassy seize one's documents in such a way?

KURNIAWAN

Surabaya