Dear [email protected],
I am writing today to complain of the absolutely unacceptable service received at the US Embassy in Jerusalem yesterday, July 12, 2023. Whenever I have come to the Embassy in the past, I have received high quality and efficient service. This time, however, I am appalled and wonder how such service could be provided to US Citizens.
PLEASE NOTE: This letter does NOT address the horrendous experience which we need to endure to obtain a passport appointment. That’s worthy of a separate letter. Rather, this is just about the user experience once we got that much needed passport appointment and arrived at the Embassy.
- Very Extended Wait Times Outside the Embassy
When we arrived at the Embassy before 8AM this morning, there was a very long line of US citizens. There were approximately 80-100 people (with scheduled appointments) with one staff member in a booth reviewing documents to allow entry. Israel is in the throes of a massive heatwave, the early morning temperature today in Jerusalem was 93 degrees. We experienced a wait in the direct heat, without shade, seats/benches, access to water or any bathrooms.
The security guards kindly offered to bring out cold water, as a certain point too many people were asking for water and they had to resume their post and were unable to bring out water. Please note that the majority of people waiting on this line in the heat were families with infants and young children. Children were getting red and flushed and adults were sweating profusely in the heat. The wait today was 1 and 1/2 hours outside before being allowed inside the Embassy.
What is absurd about this is that the recently built Embassy compound actually has a spacious indoor waiting area. Additionally, it boasts as a landscaped and shaded yard, with an adjacent café and bathrooms! However, a new Embassy policy requires nearly all visitors to wait outside – in the heat and with no services, until their turn comes.
When we were actually called inside, we walked thru a deserted yard and entered an EMPTY waiting area – it was preposterous!
- New Requirement which is not listed on Required Documents
Effective June 12, the Embassy requires a printed label with a barcode from the Israel Post (for courier service) in order to enter the Embassy (previously one could arrange courier payment at the time of the appointment).
This new requirement is not listed on the Embassy’s Required Document page. Many of the people outside were unaware of the new requirement causing much unnecessary aggravation of rushing to pay online on a mobile device in the heat, to then send the label via WhatsApp to a print shop, running to that shop and printing each label for 5 NIS. Only those who had information from Chaim V’Chessed were aware of this rule, as the organization had posted this new policy on their website some weeks ago. It is odd that a non-profit, independent organization provides better information about Embassy rules than the Embassy itself!
In Summary:
The service at the US Embassy in Jerusalem is nowhere near what would be expected from a US Embassy, especially for US citizens. This must be thoroughly addressed and resolved immediately by significantly decreasing the waiting time outside and, at the least, providing humane conditions for those waiting outside. The new policy requiring almost all visitors to wait outside, while the indoor facilities sit largely empty must stop immediately! Lastly, it is imperative that the US Embassy website be up to date, and reflect new policies.
An Aggrieved US Citizen
{Matzav.com}
Citizens of the United States at government offices must be treated better! This must stop! It’s unacceptable and worthy, I submit, of an investigation at the highest level.
Speak to the great Thomas Nides. I’m sure he will do whatever it takes to fix this problem immediately.
So why write to Matzav? Send this letter to the US Embassy in the US.
Become a Canadian.
Wow, that’s such a horrific experience, so sorry you went through this.
every american citizen goes through this.. it’s a nightmare!
Welcome to Biden’s world.
Incompetent President hires only incompetent staff.
As long as the Democrats are in charge things will only get worse.
Actually it wasn’t Biden but Trump who made massive budget cuts to the State Department, causing huge numbers of their staff to retire early. And it was also Trump who “moved the embassy” to Jerusalem into a building that had previously been the consulate. The primary focus of an embassy is not to serve American citizens but to conduct foreign relations.
This is a problem all over the world. A co worker just had to travel 1300 kilometers from Mexico City to Merida to get his permanent resident visa because the US embassy in Mexico City had no appointments available. I just checked the wait times and they are five times longer in Mexico City than in Jerusalem. Don’t share this on non Jewish web sites because the anti Semites will claim that Jews get special treatment.
This is a “be careful what you wish for”.
What in the world is this letter doing here?
Also, boohoo.
Tell your senators.
Whenever people complain about Israeli bureaucracy, i remind them about the embassy. I don’t think that it is run inefficiently. I think it is that way by design.
I’ve also learned that if you can get an appointment before 8am then you will done much faster.
not true. And also,, who gets appointments when they want? when was the embassy so organized and efficient that they had real choices for the citizens?
Good Morning!
I had waited for over a year for a passport appointment and as you said; waiting outside without any resources whatsoever. We finally were there and suddenly a man comes out saying that an elderly guy that worked in the embassy died that morning and ALL the workers are too distraught so they are leaving. So while we all sympathized; we also all NEEDED our passports done! most of us were waiting for appointments for over a year. So we kindly said, “all the workers are going home? cant there be someone left to take care of us” the answer was no. In general the Embassy in Yerushalayim gives horrible service. Most workers there are either Liberal or Arab and we know what that means when it comes to being nice and thinking beyond yourself……. .The writer here is a million percent right. Right now, they also have new rules for ss cards/numbers and my son who is 5 years old cant for the life of us get an appointment. It’s at a point where a young woman needs to ask herself; should I have my baby in Eretz Yisroel and go through all that to get a birth certificate/passport and ss or is it just easier to go to America and get it all so much faster. I hope this letter reaches the US govt. Although I highly doubt it. I also would like to add that I always wondered and wanted proof if my Absentee Ballot really was counted; I somehow had a feeling that because I voted Trump it wasnt. It would be interesting to see.
My wife was born in Mexico. She got an appointment at the Mexican Consulate in NYC to get a Mexican passport on one days notice, and walked out with a new passport after one hour. Everyone working there spoke perfect English.
Maybe we should contract out consular services to Mexico.
Your absentee ballot was probably counted if you vote in NY. But in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia, Trump’s postal service failed to deliver huge numbers of absentee ballots on time. This was reported in the New York Post shortly after the election. As I said in another comment, the destruction of services by the State Department was a deliberate Trump policy. You voted for this.
Is this the best you can do?
The Jerusalem branch of us embassy has ALWAYS been openly pro- arab. Even way back. I am sorry to hear how our people are suffering. Does anyone really think they care. .? This branch should not have reopened. Letters won’t help.