Netherlands Consulate

I got my Schengen visa approved and passport sent back to me within 7 working days. I came in about 30 minutes earlier than my appointment time. There was one window open with a lady officer talking to a couple. I was the only one waiting, then a man officer opened the other window and called me in. He asked and checked my documents. Everything was complete and there was no questions asked, he got my fingerprints and I paid. It all took me 10 minutes. I flew in to San Francisco the day before. If you have your documents all complete, you can just fly in and out in one day. The officer was polite, and it’s all that matters with paperwork stuff like this. Just like the previous person said, it’s like going to the dmv, you go here cause you have to. The office was very very nice though.
P. s.: get your photo taken at the recommended photographer down the street called Union Post SF. It’s bit pricey ($ 22), but it gets the job done, right size and all.

I’m sure we all come here because we have to… Kind of like the DMV. So be prepared to wait. You have to schedule your appt which is generally weeks in advance. They also tell you to come 20 min early which I did and it was for not. I ended up waiting about 25 minutes beyond my appt time and I was half an hour early so I waited almost an hour… But on the other hand it seems that if you are late they will skip you per other reviews. The lady was really conservatively friendly, apologized and thanked me for waiting so that was nice.
For some reason, even though it’s a beautiful warm sunny day in San Francisco, they have the heater turned up so much so that I’m breaking a sweat while I sit and wait. The office is nice and clean and has a nice view. They also now take Visa and MasterCard. I’m never going to come here for fun but it wasn’t a horrible experience. Also you have to check in with the front desk when you first get there and they will give you access to an elevator to take you up to the 31^st floor.
It took me 16 days from the time I went in to the time I picked it up to get my passport. It probably would have been easier to just have them mail it to me even though I live in the Bay.

(Review based on getting Schengen Visa) Dutch consulate did an awesome job! My tourist visa was approved within 5 calendar days! The officer who interviewed me was very meticulous but quick and efficient. Don’t understand the negative reviews – just follow (simple) instructions on website. provide all requirements and of course, make sure you have enough $$$ in your bank accout. Good luck!!!

Went with my mother and a very nice, courteous gentleman helped us. Even translated some parts of the application that I left blank by mistake. He met with us promptly and we were done in less than half an hour. Very efficient and polite.

Thank Goodness the «joyce-​era» is finally over!!!
Went today for my passport renewal and had a very positive experience at the Consulate in SF. Very friendly gentlemen. Toppie!
Be aware of the passport picture requirements. The best way is to have your picture taken by the «approved» photo shop on 237 Kearny. My pictures were not the right size and the consulate called the guy at the photo shop that my pictures had to be smaller in size. I walked in his store and he knew what to do with no additional costs for me. No explanation required. That was a very good service from the consulate.
The appointment can take longer, so prepare for it. I was in and out within 1 hour (with the extra pictures taken). Very efficient.
Like the credit card payment option as well.
Read the instructions carefully and you will be in and out in no time.

Edit: Not sure who’s to blame, but the consulate website guarantees that they will send your passport in 2 – 3 weeks. Mine took SIX weeks. And it would’ve probably taken longer had I not emailed after FOUR weeks asking where it was. (Their response: Oops, for some reason we haven’t STARTED processing it yet)
Consulates are an odd thing to review, so imagine my surprise when I realized other people have already reviewed this place too haha.
First of all: You MUST make an appointment here, they may well be booked a couple of weeks in advance, and they are only open a few hours per week. So come prepared, and don’t forget to bring everything you need.
My visit to the consulate was an odd experience. The building in which the office is located appears to have no posted directory other than a computer at the front desk, and no buttons anywhere in the elevator. When you go in, you check in at reception, they confirm your appointment, and then program the elevator to take you where you need to go. As soon as you get to your assigned elevator, it opens. You step in, it closes, and you get zoomed up to the 31^st floor. Oddest part was that the screen that normally shows the floors you’re passing, instead just had a big red X, as if you weren’t even allowed to know what floors you were passing. The entire experience struck me as slightly surreal and excessively secretive. But that’s what made it exciting haha.
There was nobody else there when I arrived so I was helped right away by a very nice young lady. As we worked through the papers to figure out what I needed and whether I’d need some other document as well (a document I’d never seen before), a young man came over as well, and I talked to them about the different requirements and options. I found them both to be exceptionally pleasant, friendly, and happy to chat with me and answer my questions. In fact, I’m certain I have NEVER in my life met bureaucrats this nice and helpful haha. The young man gave me some additional information I didn’t know about, related to fingerprints and a few other things, which was immensely helpful.
Oh, and before I finish this review, let’s not forget the view. Oh my god the view. All the walls consist of enormous windows, and from the 31^st floor you can see the entire city and the bay. Breathtaking, I didn’t really want to leave haha.
I should also add that, if you forgot Dutch standard passport photos (they’re very picky about those), there’s a gentleman down the block who will take your photo. He will also provide the shipping labels you need (for passports and such) to have documents shipped to your home. You’re required to pick those up yourself and pay for them, which really made me wish I could just pay extra for postage by credit card, in the office, but oh well. The photo shop guy had a very sexy Russian accent, so that totally made up for lost time :)
When I returned to the consulate with my shipping label, an older man came in for his appointment, and right away called out to the girl behind the glass, in Dutch: «And a coffee please!» We all laughed. For as far as I know though, they don’t serve any haha, but that’s not a bad idea considering how many Dutch people go through that office. I didn’t see anybody who had to wait for their appointment, everyone got helped right away, but it would still be nice to have something to drink.
Overall, excellent experience though. It was all down to the surprisingly good customer service!

No more San Mateo. And no more Joyce (may she be enjoying her retirement and not hassling anyone). The new staff is helpful, polite, and efficient. Yes, we had to wait, but that was because they’d taken an emergency case of someone whose passport had been lost in transit. If I were in that position, I’d appreciate being helped immediately. They apologized for the wait and, once we were helped, all went smoothly and quickly.

The new office and the staff were very nice. The girl at the counter was a pleasure to talk to. She was very polite even while going through the papers. Very organized too. We reached an almost 40 minutes early. Since there was no one waiting, they took us in and had us out in 15 minutes flat. This has been a drastic change since my past visit to their old office which was of course dreadful. This consulate is wayyy better than other European consulates now for sure.

Went to the consulate yesterday for a new passport. The experience was great, especially compared to last time when we did not yet have the consulate here in downtown SF. Anyway, the website very clearly described what I needed to bring. I called for suggestions on where to get my photo taken and arrived on time — so I did my part and came prepared. But it really was the attitude of the consular employee that made this visit so much better than last time. He was friendly, professional, organized and the whole procedure was done in 15 minutes. I appreciated the Dutch magazines in the waiting area. I was really pleased and happily surprised — kudos!

Although Joyce is no longer there and they have now FINALLY upgraded their system to allow you to pay via credit card rather than pay in exact cash, I still hate going here.
Today I had an appointment at 9:30am. I arrived at 9:34am only to see that a family was being helped at the counter. I was suppose to be the first appointment of the day! After waiting between 45 – 50 minutes, while in the meantime I was able to see three other workers in the office who never even acknowledged me as there or asked me one question, I finally was helped. I came prepared with all the necessary paperwork and photos and was out within 15 – 20 minutes. However, the amount of time I waited before my appointment made this visit HIGHLY unpleasant. I had expected to take only 1 or 2 hours off work that day but was forced to take a half-​day out of my vacation time since I did not arrive before noon at my job.
Allow plenty of time for this place since they don’t seem to care about appointments or appointment times and you have to deal with people who take forever to get their paperwork in order. They never even apologized or recognized how long I had to wait before being helped. Good luck!

After having had my passport renewed twice before and «enjoying» encounters with Joyce, I came fully prepared, with the fee in cash, exact change (the mention of «payable in cash» was not interpreted by me to mean «exact change» last time, and was the reason for my scolding then).
They took my right at my appointment time. I was helped by a very pleasant young lady, and got a clarification on one issue by a pleasant young man. The whole deal took less than 15 minutes. I asked about Joyce and was told she had retired!
So there you have it: fear no longer (but still read all instructions and bring everything) :-)

I have actually got visas here 3 times — because EU will only give you visas for precisely as many days that you need to be there, each time the experience was as nasty. Prepare for a first rate demeaning treatment (including slurs on how others from your country of origin cannot organize documents), which it may strike you is reserved for the former colonies. If you care to avoid that treatment, do everything precisely right, prepare to be robotically ready with every possible document at the bat of an eyelid, even remotely relevant to the visa. Anyone who deals with consulates regularly is probably used to some pushing around, but that said, this particular consulate is exceptional. The only consolation is that it isn’t personal, if you are fortunate enough to be sitting around while someone else gets interviewed, you’ll see them sweating bullets through the nasty process too.

The first reviewer was being nice. This lady ‘Joyce’ is very easily aggravated and is even insulting with sarcasm that comes out in a string of advice-​giving in a scolding manner. Even though I read the other reviewer’s advice I came armed with the balances of my bank accounts as the website advised. She threw these at me and it fell against the window on her side of it. ‘Why don’t you use common sense!’ she said and threw her hands up as if it was the end of the world and said to no one in particular — ‘why don’t people read and listen to what they need to bring.’ I said the website states bring bank balances and not 3 months of bank statements — the other person there (as quiet as a church mouse he was) said bring everything the website lists to bring before you come in. She went over each of the other things — still aggravated and continued to be annoyed with me about everything and even asks me why I argue with her when I point out I have it but she gave it back to me. She said, then give it and don’t say I did things I didn’t do (what!?) — I left there very upset. When I returned with 3 months of bank statements she was helping another gentlemen with his application. He looked like he got ‘verbally slapped’ and I heard her say to him ’ why do you ask that?’ and he said well I am a travel agent and I sometimes get that question asked of me — does it apply to me now and she said to him — if you are a travel agent why don’t you KNOW. He looked like he almost laughed at her but kept a straight face and continued to ask more questions and explained some more as well as asked if he could get his visa by the end of the same week and she said it takes 2 days overnight there and back if all goes well — you applied too late to allow for delays. My session with her went relatively easy except that when I smiled at one of her scoldings she asked ME ‘why are you laughing at me — are you mocking me?” I said ‘No, you keep telling me I don’t have something that is needed after you threw it back last week (balances printouts) here it is. Why is someone like this allowed to work with the general public — she has no people skills — she looks like she could be a nice person but the job is not what she wants to do — she hates it by the way she relates to people. I’m sure someone out there got her on a ‘good day’ but not me. I enjoyed my stay in Amsterdam — loved it but I will not go back there for a visa again.

Don’t go to your usual passport photo place to update your mug shots. Since September 2009 the criteria for the photo’s are very strict, and you don’t want to be sent packing after making it all the way out to the consulate in San Mateo. Joyce recommended a local outfit, and the guy, his name is Paul, did a fine job: Express Photo & Video, 951 Edgewater Blvd, Foster City, 94 404, (650) 571‑8812. Having the picture taken is quick, but the printing and cropping to the perfect size takes about 20 minutes, so leave yourself enough time. I went to two other places first myself, and could have saved money time and effort by going to Paul first.

Be prepared to be grilled! And i mean it!
The consulate here serves as a filter run by the single soul named Joyce. And she is a character, but in a good way. First round she sent me back for incomplete paperwork, and not in a good way. Before i was sent packing i got an earful of how she wasn’t picking on me (which was preceded by what are you thinking, why cant you get it right, can you read, did you read the instructions, you educated people surprise me…). The lady is just doing her job, but i sincerely think she lacks human contact so whoever gets in there gets her «Joyce 101 lesson». Tthis place is in San Mateo, where all the paperwork is analyzed by Joyce and sent onwards to LA for visa work. Second time was a charm (i think it had to do with me helping her with her Microsoft Word problem) she was so excited because not only was i was ahead of time, i had all the paperwork and i had highlighted the important sections (trust me i learnt my lesson the first time), i was afraid she was going to come out flying and hug me. But sanity prevailed! Keep these things in mind when you apply
— read the instructions VERY carefully (each and every one of them, word for word)
— call for an appointment
— get exact $ 102 change (no $ 100 bills — she will send you back!), no checks
— fill out each section in the form (even if they repeat the questions or it doesn’t make sense, just answer!)
— highlight important dates, arrival, departure, funds, address in Netherlands etc
— Read the instructions very carefully — did i mention that?
Then its a smooth sailing. In fact the 2^nd time around i had even begun to like Joyce!
Nearby are target, Starbucks etc if you have extra time, its a nice big complex. Parking is plenty!